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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

May 27, 2022 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Rags to Riches

The song of the day for Saturday, May 28, 2022, is “Rags to Riches.”

About This Song

“Rags to Riches” was written in 1953 by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. When Tony Bennett first heard “Rags to Riches,” he hated the song and was forced by Mitch Miller to record it. With a very nice arrangement by Percy Faith, the recording was huge hit for Bennett and earned him a gold record. Thankfully, Bennett grew to enjoy singing the song. Martin Scorcese used the 1953 recording in the opening of Goodfellas, which helped find a new audience for this song.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Rags to Riches” on March 17, 1953, with a very fine arrangement by Percy Faith.

“Rags to Riches,” as well as the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 2 is available on Apple Music.

Today we’re honoring Ray Liotta, who passed away on May 26, 2022, and are remembering him from the opening of Goodfellas, where Bennett’s version of “Rags to Riches” was played.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Goodfellas, Jerry Ross, Percy Faith, Ray Liotta, Richard Adler, Tony Bennett

August 10, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Rags To Riches

I keep seeing Martin Scorsese doing his Siri – iPhone commercial on TV, which made me think of Goodfellas, which leads to me the Song of the Day for August 10, 2012: Rags to Riches. The song was written in 1953 by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and was recorded by Tony Bennett in that same year.

Tony wrote about the song in the liner notes for Forty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett:
“This was one record on which I was way off, because I was way against doing it. Mitch Miller and Percy Faith practically had to tie me down to do it. I was wrong: in two weeks, it sold a half-million records in Pittsburgh alone, and it stayed 25 weeks on the charts, including eight as #1. As Confucius once said, ‘You must learn not only to give advice, but also to take it.'”

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Goodfellas, Jerry Ross, Richard Adler

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