The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: What Makes It Happen

The song of the day for Wednesday, September 28, 2022, is “What Makes It Happen.”

About This Song

“What Makes It Happen” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for the 1966 Broadway musical Walking Happy. Van Heusen and Cahn were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist, but lost to John Kander and Fred Ebb who wrote Cabaret.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “What Makes It Happen” on November 26, 1966, for his album Tony Makes It Happen!. Friend of the blog, Marion Evans, conducted and wrote the arrangement.

“What Makes It Happen,” as well as Tony Makes It Happen!, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Darn That Dream

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 19, 2022, is “Darn That Dream.”

About This Song

“Darn That Dream” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange for the 1939 musical Swingin’ the Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The cast had many big names: Louis Armstrong playing Bottom, Maxine Sullivan as Titania, Bill Bailey, and Dorothy Dandridge. It only ran for 13 performances and is considered to be a flop. Fortunately, “Darn That Dream” proved to be a big hit and earned some money for the investors.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Darn That Dream” on August 11, 1954; and released in 1955 on the album Cloud 7. It was arranged by Chuck Wayne. who also played guitar on the album.

“Darn That Dream,” as well as Cloud 7 is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Darn That Dream

The song of the day for Thursday, June 2, 2022, is “Darn That Dream.”

About This Song

“Darn That Dream” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange for the 1939 musical Swingin’ the Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The cast had many big names: Louis Armstrong playing Bottom, Maxine Sullivan as Titania, Bill Bailey, and Dorothy Dandridge. It only ran for 13 performances and is considered to be a flop. Fortunately, “Darn That Dream” proved to be a big hit and earned some money for the investors.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Darn That Dream” on August 11, 1954, for his first LP album, Cloud 7. Chuck Wayne wrote the arrangement.

“Darn That Dream,” as well as Cloud7 is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Funny Thing

The song of the day for Friday, April 1, 2022, is “Funny Thing.”

About This Song

“Funny Thing” was written in 1954 by Jimmy Van Heusen (writing as Arthur Williams) and Carl Sigman. In his autobiography, The Good Life, Tony Bennett wrote “I was especially fond of a song I recorded that year called ‘Funny Thing,’ which was credited to the excellent lyricist Carl Sigman and a little-known composer named ‘Arthur Williams.’ Actually, ‘Arthur Williams’ was a pseudonym for publishing reasons by the great tunesmith and my great friend Jimmy Van Heusen. I thought ‘Funny Thing’ was a great song and a likely hit, and I was disappointed when it didn’t go anywhere

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Funny Thing” in 1954. Percy Faith conducted the orchestra and wrote the arrangement. This song was released as a single.

“Funny Thing,” as well as all the songs collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 3 is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: I Thought About You

The song of the day for Thursday, February 24, 2022, is “I Thought About You.”

About This Song

“I Thought About You” was written in 1939 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mercer. In the biography Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, author Gene Lees quotes Mercer about this song:

I can remember the afternoon that we wrote it. He [Van Heusen] played me the melody. I didn’t have any idea, but I had to go to Chicago that night. I think I was on the Benny Goodman program. And I got to thinking about it on the train. I was awake, I couldn’t sleep. The tune was running through my mind, and that’s when I wrote the song. On the train, really going to Chicago.

“I Thought About You” proved quite popular and has been recorded many times by jazz performers including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, Shirley Horn, Dinah Washington, and Mel Tormé.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Thought About You” in 1992 for the album Perfectly Frank, which won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“I Thought About You,” as well as Perfectly Frank is available on Apple Music.
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