The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: It Had To Be You

The song of the day for Sunday, March 10, is It Had To Be You.

About This Song

It Had To Be You was written in 1924 by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Though not originally written for a film, this song was used in the 1939 film The Roaring Twenties and the 1951 Danny Thomas film I’ll See You In My Dreams, based loosely on the life of Gus Kahn, who wrote the song’s lyrics. It was also played by Dooley Thomas in Casablanca. It’s one of those songs that most of us have known and enjoyed for as long as we can remember. Well, me anyway.

About This Version

March 10 is singer Carrie Underwood’s birthday. To help celebrate her birthday, we choose her duet  with Tony Bennett of It Had To Be You from Duets II. Happy Birthday to Carrie Underwood!

Their duet is quite charming and very enjoyable.

http://open.spotify.com/track/328dqlTGkTgH5GPrsQusql
It Had To Be You, as well as the full Duets II album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: It Had To Be You

The Song of the Day for Friday, November 30, 2012 is It Had To Be You.

About It Had To Be You

It Had To Be You was written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Published in 1924, it was recorded many times in its first year by many popular orchestras, including Paul Whiteman and the composer’s own orchestra. The song has been steadily recorded from then to now by artists including Petula Clark, Ray Charles, Betty Hutton, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. The song has also been used in many popular films over time, including Casablanca, Annie Hall and When Harry Met Sally.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded this song in 1956 for his album Tony. It was arranged and conducted by Ray Conniff and was produced by Mitch Miller.

This song, well as the remastered Tony, is available on iTunes.