The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Cold, Cold Heart

The song of the day for Tuesday, April 19, 2022, is “Cold, Cold Heart.”

About This Song

“Cold, Cold Heart” was written in 1951 by Hank Williams. Bennett used Tony Bennett to sing this song regularly in concert and always tells the story of how Mitch Miller played the song and asked Bennett to record it. Bennett told him he couldn’t sing it, as he wasn’t a country and western singer. He says that Mitch said he’d record it even if he (Mitch) had to tie him to a tree. “And so he tied me to a tree …” Bennett quips. It really is a beautiful and heartfelt song and was a big hit for Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Cold, Cold Heart” in 1951, featuring an arrangement by Percy Faith.

“Cold, Cold Heart,” as well as the songs collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1 is available on Apple Music.

We’ve got a very special video today! It’s a Tony Bennett appearance in 1954 on the Ed Sullivan Show. Bennett sings a medley with “Because Of You,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and “Rags To Riches.”

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Song of the Day: Weary Blues From Waitin’

The song of the day for Thursday, November 5, 2020, is “Weary Blues From Waitin’.”

About This Song

“Weary Blues From Waitin’” was written by Hank Williams in 1951. It was released as a posthumous single after Williams was killed in an automobile accident on New Years Day, 1953.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Weary Blues From Waitin’” in 1957, released as a single that same year. Ray Ellis did the arrangement.

Weary Blues From Waitin"

Listen to Weary Blues From Waitin" on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

“Weary Blues From Waitin’,” as well as all of singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 5, is available from Apple Music.

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Playlist of the Week: Tony Loves a Piano

The playlist of the week of May 12, 2019, is Tony Loves a Piano. Some of Bennett’s finest recordings have been made with just Tony and a pianist. This week we honor some of the best of those recordings.

Tony Loves a Piano

Some of Tony Bennett's finest recordings have been with only Tony and a pianist. This week we honor some of the best of those recordings.

My Foolish Heart (Victor Young and Ned Washington) with Bill Evans
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Richard Rodgers and Larry Hart) with Ralph Sharon
Cold, Cold Heart (Hank Williams) with John Bunch
Some Other Time (Leonard Bernstein, Adolph Green and Betty Comden) with Bill Evans
The Man That Got Away (Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin) with Ralph Sharon
A Sleepin’ Bee (Harold Arlen and Truman Capote) with Ralph Sharon
Dream Dancing (Cole Porter) with Bill Evans
One For My Baby (by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer)/It Had To Be You (Isham Jones, Gus Kahn) with John Bunch
We’ll Be Together Again (Carl T. Fischer and Frankie Laine) with Bill Evans

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Song of the Day: Cold, Cold Heart

The song of the day for Saturday, July 28, 2018 is “Cold, Cold Heart.”

About This Song

“Cold, Cold Heart” was written in 1951 by the great Hank Williams. It’s said, though probably apocryphally, that Williams had a bitter argument with his wife and later told the family’s governess that his wife had a cold, cold heart. The song was written soon after. If the story isn’t true, then it should be.

About This Version

Tony Bennett’s 1951 recording of “Cold, Cold Heart” was a blockbuster and is quite well-known. Today, I’m featuring a lesser-known recording from 1970: just Tony Bennett with pianist John Bunch. It’s an exquisite recording that was released with the Tony Bennett Complete Collection box set on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1.

Cold, Cold Heart

Tony Bennett · Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1 · Song · 2012


“Cold, Cold Heart,” as well as other previously unreleased recordings on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

About Today

I have a couple of videos of today’s song.

First up, this Google Doodle from Valentine’s Day a few years ago, features Bennett’s original 1951 recording.

Next up is a video with singer Tim McGraw, from the 2006 album Duets: An American Classic. As always, Gray Sargent’s guitar is just perfect.

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Song of the Day: Cold, Cold Heart

The song of the day for Friday, July 7, 2017 is “Cold, Cold Heart.”

About This Song

“Cold, Cold Heart” was written by Hank Williams in 1951.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Cold, Cole Heart” on May 31, 1951. Percy Faith did the arrangement and Mitch Miller was, of course, the producer.

Bennett tells this story in his autobiography The Good Life:

When Mitch first played me Hank Williams’s “Cold, Cold Heart,” I have to admit I didn’t think I should sing it. In those days country artists still used the old-time fiddle, and I told Mitch that I couldn’t do it. He told me just to listen to the words and music, pointing out how beautiful the ending was: “Why can’t I free your doubtful mind/ And melt your cold, cold heart?” He convinced me, and I recorded it. The song started out slowly at first, but it caught on, and it kept climbing the charts until it was number one.

The success of the song resulted in Bennett being a guest star at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. I found this wonderful photo:

June Carter, Tony Bennett, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline

Even though the quality of the photo is very poor, how can anyone resist these four artists singing “I Saw the Light.”

Cold, Cold Heart

Listen to Cold, Cold Heart on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011


“Cold, Cold Heart,” as well as all of the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

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