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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

July 14, 2015 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: So Long, Big Time

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 14, 2015 is “So Long, Big Time.”

About This Song

One of Harold Arlen’s later songs, “So Long, Big Time” is about the ‘player’ who’s run out of luck and is giving up the fast life and knows when it’s time to walk away. The lyrics are by Dory Langdon Previn. The song has not been widely recorded, but it was recorded by The Bill Evans Trio with Monica Zetterlund in 1964 for the album Waltz For Debby.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1963, the year it was written. It was conducted by the composer … here’s a video from the recording session, held at the CBS 30th Street Studio. Keep an eye on Harold Arlen at 2:20 into the clip … his glorious smile is wonderful.

So Long, Big Time!

Listen to So Long, Big Time! on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1964.


“So Long, Big Time,” as well as The Many Moods Of Tony, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: CBS 30th Street Studio, Dory Langdon Previn, Harold Arlen, The Many Moods of Tony

August 13, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Lover

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 13, 2014 is “Lover.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “Lover,” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1932 for the 1932 film Love Me Tonight, where it was introduced by Jeanette MacDonald. I was listening to this song today, when this snippet of the verse stuck in my head and wouldn’t let go:

Since you took control of my life
You have become the whole of my life
When you are away it’s awful
And when you are with me its worse

How can anyone resist that?

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Lover” for his 1973 album Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs, accompanied by the very fine Ruby Braff / George Barnes Quartet. Tony Bennett produced this album. It was recorded at the famed CBS 30th Street Studio, with recording engineer Frank Laico. Bennett’s two Rodgers and Hart albums were his last to record at the CBS 30th Street Studio, which was dismantled in 1981.

According to David Simon, author of Studio Stories: How the Great New York Records Were Made, the CBS 30th Street Studio was considered by some in the music industry to be the best sounding room in its time and others consider it to have been the greatest recording studio in history. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Mitch Miller, upon visiting the space for the first time, announced it perfect exactly as is and demanded that none of the old curtains or drapes be brought down and to refrain from vacuuming up the dust on the floor.

Other artists who recorded there include Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and Dave Brubeck. The last recording made was in 1981: Glenn Gould’s reconsidered Goldberg Variations (Reappraised), recorded a year before the pianist’s death.

Lover

Listen to Lover on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 2004.

“Lover,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available on iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: CBS 30th Street Studio, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs

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