The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Tuesday, September 5, 2023, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To the Moon” was written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording of “If I Ruled The World” was a big hit. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on February 18, 1965, and released it on his album If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set. Don Costa wrote the arrangement.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Saturday, July 22, 2023, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The song was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and it began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on February 18, 1965, for his album If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set. The wonderful arrangement was by Don Costa.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs For the Jet Set is available on Apple Music.

I found this lovely video of Tony singing today’s song from the television program, Live By Request, originally aired in 1998. The violinist is Joel Smirnoff, who was featured on Bennett’s 1999 album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool.

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Wednesday, April 12, 2023, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About Today

On April 12, 1994, 29 years ago today, Tony Bennett taped his legendary performance on MTV Unplugged. Not only were the ratings very good, the resulting album, Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged won not only the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance but the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon,” written in 1954 by Bart Howard, was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well despite several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on April 12, 1994. Mr. Bennett was backed by his trio: Ralph Sharon on piano, Doug Richeson on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as MTV Unplugged is available on Apple Music.

Here’s the video of Bennett’s performance of “Fly Me To The Moon” from the MTV Unplugged program:

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Thursday, January 5, 2023, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The song was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on April 12, 1994, for MTV’s Unplugged. The MTV Unplugged album was released in June of that year. The songs from the televised concert were arranged by Tony Bennett and the Ralph Sharon Trio.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as MTV Unplugged is available on Apple Music.

Here’s the recording of “Fly Me To The Moon” from the MTV television performance.

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Song of the Day: Fly Me To The Moon

The song of the day for Saturday, September 24, 2022, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. It was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” on February 18, 1965, for the album If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set. Don Costa wrote the arrangement.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set is available on Apple Music.

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