The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Saturday, November 22, 2014 is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

Written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, “But Beautiful” was written for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1947 movie The Road to Rio. The song has been widely recorded, including recordings by Bill Evans, Johnny Hartman, Billie Holiday, Gregory Porter, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett and Bill Evans.

About This Version

Today’s version the duet with Lady Gaga from the recently released album Cheek To Cheek. Even though I am devoted to the recording Bennett made with Bill Evans, this one is also quite excellent; I love hearing the perspective of the singer change over the intervening years. Lady Gaga is damned swell too. It’s definitely one of my favorites from their album.

About Today

If today is Saturday, there must be a video. Here’s the video that Tony and Lady Gaga made for today’s song.

But Beautiful

Listen to But Beautiful on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014


“But Beautiful,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Monday, September 29, 2014 is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

Today’s song was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was written for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1947 movie The Road to Rio. The song has been widely recorded, including recordings by Bill Evans, Johnny Hartman, Billie Holiday, Gregory Porter, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

About This Version

Today’s version of “But Beautiful” is the duet version with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga from their new album Cheek To Cheek. Bennett has recorded this song once before: in 1975 with Bill Evans for The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album. Both versions are wonderful. I never tire of this song and am happy to present this new recording of a favorite song. Note the very lovely work from guitarist Gray Sargent.

But Beautiful

Listen to But Beautiful on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014


“But Beautiful,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Sunday, September 7, 2014 is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

“But Beautiful” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke in 1947 for the Bob Hope / Bing Crosby movie Road to Rio. The song has been widely recorded, including recordings by Bill Evans, Johnny Hartman, Billie Holiday, Gregory Porter, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Bill Evans recorded “But Beautiful” in 1975 for their first album, The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album. On an album filled with beautiful and poignant songs, this one is one of the best, at least for this author. Love is like that, sometimes.

About Today

I enjoyed so much hearing Tony Bennett singing this song on Saturday on the iTunes Festival, that I had to feature it as the song of the day. Many thanks to iTunes for streaming the concert.

But Beautiful

Bill Evans, Tony Bennett · The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album (Expanded Edition) · Song · 1975

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Song of the Day: Darn That Dream

The song of the day for Monday, August 11, 1954 is “Darn That Dream.”

About This Song

“Darn That Dream” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange for the 1939 Broadway 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. Another significant recording of “Darn That Dream” is by Billie Holiday, from her 1957 album Body and Soul.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s first album Cloud 7. It was arranged by Chuck Wayne.

About Today

Tony Bennett recorded “Darn That Dream” exactly sixty years ago today: August 11, 1954. You can click the date to read more about this session on our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography.

Our congratulations to Mr. Bennett on his amazing recording career and for this wonderful first album: Cloud 7. One of my favorite reviews of this album said that “the mood is nocturnal, elegant, amorous, hip.” It’s all of those things and more.

http://open.spotify.com/track/1h3EHlaKpPhHBIpyHFRJo0
“Darn That Dream,” as well as the album Cloud 7, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Here’s That Rainy Day

The song of the day for July 27, 2014 is “Here’s That Rainy Day.”

About This Song

Today’s song was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke in 1953 for the Broadway musical Carnival in Flanders. The song has proved quite popular since it was written, with significant recordings by Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck and many others.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1971 for his 1972 album With Love. Like the rest of the album, “Here’s That Rainy Day” was arranged by Robert Farnon. The album was produced Jimmy Wisner and was recorded in London, England. It features John Bunch on piano.

http://open.spotify.com/track/5DG2gaML9xlIJT4RJvDNos
“Here’s That Rainy Day,”” as well as the album With Love, is available on iTunes.