• Home
  • About
    • About This Blog
    • About the Authors
  • Song of the Day
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
    • Tony Live!
    • Music
      • Viva Duets
      • Songs
      • Albums
    • Art
  • And More
    • Collaborator of the Month
    • Songwriter of the Month – 2016
    • News
      • Cheek To Cheek
      • Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962
      • Life is a Gift
      • Viva Duets
      • Zen of Bennett
      • Other News
    • About His Collaborators
    • Musings
    • Extras
      • Books
      • Interviews
      • Media
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

January 6, 2013 By Suzanne 2 Comments

Song of the Day: Because Of You

As we kick off The Tony Bennett 1950s Hit Parade week, our song of the day for Sunday, January 6, 2013 is Because Of You.

890239

This song was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II) and Dudley Wilkinson. The song was used in the 1951 film I Was An American Spy.

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. Tony Bennett · Song · 2011.

Because Of You, as well as Columbia Singles: Volume 1, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Arthur Hammerstein, Billboard, Dudley Wilkinson, Percy Faith

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

  • Song of the Day: Where Do You Start
  • Song of the Day: La Vie En Rose
  • Song of the Day: Exactly Like You
  • Song of the Day: The Folks Who Live On The Hill
  • Song of the Day: As Time Goes By
  • Song of the Day: Yesterday I Heard The Rain
  • Home
  • About
  • Song of the Day
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
  • And More
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

Copyright © 2023 The Year of Tony Bennett · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress