An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett
The song of the day for Sunday, February 19, 2023, is “Because of You.”
“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson. It was Tony Bennett’s first major hit, recorded in 1951.
Tony Bennett and k.d. lang recorded “Because of You” on February 10, 2006, for Duets: An American Classic. Jorge Calandrelli wrote the arrangement.
“Because of You,” as well as Duets: An American Classic is available on Apple Music.
The song of the day for Saturday, May 21, 2022, is “Because of You.”
“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson.
Tony Bennett recorded “Because of You” on April 4, 1951. It was arranged by Percy Faith.
“Because of You,” as well as all the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available on Apple Music.
The song of the day for Thursday, January 23, 2020, is “Because of You.”
“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson.
It was Spring 1951. Tony had been told that he would need a real breakthrough recording or he might be dropped from his contract with Columbia. He was preparing for a recording session with Percy Faith. They had three songs planned, but need a fourth. Percy grabbed the sheet music for “Because of You” from the pile on his piano. And, well, the rest was history. After a slow start, “Because of You” was Bennett’s first song to hit #1 on the charts, thanks in large part to fans playing it on jukeboxes and calling radio stations to play that new song from Tony Bennett. It spent 10 weeks at the top of the charts and charted for 32 weeks and sold over a million copies.
Today, I’ve chosen his recording of this song with k. d. lang on the 2006 album Duets: An American Classic. I love the way Bennett’s and lang’s voice blend so beautifully in their duet recordings. This is one of the best of them.
“Because of You,” as well as Duets: An American Classic, is available from iTunes.
The song of the day for Saturday, November 25, 2017 is “Because of You.”
“Because of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (Oscar’s uncle) and Dudley Wilkinson.
Tony Bennett and k.d. lang recorded “Because of You” in 2006 for Duets: An American Classic. It’s a really lovely recording.
“Because of You,” originally recorded in 1951, was Bennett’s big break-out hit; the recording reached number one on the Billboard pop chart for 32 weeks–10 of those weeks were at #1. It was Tony Bennett’s first huge hit and made him a star.
Because of You
Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 2006.
Our Saturday video this week is Tony and k.d. lang sitting with Phil Ramone, who produced Duets: An American Classic, talking about the song and capturing parts of the recording session.
The song of the day for Saturday, February 11, 2017 is “Because Of You.”
“Because Of You” was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson.
Tony Bennett recorded “Because Of You” on April 4, 1951, with an arrangement by Percy Faith.
Tony Bennett relates this story about “Because Of You” in his autobiography The Good Life:
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 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.”
“Because of You” built momentum from jukebox listeners and thus caught on with local radio stations. It reached number one on Billboard’s magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951 and stayed on the chart for 32 weeks … ten of the weeks at number one. Tony Bennett had his first big hit.
Because of You
Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 2011.
Tony Bennett and k.d. lang recorded “Because of You” in 2006 for Duets: An American Classic. Here’s the video they made: