The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Because Of You

On the seventh and final day of The Tony Bennett 90th Birthday Bash, August 6, 2016, our song of the day is “Because Of You.”

About This Song

“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Because Of You” in April 1951–some 65 years ago. I chose this song because it was such a turning point in Bennett’s career. His early recordings had done okay, but Columbia was concerned that their new singer hadn’t had a big, big hit yet. Bennett met with his arranged Percy Faith, who encouraged Tony Bennett to sing with his natural voice … very good advice. They were supposed to record four songs that day, but only had three ready to go. Percy Faith picked up the sheet music for “Because of You” and suggested they record it. The song reached number one on the Billboard Charts and stayed there for ten weeks.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Because Of You,” as well as all the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Today’s video is Tony Bennett singing today’s song, live in concert from 1991, with Ralph Sharon on piano. It’s just wonderful!

Thanks to all the readers of this blog for sharing and participating in The Tony Bennett 90th Birthday Bash. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Because of You

The song of the day for Tuesday, February 2, 2016 is “Because of You.”

About This Song

“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (Oscar’s uncle) and Dudley Wilkinson.

About This Version

“Because Of You” was the first song of Tony Bennett’s to reach #1 on the Billboard charts. In his autobiography, The Good Life, Mr. Bennett relates this story:

By the spring of 1951, I was told that if I didn’t get a hit soon I’d be dropped from the label. I went into Percy’s (Percy Faith) office and he said, “In this next session you really have to deliver. We have only three songs ready, so we need another song.” I remember that he looked through a bunch of sheet music on his desk, grabbed a song, and said, “Well, let’s do this one.” That song was “Because Of You.” I was doing a lot of dramatic singing on my early records like “Sing You Sinners” and “Boulevard” but Percy said to me, “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song.” I took his advice.

“Because Of You” became Tony Bennett’s first hit song. It started getting a lot of play on jukeboxes and the momentum grew and it became popular on radio as well.

Listeners from all around the country began calling local radio stations and requesting “Because Of You,” and it reached number one on the Billboard magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951. It stayed on the chart for thirty-two weeks–ten weeks at number one. I finally had my first major hit record.

The song was recorded on April 4, 1951. It was arranged and conducted by Percy Faith and produced by Mitch Miller.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Because of You,” as well as the songs collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Because of You

The song of the day for Saturday, October 31, 2015 is “Because Of You.”

About This Song

“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson. Recorded in 1951, it was Tony Bennett’s first huge hit.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Because of You” in April 1951. He was at a crossroads with Columbia at the time; he needed a hit and soon or else he might be dropped from the label. He was in Percy Faith’s office prior to that April recording session; they had three songs planned and needed a fourth. Faith picked up the sheet music off his desk and suggested they add it to the session. Percy gave him the best possible advice: “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song.”

The song became a huge hit: not because the radio stations were pushing it, but because the public had discovered it on jukeboxes and loved it. Released on April 30, 1951, it reached number one on the Billboard chart on June 23, 1951 and stayed on the chart for 32 weeks–ten of those weeks at number one.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Because of You,” as well as all the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Today’s video is Tony Bennett and k.d. lang singing a duet of “Because of You” from the 2006 album Duets: An American Classic.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Because Of You

The song of the day for Friday, September 4, 2015 is “Because Of You.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “Because Of You,” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (uncle to Oscar) and Dudley Wilkinson. The song languished until 1951, when it was recorded by Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Because Of You was the first song of Tony Bennett’s to reach #1 on the Billboard charts. In his autobiography, The Good Life, Mr. Bennett relates this story:

By the spring of 1951, I was told that if I didn’t get a hit soon I’d be dropped from the label. I went into Percy’s (Percy Faith) office and he said, “In this next session you really have to deliver. We have only three songs ready, so we need another song.” I remember that he looked through a bunch of sheet music on his desk, grabbed a song, and said, “Well, let’s do this one.” That song was “Because Of You.” I was doing a lot of dramatic singing on my early records like “Sing You Sinners” and “Boulevard” but Percy said to me, “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song.” I took his advice.

Because Of You became Tony Bennett’s first hit song. It started getting a lot of play on jukeboxes and the momentum grew and it became popular on radio as well.

Listeners from all around the country began calling local radio stations and requesting “Because Of You,” and it reached number one on the Billboard magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951. It stayed on the chart for thirty-two weeks–ten weeks at number one. I finally had my first major hit record.

The song was recorded on April 4, 1951. It was arranged and conducted by Percy Faith and produced by Mitch Miller.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Because Of You,” as well as all of the songs on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Because Of You

The song of the day for Saturday, February 14, 2015 is “Because Of You.”

About This Song

“Because Of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (uncle to Oscar) and Dudley Wilkinson.

About This Version

How Tony Bennett came to record this song is one of my favorite stories about his early days at Columbia. I’ll let him tell it, from The Good Life:

By the spring of 1951, I was told that if I didn’t get a hit soon I’d be dropped from the label. I went into Percy’s (Percy Faith) office and he said, “In this next session you really have to deliver. We have only three songs ready, so we need another song.” I remember that he looked through a bunch of sheet music on his desk, grabbed a song, and said, “Well, let’s do this one.” That song was “Because Of You.” I was doing a lot of dramatic singing on my early records like “Sing You Sinners” and “Boulevard,” but Percy said to me, “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song.” I took his advice.

When “Because Of You” was released, the record company didn’t have much confidence in me. But then something interesting started happening: the record didn’t get on the radio right away, but people were playing it on the jukeboxes so often that it started to build momentum, one nickel at a time. It was unusual for a song to become popular on jukeboxes before it got on the radio, but this one did. Listeners from all around the country began calling their local radio stations and requesting “Because Of You,” and it reached number one on Billboard magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951. It stayed on the chart for thirty-two weeks–ten weeks at number one. I finally had my first major hit record.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Because Of You,” as well as other early singles releases collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

About Today

I wanted to choose one of Tony Bennett’s wonderful love songs and so today we have “Because Of You.” It was his first major hit and was a favorite of young couples in the early 1950s. I’ve heard so many stories about couples who played that recording at their wedding parties. I can’t think of a nicer song for Valentine’s Day.

Because Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday, I also have a video of our song of the day. This is from Duets: An American Classic, where he sung a duet of today’s song with k.d. lang. I hope you enjoy the song and the video.

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Year of Tony Bennett.