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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

March 27, 2025 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Just In Time

The song of the day for Thursday, March 27, 2025, is “Just In Time.”

About Today

In 1965, Harry Belafonte asked his friend Tony Bennett to join him and Martin Luther King on the march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, and Bennett agreed.
This march was the third march. The first march started on March 7, 1965, the day that came to be called Bloody Sunday; one of the leaders of that march was John Lewis, the late congressman from Georgia. The marchers got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they were met by state troopers. The marchers were attacked by the troopers, who beat them with nightsticks, threw tear gas into the crowd, and even charged the crowd on horseback. John Lewis had his skull fractured, among the many injuries to the marchers. Congressman Lewis was interviewed about the march by NPR on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

The second march occurred on Tuesday, March 9. The marchers proceeded to the same Edmund Pettus Bridge and began to pray. A judge had put a restraining order on King to forbid the march, and King complied. Despite that, three white ministers were attacked by the Klan and beaten. The public hospital in Selma refused to treat the ministers, one of whom, James Reeb, died two days later.

The third, and final, march occurred on March 21, after a judge ruled that the protesters had a First Amendment right to march in protest. Harry Belafonte asked notable Civil Rights supporters, including Tony Bennett, to join the march.

The march started with 8000 marchers, including Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Frankie Laine, and Nina Simone. On the night before they made it to Montgomery, Bennett and the other celebrities performed in an ad hoc concert for the marchers. There was no stage; a local funeral parlor provided coffins, which were placed together to form a stage.

That night, Tony Bennett sang “Just In Time.”

When it was time to leave, Tony Bennett and Billy Eckstine were driven to the airport by a Michigan housewife named Viola Liuzzo, who believed strongly in voting rights, saying that “it was everybody’s fight” and came to Alabama to help. On her return from taking Bennett and Eckstine to the airport, she was attacked and killed by the Ku Klux Klan. NPR did a story about Mrs. Liuzzo and her family.

I am personally very grateful to Tony Bennett for his lifelong fight against racism. Thank you. In his autobiography The Good Life, Bennett speaks about his father as being “… a real humanist. Astoria had quite a diverse population, and we learned at an early age to respect people for who they are, and not to judge them by the color of their skin or the way they looked.”

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, when all of this was happening, and saw some of it first-hand. My late parents were active in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s; much like Viola Luizzo, they felt it was “everybody’s fight.” I learned the same lesson from my parents that Tony Bennett learned from his father. I am proud to be their daughter.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965.

About This Song

“Just In Time” was written by Jule Styne, with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, for the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing. where it was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin. Holliday and Dean Martin sang it in the 1960 film version of Bells Are Ringing.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Just In Time” on. September 19, 1956 (your author’s 6th birthday), and was released as single. Percy Faith wrote the arrangement. It was added to Bennett’s 1962 album Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Hits.

“Just In Time,” as well as Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Hits, is available on Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Adolph Green, Bells Are Ringing, Betty Comden, Harry Belafonte, John Lewis, Jule Styne, Mr Broadway: Tony's Greatest Broadway Hits, Percy Faith, Third March from Selma to Montgomery, Tony Bennett, Viola Liuzzo

January 17, 2021 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Just In Time

The song of the day for Monday, January 18, 2021, is “Just In Time.”

About This Song

“Just In Time” was written for the 1956 Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing; the music was composed by Jule Styne, with lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden. It was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sidney Chaplin; Holliday and Dean Martin sang it in the 1960 film version of Bells Are Ringing.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Just In Time” on my birthday in 1956 and it was released as a single that year. It was later added to his 1962 album Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Broadway Hits.

In 1965 Harry Belafonte, a good friend of Bennett’s, asked him to join Martin Luther King, Jr. for the third Selma march, the march after Bloody Sunday. This interview with Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett, conducted by Chris Cuomo, tells the story:

Tony Bennett / Harry Belafonte remember Bloody Sunday / Selma Alabama

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In 1978, the miniseries King was aired, starring Paul Winfield as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cecily Tyson as Coretta Scott King. Tony Bennett played himself and recreated his performance.. The entire miniseries is available on YouTube; I cued it up to Bennett’s performance:

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Uploaded by None on 2014-07-04.

Just in Time

Listen to Just in Time on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1962

“Just In Time,” as well as Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Broadway Hits, is available from Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Adolph Green, Bells Are Ringing, Betty Comden, Harry Belafonte, Jule Styne, Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Mr Broadway: Tony's Greatest Broadway Hits, Selma March

March 23, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Just In The Time

The song of the day for Saturday, March 23, 2013 is Just In Time.

About This Song

Just in Time is one of the many great songs from the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

The Year of Tony Bennett chooses this song in honor of Tony Bennett’s participation in the Third March from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965. The first two marches had ended poorly, with the marchers being attacked by police with billy clubs and tear gas on the first march and not being allowed to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge on the second march. Dr. Martin Luther King enlisted Harry Belafonte to encourage  other celebrities to join the fight. Tony Bennett was the first person Belafonte reached out to. Other participants included Joan Baez, Paul Newman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frankie Laine and Nina Simone.

On the morning of March 24, the march entered Montgomery County, Alabama. That night, there was a “Stars For Freedom” rally, with performances by the artists. There was no stage; a local funeral home offered the use of empty coffins to make a stage. Tony Bennett, visibly exhausted from the long march, sang Just In Time. In August, 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.

About This Version

This version of Just in Time is from the Tony Bennett / Count Basie album, In Person!

http://open.spotify.com/track/7zYba3iNwhjnlpDTbfXK5N
Just In Time, as well as the full Tony Bennett Count Basie In Person! album, is available from iTunes.

Here’s the interview with Tony Bennett and Harry Belafonte from CNN conducted on March 21, 2013.

 

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Adolph Green, Bells Are Ringing, Betty Comden, Harry Belafonte, Jule Styne, Third March from Selma to Montgomery

September 5, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Just In Time

The Song of the Day for September 5, 2012 is Just In Time.

About Just In Time

Written by Jule Styne (music) and Betty Comden and Adolph Green (lyrics), Just In Time is just one the great hits from the 1956 Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing.  The stars of the show, Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin introduced the song. Tony Bennett recorded the song in the same year, and it was a big hit for Mr. Bennett. The Party’s Over, another song recorded by Mr Bennett (Hometown, My Town in 1959) was the other major hit song from this wonderful score.

About This Version

Mr. Bennett has sung this song over his career, including his duet with Michael Bublé in the 2006 Duets album. But perhaps his most significant performance was never recorded. Starting on March 21, 1965, Tony Bennett marched with Martin Luther King, now-Congressman John Lewis, Ralph Bunche, Billy Eckstine, Leonard Bernstein and many, many others on the Third March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On the evening of March 24, 1965 on a makeshift stage (created with coffins loaned by a local mortuary), a Stars for Freedom rally and concert was held. In addition to Mr. Bennett, the performers included Harry Belafonte, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter, Paul and Mary.

The documentary film Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends, contains a short clip from this concert (approximately 21:28 in). You can easily see how completely and totally exhausted Mr. Bennett was at this rally. He got up and sang Just In Time and for the American civil rights movement, it was just in time. As a result of the marches from Selma to Montgomery, President Johnson introduced and Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, major battle in the Civil Rights movement.

For today, we present Mr. Bennett’s original recording of Just in Time, released as single and compiled here on the first CD of the Fifty Years of Tony Bennett box set.

Just in Time

Tony Bennett · Fifty Years - The Artistry Of Tony Bennett · Song · 2004

As I write this topic, the First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama, just finished addressing the delegates to the 2012 Democratic Convention. To have such a moment in our history, we owe thanks to many brave Americans who have fought racism all their lives, including Tony Bennett. Thank you, Mr. Bennett.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Adolph Green, Bells Are Ringing, Betty Comden, Harry Belafonte, Jule Styne, Martin Luther King, Third March from Selma to Montgomery, Voting Rights Act

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