The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: East of the Sun (West of the Moon)

The song of the day for Monday, April 19, 2021, is “East of the Sun (West of the Moon).”

About This Song

Brooks Bowman wrote “East of the Sun” in 1934 while a student at Princeton University for a student musical production called Stags at Bay, produced by the Princeton Triangle Club. The song had great reception and was noted by Princeton alumnus F. Scott Fitzgerald. After his graduation from college in 1936, he worked briefly in Hollywood for the film industry, but decided to return to the East Coast. He was about to start a contract with a New York music publisher when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1937.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “East of the Sun (West of the Moon)” in 1992 for the album Perfectly Frank, consisting of songs associated with Frank Sinatra. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

East of the Sun (West of the Moon)

Listen to East of the Sun (West of the Moon) on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1992.

“East of the Sun (West of the Moon),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: East of the Sun

The song of the day for Tuesday, June 16, 2020, is “East of the Sun.”

About This Song

“East of the Sun” was written in 1934 by Brooks Bowman, a student at Princeton University, for a student musical production called Stags at Bay, produced by the Princeton Triangle Club. The song had a great reception and was noted by Princeton alumnus F. Scott Fitzgerald. After his graduation from college in 1936, he worked briefly in Hollywood for the film industry but decided to return to the East Coast. He was about to start a contract with a New York music publisher when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1937.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “East of the Sun” in 1992 for album of songs often sung by Frank Sinatra, Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“East of the Sun,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: East of the Sun

The song of the day for Tuesday, March 19, 2019, is “East of the Sun (West of the Moon).”

About This Song

Brooks Bowman wrote “East of the Sun” in 1934 while a student at Princeton University for a student musical production called Stags at Bay, produced by the Princeton Triangle Club. The song had great reception and was noted by Princeton alumnus F. Scott Fitzgerald. After his graduation from college in 1936, he worked briefly in Hollywood in films but soon decided to return to the East Coast. He was about to start a contract with a New York music publisher when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1937.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “East of the Sun (West of the Moon)” in 1992 for his album Perfectly Frank, which features songs associated with Frank Sinatra. Ralph Sharon was the arranger.

East of the Sun (West of the Moon)

East of the Sun (West of the Moon), a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“East of the Sun (West of the Moon),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes

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Song of the Day: East of the Sun

The song of the day for Sunday, May 18, 2014 is “East of the Sun.”

About This Song

“East of the Sun” was written in 1934 by Princeton undergraduate Brooks Bowman for a production by the Princeton Triangle Club. It was first recorded in December, 1934 by Hal Kemp and soon found its way into the American songbook. It is, of course, beloved at Princeton University and is often sung by their choirs. After graduation, Bowman worked briefly as a songwriter for Selznick International Pictures, but soon returned to the East Coast to form a songwriting partnership with a fellow Princeton graduate. He died in October 1937 from an automobile accident. It is widely thought that he would have been once of the great songwriters.

His song has been widely recorded by jazz and popular musicians, including those by Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, and Sarah Vaughan. The Frank Sinatra recording was quite popular and the song is widely associated with Sinatra.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “East of the Sun” for his 1992 album Perfectly Frank, where he sings songs made famous by Sinatra. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon and backed by the Ralph Sharon trio, with Paul Langosch on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Bennett included this recording on the 50 Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett box set. In his liner notes for the box set, Bennett writes:

Frank Sinatra was my best friend. When I made my album honoring him, Perfectly Frank, it was a particular challenge. Rather than record songs that were Frank’s most popular, I chose ones that I felt best represented the essence of his artistry. I also wanted to sing the songs that had the greatest influence on me as a singer, besides being my favorites. “East of the Sun” is one of those songs. I find that it runs through my mind all the time, it was a natural choice to record this song for the project.

East of the Sun (West of the Moon)

East of the Sun (West of the Moon), a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify


“East of the Sun,” as well as the album Perfectly Frank, is available on iTunes.

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Song of the Day: East of the Sun

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 9, 2013 is “East of the Sun.”

About This Song

“East of the Sun” was written in 1934 by Brooks Bowman. Bowman was a student at Princeton when he wrote this song for the university’s Triangle Club show, Stags at Bay. The song was recorded in 1935 and was a hit. This success earned Bowman a contract with the Selznik Studios in Hollywood. Tragically, Bowman died in an automobile accident before he could start his job. It’s widely thought that had he lived, Bowman may have been one of the great American songwriters.

About This Version

Today’s recording is from Tony Bennett’s 1992 album Perfectly Frank, which features songs made popular by Frank Sinatra. The album was arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon and Frank Laico came out of retirement to engineer the album.


“East of the Sun,” as well as the entire Perfectly Frank album, is available from iTunes.

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