The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: House of Flowers

The song of the day for Saturday, May 25, 2013 is “House of Flowers.”

About This Song

From the musical of the same name, “House of Flowers” was written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Truman Capote. House of Flowers opened on Broadway in 1954. Itl was based on the short story by Truman Capote, who also wrote the book and lyrics.

House of Flowers is set in Haiti in a brothel. A wealthy man has taken a fancy to one of young women who works there. She, however, loves a young man from her village. The song “House of Flowers” is sung by the young man to ask her to come and live with him, even though he is poor.

About This Version

Today’s song comes from Tony Bennett’s composer songbook album: Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, released in 1960. The album was orchestrated by Glenn Osser and featured a lush string orchestra. Bennett notes in The Good Life that the orchestra consisted of mainly classical musicians and that they enjoyed the recording session for this album. He said “That’s the only album I ever made where the musicians actually applauded after each take.”

http://open.spotify.com/track/3gWTyg0n84yQRWrECxqJBG
“House of Flowers,” as well as the remastered Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: That Old Black Magic

The song of the day for Wednesday, May 22, 2013, is That Old Black Magic.

About This Song

Written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, That Old Black Magic was written in 1942 and used in the 1943 film Star Spangled Rhythm, where it was introduced by Vera Zorina and Johnnie Johnston.

This song has been very popular since it was first written, starting with the 1942 version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Other significant recordings are by Margaret Whiting, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. Marilyn Monroe sang the song in the 1956 Bus Stop.

About This Version

Bennett:Brubeck

Today’s version is from upcoming release of em>Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962, which will be available on May 28, 2013. The concert began with a set by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (Brubeck, Paul Desmond on alto sax, Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on bass), followed by a set of Tony Bennett with the Ralph Sharon Trio (Sharon, Billy Exiner on drums and Hal Gaylord on bass). The last part of the concert featured the Dave Brubeck Trio (minus Desmond) and Tony Bennett in a unrehearsed set of improvisations, including this great recording of That Old Black Magic.

That Old Black Magic

Listen to That Old Black Magic on Spotify. Song · Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett · 2003

That Old Black Magic, as well as Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 is available for pre-ordering from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: So Long, Big Time!

The song of the day for Friday, April 26, 2013 is So Long, Big Time!

About This Song

So Long, Big Time! was written in 1963 by Harold Arlen and Dory Langdon, who may be better known by her married name Dory Langdon Previn.

About This Version

While researching information about the late Frank Laico this week, I came across a marvelous video of Tony Bennett’s recording session on September 17, 1963 of So Long, Big Time! at the CBS 30th Street Studio, with Harold Arlen himself conducting the orchestra. I was completely captivated and knew I had to feature this Arlen song as the song of the day. It’s one of Arlen’s later songs and it’s a darn good one. To the best of my knowledge, Bennett’s is the first recording of this song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3KjtHoSOKmduvJYnYnhoW3
So Long, Big Time!, as well as the full remastered The Many Moods of Tony album, is available from iTunes.

And, as promised, here’s the video of Tony Bennett recording this cut at the famed CBS 30th Street Studio, with Harold Arlen conducting the orchestra. The smile on Harold Arlen’s face is beautiful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe

The song of the day for Sunday, April 21, 2013 is Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe.

About This Song

This song, written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, was included in the film version of Cabin In The Sky, starring Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson and a very young and very lovely Lena Horne. The Broadway production of Cabin In The Sky opened in 1940 starring Miss Waters and Dooley Wilson, and had a spectacular score by Vernon Duke and John LaTouche, which included a Tony Bennett favorite Taking A Chance on Love.

The film version was released in 1943. In addition to the Duke-LaTouche score, additional songs were added, including the Arlen-Harburg masterpiece, Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe, which was nominated for an Academy award for the Best Original Song, losing to the Harry Warren-Mack Gordon song You’ll Never Know from Hello Frisco, Hello.  Arlen was nominated for two songs that year; the other was That Old Black Magic written with Johnny Mercer. Also nominated were songs by Cole Porter, Jule Styne, Jimmy McHugh and Arthur Schwartz. Pretty tough company. The film, directed by Vincent Minnelli (his first solo film directing credit), included a brief scene with Louis Armstrong as The Trumpeter (complete with little devil horns) and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

About This Version

I had never seen this film until this weekend; I recorded it just to check it out (thanks Turner Classic Movies) and found it delightful. Great performances, Ethel Waters, and a production number by Busby Berkeley. What more do you want in a movie? It was pure joy and the music was wonderful. The full score is available from iTunes.

Tony Bennett recorded this song only once, to the best of my knowledge, for his 1962 album with Ralph Sharon, Tony Sings For Two.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2wkWjp5DhCqTkGuw2Fi9a0
Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe, as well as the remastered Tony Sings For Two album, is available from iTunes.

And here’s Ethel Waters singing our song of the day from the film Cabin in the Sky:

 

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Last Night When We Were Young

E.Y. “Yip” Harburg was born on April 8, 1896 in New York. He was one of the great American lyricist, working with composers including Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne and Burton Lane.

Yip Harburg

In honor of his birthday, our song of the day is one of our favorites that he wrote with Harold Arlen, Last Night When We Were Young.

About This Song

Arlen and Harburg wrote Last Night When We Were Young in 1935. It was to be featured by Lawrence Tibbett as a solo number in the film Metropolitan, but that vocal version was cut from the film, though the melody was used as background music. Frank Sinatra’s recording of Last Night When We Were Young in his 1954 album In The Wee Small Hours is widely considered to be one of Sinatra’s masterpieces. The song was much-loved by Judy Garland as well.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded Last Night When We Were Young for his 1992 tribute album to Sinatra, Perfectly Frank. His is a great version of a great song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/1qgQmCZ3fUkG2dNSYI6OvN
Last Night When We Were Young, as well as the full Perfectly Frank album, is available from iTunes.