The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

The song of the day for Saturday, August 30, 2014 is “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.”

About This Song

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” was written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields for the revue Blackbirds of 1928, produced by Lew Leslie. The song was the first big hit for this songwriting pair. It has been a widely recorded jazz and popular standard, with recordings by Ukelele Ike, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Anita O’Day and many others.

About This Version

Today’s version was recorded on April 17, 1950 at Tony Bennett’s first recording session for Columbia. Also recorded at that session were “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “I Wanna Be Loved.” All were arranged and conducted by Marty Manning. You can read more about this session at our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography.

I Can"t Give You Anything But Love

Listen to I Can"t Give You Anything But Love on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” is one of the songs featured on the upcoming Tony Bennett / Lady Gaga album: Cheek To Cheek. We’re quite happy to show their video of today’s song as our Saturday YouTube.

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Song of the Day: Can’t Get Out Of This Mood

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 15, 2014 is “Can’t Get Out Of This Mood.”

About This Song

Today’s song was composed by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Frank Loesser for the 1942 wartime musical, Seven Day’s Leave. This torch song was introduced in the movie by Ginny Simms, with the Freddy Martin Orchestra.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for his 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen!. The album was arranged by the very talented Marion Evans and the orchestrations are excellent; this song is a great example of Evans’ work. The strings are just right and the trombone solo is fantastic. Oh, and Tony Bennett is as good as it gets on this song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/5GqhWBdSSvgPp82stuEh9Z
“Can’t Get Out Of This Mood,” as well Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

The song of the day for Monday, June 30, 2014 is “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.”

About This Song

“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” was written for the 1928 show Lew Leslie’s Blackbird Review by Jimmy McHugh (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics). It’s been a popular jazz song since that time with many fine recordings, including those by Ukulele Ike, Louis Armstrong, Doris Day, Marlene Dietrich, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” in 1956 for his second full-length album, Tony. All the songs on the album were arranged and conducted by Ray Conniff.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3sNVXE2W8TtHcL1otaUdxq
“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” as well as the album Tony, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Willie Nelson is celebrating his 81st birthday today and The Year of Tony Bennett is pleased to join in the celebration of one of America’s greatest singers and composers. In honor of his birthday, the song of the day is “On the Sunny Side of the Street.”

About This Song

Today’s song was written by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, in 1930. It was introduced in Lew Leslie’s International Revue. It was an instant jazz standard and has remained popular up to today, with both instrumental and vocal recordings of great stature. Duke Ellington recorded it 1938 with vocalist Ivie Anderson. Instrumental recordings include those Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Lester Young and Dave Brubeck. Vocal recordings include those by Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland, Doris Day and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Today’s version is, of course, the duet with Tony and Willie Nelson from the 2011 Duets II. Willie also plays the sweet guitar on this version.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4hkfBXwxJnCWRf9sDZvtkr
“On The Sunny Side Of The Street,” as well as the album Duets II, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: On the Sunny Side of the Street

The song of the day for Wednesday, February 12, 2014 is “On the Sunny Side of the Street.”

About This Song

“On The Sunny Side of the Street” was written by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Dorothy Fields in 1930. It was introduced in Lew Leslie’s International Revue. The song was one of the first in a series of cheerful songs to try to cheer people up over the Great Depression. It has proven popular with singers, who love the wonderful Fields lyrics, and jazz players, who love McHugh’s swingy tune.

About This Version

Today’s version of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” is from Bennett’s 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! This song, as well as the entire album, was arranged and conducted by Marion Evans. Howard Roberts produced the album.

We choose this song, in part, as it is one of the four songs that k.d. lang sang last night in her Broadway debut in After Midnight.

http://open.spotify.com/track/6hINWgC3EgCfjis27zY9Gq
“On the Sunny Side of the Street,” as well as the album Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

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