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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

January 18, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Body and Soul

The song of the day for Saturday, January 18, 2014 is “Body and Soul.”

About This Song

“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green, with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The song was originally written for Gertrude Lawrence, the British actress and singer. It was introduced in the United States in 1930 in a Broadway revue called Three’s a Crowd.

The importance of “Body and Soul” as a jazz standard is unsurpassed; it ranks #1 on the jazz standards.com website. It has been recorded by the greats of jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, John Coltrane among many others.

About This Version

One might think that Tony Bennett has sung “Body and Soul” for decades, but his first released recording of this song wasn’t made until 1989, for the 1990 album Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. In 1994, he sung this song on MTV Unplugged, which not only won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Performance but also Album of the Year. His next recording, the duet with Amy Winehouse for Duets II, won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; Duets II won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. I would hazard a guess that this song has been very good for Mr. Bennett.

http://open.spotify.com/track/6yqbGOlhxaX8iVLkpIoPHd
“Body and Soul,” as well as Astoria: Portrait of the Artist, is available from iTunes.

And as it’s YouTube Saturday, The Year of Tony Bennett is pleased to present this video of Tony Bennett and the late Amy Winehouse singing their Grammy Award-winning duet of “Body and Soul.”

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Amy Winehouse, Astoria: Portrait of the Artist, Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton, Johnny Green, Robert Sour

September 14, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Body and Soul

The song of the day for Saturday, September 14, 2013 is “Body and Soul.”

Today Amy Winehouse would have become thirty years old. The world lost a great talent when she died. We would like to remind you about the Amy Winehouse Foundation, with this mission (from the US version of the foundation website):

The Amy Winehouse Foundation’s mission is supporting and empowering children and young adults in need through music therapy and music education and works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people. We aim to support, inform and inspire vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to help them reach their full potential.

The foundation held its first Inspiration Awards and Gala in March 2013 in New York and awarded Tony Bennett its Lifetime Achievement Award.

About This Song

“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green, with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The song first became popular in Europe and the version sung by Gertrude Lawrence was quite popular. In the 1930s, the song was considered too racy, even “lewd”, to play on the radio. Apparently sexual desire without romance was frowned upon. American recordings include those by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine, with many fine jazz instrumental recordings, including those by Bill Evans and John Coltrane. “Body and Soul” is the most often-recorded jazz standard and is the #1 song on the jazzstandards.com website.

While Tony Bennett has performed “Body and Soul” for many years, his first recording (to the best of my knowledge) was in 1990 for Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. He also sang it on his award-winning MTV Unplugged television special in 1994.

About This Version

Today’s version is, of course, the 2011 duet with Amy Winehouse on Duets II, for which they won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. It was her final recording; she died four months after she and Bennett made this recording. Tony Bennett speaks quite movingly about Amy Winehouse in The Zen of Bennett.

http://open.spotify.com/track/01hJnhpAmjzg85Etnz2ECH
“Body and Soul,” as well the entire Duets II album, is available from iTunes and Amazon.com.

Here’s the video of Tony’s and Amy’s recording session for “Body and Soul.”

If you haven’t yet seen The Zen of Bennett, the opinionated author at the Year of Tony Bennett recommends it highly, if for no other reason than the segment on this session.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Amy Winehouse, Amy Winehouse birthdaya, Amy Winehouse Foundation, Duets II, Edward Heyman, Johnny Green

November 13, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Body and Soul

The Song of the Day for Tuesday, November 13, 2012 is Body and Soul.

About Body and Soul

Body and Soul was written in 1930 with music by Johnny Green and lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton. It was written for the British singer Gertrude Lawrence and introduced in the United States by Libby Holman in the revue Three’s a Crowd. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record the song, which became a jazz standard for both vocal and instrumental recordings.

About This Version

This evening, I was finally able to watch the new documentary about Tony Bennett: The Zen of Bennett. I was quite moved by the scene with Mr. Bennett and Amy Winehouse. It was, of course, her last recording: she would be dead four months to the day after this recording was made. As an Amy Winehouse fan, I am so grateful for this segment of the film, as I believe it captures the very best of Amy and of Mr. Bennett too. They were really quite wonderful together. I know we all wish they would have been able to work together again.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Amy Winehouse

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