The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Goody Goody

The song of the day for Tuesday, October 4, 2016 is “Goody Goody.”

About This Song

“Goody Goody” was written in 1936 by Matty Malneck and Johnny Mercer. This swinging little song concerns a man who thinks he can get away with playing the field without his girlfriend, but she finds out and sings her sweet revenge. The song was quite popular in the 1930s, mostly due to a Benny Goodman recording with Helen Ward on vocals. Other significant recordings include those by Mabel Mercer, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Crosby and others. I suspect this recording from Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga will join the list.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recorded “Goody Goody” in 2014 for their terrific album Cheek To Cheek (Deluxe Version). The arrangement is from Marion Evans.

Goody Goody

Listen to Goody Goody on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014


“Goody Goody,” as well as Cheek To Cheek (Deluxe Version), is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Don’t Wait Too Long

The song of the day for Thursday, August 18, 2016 is “Don’t Wait Too Long.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “Don’t Wait Too Long,” was written by Sunny Skylar. It concerns a relationship between a younger and older person (“you are the summer and I am the autumn”) and the realization that the time together may not be as long as they’d wish. Other recordings of this song are by Frank Sinatra (1965, September of My Years) and Blossom Dearie (1964, May I Come In).

About These Version

Tony Bennett has recorded this song twice. The first was in 1963 for the album The Many Moods of Tony. The second was recorded some 50 years later, in 2014 for Cheek To Cheek. I think it’s worth listening to both versions. After 50 years, some are the same and some others are quite different. Both are wonderful.

Don"t Wait Too Long

Listen to Don"t Wait Too Long on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1964


“Don’t Wait Too Long,” as well as The Many Moods of Tony, is available from iTunes.

Don"t Wait Too Long

Listen to Don"t Wait Too Long on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2014


“Don’t Wait Too Long,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Nature Boy

The song of the day for Saturday, January 30, 2016 is “Nature Boy.”

About This Song

“Nature Boy” was written in 1947 by eden ahbez, the name adopted by George Alexander Aberle, who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1908. In the 1930s, he lived in Kansas City and worked as a pianist and band leader. In the early 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles and began playing piano in a health food and raw food store run by John and Vera Richter, who followed a Naturmensch and Lebensreform philosophy influenced by the Wandervogel movement in Germany. In following their philosophy, he and other followers grew their hair long, became vegetarians and were, for all practical purposes, the earliest hippies. They called themselves The Nature Boys.At the suggestion of Johnny Mercer, eden ahbez approached Nat King Cole with his song “Nature Boy.” Unable to meet with Nat Cole personally, he left the song with Cole’s valet. Cole began to perform the song in his concerts; in 1947 he recorded it for Capitol Records, with an arrangement by Frank DeVol, who used strings and flute in his orchestration. The song was a big hit for Nat Cole and Capitol Records.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga made a lovely recording of “Nature Boy” for their 2014 album Cheek To Cheek.

I’ve been reading a lot (well, all) of Ross Macdonald novels in the past few months, most of them set in Southern California. In several of those books, there are characters who remind me of this song, for better or for worse. I’m sure he ran into one or more nature boys on the west coast as he was plotting those wonderful mysteries.

Just remember: the greatest thing is to love and be loved in return.

Nature Boy

Listen to Nature Boy on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014


“Nature Boy,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

About Today

For our Saturday video, we have a short snippet of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga singing today’s song from their PBS special.

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Song of the Day: Lush Life

The song of the day for Sunday, November 29, 2015 is “Lush Life.”

About This Song

Billy Strayhorn wrote both music and lyrics for “Lush Life” as young man between 1936 and 1938. However, it was not performed publicly until 1948, when Strayhorn and vocalist Kay Davis performed it with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1948. It’s rather amazing to realize that Strayhorn was only a teenager when he started writing this song. It has had several notable recordings, including those by Nat “King” Cole, Billy Ekstine and Johnny Hartman.

About This Version

In our remembering of Billy Strayhorn, I feel that I have to feature “Lush Life” from Cheek To Cheek. Even though this is a Lady Gaga solo, I don’t think Mr. Bennett will mind just this once. She did such a wonderful job on this song, a song more closely identified than any other.

Lush Life

Listen to Lush Life on Spotify. Song · Lady Gaga · 2014


“Lush Life,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

About Today

With “Lush Life,” we close our weekend tribute to Billy Strayhorn. If you are a fan of both Ellington and/or Strayhorn, I’d like to point you to one of my favorite albums: And His Mother Called Him Bill. A grieving Duke Ellington headed into the studio after Strayhorn’s death from cancer in 1967 and recorded this album of Strayhorn’s compositions. I cannot listen to Ellington playing “Lotus Blossom” without crying.

I also call your attention to “Blood Count,” Strayhorn’s last composition, finished while he was in his final hospitalization before his death on May 31, 1967. I find it almost unspeakably beautiful. He was only 51 years old when he died.

And His Mother Called Him Bill

Listen to And His Mother Called Him Bill on Spotify · Album · Duke Ellington · 1997 · 19 songs

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Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Tuesday, November 10, 2015 is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “But Beautiful,” was written in 1947 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was written for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1947 movie The Road to Rio. The song has been widely recorded, including recordings by Bill Evans, Johnny Hartman, Billie Holiday, Gregory Porter, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

About This Version

Today’s version of “But Beautiful” is the duet by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for Cheek to Cheek, released in 2014. This song was arranged by Jorge Calandrelli.

But Beautiful

Listen to But Beautiful on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014


“But Beautiful,” as well as Cheek to Cheek, is available from iTunes.

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