The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Nice Work If You Can Get It

The song of the day for Sunday, August 9, 2026, is “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”

About This Song

“Nice Work If You Can Get It” was written by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Damsel In Distress, starring Fred Astaire, who introduced the song. It has been widely recorded by artists including Astaire, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall recorded “Nice Work If You Can Get It” for their 2018 album Love Us Here To Stay. Bill Charlap wrote arrangement. The Bill Charlap Trio (Charlap, piano; Peter Washington, bass; Kenny Washington, drums) accompanied Bennett and Krall on this album.

“Nice Work If You Can Get It,” as well as Love Is Here to Stay, is available on Apple Music.

Here’s Fred Astaire from Damsel in Distress, performing today’s song:

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Song of the Day: I Left My Heart in San Francisco

The song of the day for Tuesday, August 4, 2026, is “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

About This Song

“I Left My Heart In San Francisco” was written in 1953 by Douglass Cross and George Cory. This song is, of course, Tony Bennett’s signature song. It actually became that quite by accident. As Bennett’s musical director, songwriters were constantly giving Ralph Sharon copies of their songs. Cross and Cory had done that and Sharon had stuck the song in a drawer and forgotten all about it. In 1961, he and Bennett were heading out on tour, which included a stop in San Francisco at The Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Sharon came across the music and thought it might be a nice local number for the San Francisco audience. After a performance in Hot Springs, Arkansas, they found a piano and started to work on the song a bit. An early fan was the bartender, who said that he’d buy the first copy if they ever decided to record it. Of course, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was a huge hit at the performance, and in January 1962, Bennett recorded it and released it on a 45 RPM record on the B-side to “Once Upon a Time.” But gradually, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” started getting all the airplay and it became a major hit for Bennett, winning him his first Grammy Award. It is his signature song and is beloved by all of his fans.

It’s notable that George Cory, who wrote the tune for I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” was born August 3, 1920.

Tony’s “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” won Record of the Year at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards.

About This Version

Today’s version of “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” is from Duets: An American Classic. It’s just Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap on piano. It’s exquisite.

Duets: An American Classic won the 2007 Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Album.

“I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” as well as Duets: An American Classic, is available on Apple Music.

My favorite version of this song is Tony Bennett, with Judy Garland, singing “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” and was never released on a record. It was on Tony Bennett’s appearance on The Judy Garland Show on July 30, 1963.

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Song of the Day: The Song is You

The song of the day for Sunday, July 12, 2026, is “The Song is You.”

About Today

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was born on July 12, 1895 in Harlem. He is mostly known as a lyricist, but was also a librettist, theatrical producer, and musical theater director. Even though he was born to a prominent theatrical family, his father did not want his son to pursue theatre as a career; thus Hammerstein attended Columbia University to study law. After his father died, he began perform in and write for the school’s Varsity shows. In his early years, he collaborated with songwriters, such as Jerome Kern, with whom he wrote the 1927 musical Show Boat. He is best known for his work with Richard Rodgers, beginning with the revolutionary 1943 musical Oklahoma! (which ran for 2,212 performances, closing in 1948), followed by the 1945 Carousel, which ran for 890 performances. In his work with Richard Rodgers, they won 34 Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes (for Oklahoma! and South Pacific), and two Grammy Awards.

Note that Oscar Hammerstein is the only person named Oscar to receive an Oscar from the Academy Awards.

Hammerstein is also known as a mentor to Stephen Sondheim, who was a friend Hammerstein’s son James. Sondheim had written a musical while in high school, called By George! Sondheim asked Hammerstein to critique his show as if Sondheim was a professional. Thus began a years-long mentorship that lasted until Hammerstein’s death in 1960.

If interested, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization is a great place to start and learn more about Oscar Hammerstein.

About This Song

“The Song is You” was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein for their 1932 musical Music in the Air. Alec Wilder wrote in American Popular Song that the song “attempts too dramatic a statement on too small a stage […] it suggests a grander voice than that usually associated with popular theater music”, but that it nonetheless possesses a “superior quality” as a composition, with a “masterful” release containing “brilliant” harmony and melody.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Song is You” for his 2015 album with Bill Charlap, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern.  Bennett was accompanied by Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes on dual pianos for this song.

“The Song is You,” as well as The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: I’ve Got a Crush On You

The song of the day for Monday, July 6, 2026, is “I’ve Got a Crush On You.”

About This Song

“I’ve Got a Crush on You” was written in 1928 by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1928 musical Treasure Girl, where it was introduced by Clifton Webb and May Hay, and again in 1930 for Strike Up The Band, where it was sung by Doris Caron and Gordon Smith. It’s been widely sung by jazz vocalists, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall recorded “I’ve Got a Crush on You” for their 2018 album Love Is Here To Stay. Krall and Bill Charlap wrote the arrangement. The Bill Charlap Trio (Charlap, piano; Peter Washington, bass; Kenny Washington, drums) accompanied the album.

“I’ve Got a Crush On You,” as well as Love Is Here To Stay, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Somebody Loves Me

The song of the day for Saturday, June 20, 2026, is “Somebody Loves Me.”

About This Song

“Somebody Loves Me” was written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva, for the 1924 George White’s Scandals. It has been widely recorded since it was first published, with recordings from 1924 until the present. Significant recordings include those by Dinah Shore, Lena Horne, Diana Washington, Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and many more.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall recorded “Somebody Loves Me” for their 2018 album of George Gershwin music: Love Is Here To Stay. The Bill Charlap Trio (Charlap on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums) accompanied the entire album. Charlap wrote the arrangement for this song.

“Somebody Loves Me,” as well as Love Is Here To Stay is available on Apple Music.

Paul Whiteman recorded this instrumental of today’s song in October 1924. It’s one of the first recordings of “Somebody Loves Me.”