The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

By 1 Comment

Song of the Day: O Christmas Tree

On the tenth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Monday, December 23, 2013, the song of the day is “O Christmas Tree.”

About This Song

The melody for “O Christmas Tree” is based on a traditional 16th century German folk song. The lyrics for the song were written in 1824 by an organist named Ernst Anchutz; in the original German, the song is known as “O Tannenbaum.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for his 2008 album A Swingin’ Christmas, produced by Phil Ramone.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2VsCE6ui7N4IRzGIGT7Di8
“O Christmas Tree,” as well as the album A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I’ll Be Home For Christmas

On the seventh day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Friday, December 20, 2013, the song of the day is “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

About This Song

“I’ll Be Home For Christmas” was written in 1943 by Kim Gannon and Buck Ram. This song, released at the height of World War II, tells the story of a soldier stationed overseas, who yearns to be home with family for Christmas, if only in my dreams. Bing Crosby recorded this song in 1943 and it was a best seller. The War Department issued a V-Disc with Crosby’s versions of this song and “White Christmas” that was sent to soldiers stationed all over the world. One wonders if the young soldier Anthony Benedetto, who was stationed in Germany, might have listened to this V-Disc at some point.

Bing_Crosby_V_Disc_441_Christmas

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s 2008 album A Swingin’ Christmas, which features The Count Basie Big Band.

http://open.spotify.com/track/7Jb0QNWLdLChGL5RF6TSOq
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” as well as the album A Swinging’ Christmas, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

This song is so terrific that we wish to give you another version, recording live in 1994 on the Jon Stewart Show. It appears on the CD re-release of Snowfall.

I"ll Be Home For Christmas - Live

Listen to I"ll Be Home For Christmas - Live on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1968

By 1 Comment

Song of the Day: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

On the fifth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Wednesday, December 18, 2013, the song of the day is “Santa Claus is Coming To Town.”

About This Song

Written by the songwriting team of J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” had a spectacular debut. The song was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in November, 1934. On the day after the broadcast, there were 100,000 orders for the sheet music; by Christmas, over 400,000 copies of the sheet music had been sold.

300x388xsantaclausiscoming-34-coots-gillespie-300x388.jpg.pagespeed.ic.2SFefcG60x

About This Version

Today’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is from Tony Bennett’s 2008 album A Swingin’ Christmas, featuring The Count Basie Big Band. This album is a favorite of ours, as it not only contains a number of great swinging Christmas songs, there are also some very nice ballad-type Christmas songs as well.

http://open.spotify.com/track/671M468ipiAqAX4FltIiv6http://open.spotify.com/track/671M468ipiAqAX4FltIiv6http://open.spotify.com/track/671M468ipiAqAX4FltIiv6
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” as well as the album A Swinging’ Christmas, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Winter Wonderland

On the first day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, Saturday December 14, 2013, the song of the day is “Winter Wonderland.”

About This Song

“Winter Wonderland” was written in 1934 by Felix Barnard, with lyrics by Richard B. Smith. Smith wrote this song after a snowfall covered his home town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. It is, of course, a beloved holiday song, even though the lyrics do not explicitly mention Christmas.

WinterWonderland

About This Version

Today’s version of “Winter Wonderland” is from Tony Bennett’s 2008 album, A Swingin’ Christmas. This album features The Count Basie Big Band and it really does swing. The album was produced by Phil Ramone and features the quartet of Monty Alexander (piano), Gray Sargent (guitar), Paul Langosch (bass) and Harold Jones (drums).

http://open.spotify.com/track/7dlLvLDyVH7D7wvoaMuHVE
“Winter Wonderland,” as well at the album A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

And as the first day of a Tony Bennett Christmas coincides with YouTube Saturday, we’re pleased to present this video of Tony Bennett singing “Winter Wonderland” from the 2008 Christmas ceremonies at Rockefeller Center:

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

The song of the day for Wednesday, December 4, 2013 is “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.”

About This Song

Today’s song is by the great composer Irving Berlin. It was written in 1937 for the movie On the Avenue, which starred Dick Powell and Alice Faye.

This song a classic Christmas favorite, with recordings by Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald (with and without Louis Armstrong), Frank Sinatra and Kay Starr, among many others.

I chose this song today as it seems that a great part of the U.S. is having very cold weather. Even here in usually mild Portland, Oregon, we’re going to be seeing temperatures in the teens and possibly even the single digits before it’s all over. So, bundle up everyone!

It also gives us a chance to remind our readers that The Twelve Days of a Tony Bennett Christmas will be starting on December 14. In the meantime, get your love to keep you warm or, lacking that, bring out the down jackets and gloves and remember to keep your head warm too.

About This Version

“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” is from Bennett’s 2008 Christmas album A Swingin’ Christmas Featuring the Count Basie Big Band. I like the cover of the album, which does a very sweet nod to Norman Rockwell’s 1942 painting “Freedom From Want.” Rockwell created a series of four lithographs to help promote the sales of war bonds.

Freedom_from_want_1943-Norman_Rockwell

I also love hearing Antonia sing with her Dad; I always enjoy hearing them sing together at their concerts.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0oBudl7P9fqep8ghZpA6wH
“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm,” as well as the album A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

Subscribe to The Year of Tony Bennett

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Current Reader Favorites