The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Funny Thing

The song of the day for Monday June 23, 2014 is “Funny Thing.”

About This Song

“Funny Thing” was written in 1954, with music by Jimmy Van Heusen (writing as Arthur Williams) and lyrics by Carl Sigman.

About This Version

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.

We think it’s a great song too. I hope you enjoy it.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4gG1o35ftgjeS640FXhBZM
“Funny Thing,” as well as all of the singles collected on The Columbia Singles, Vol. 3, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Swinging on a Star

The song of the day for Sunday, March 30, 2014 is “Swinging on a Star.”

About This Song

“Swinging on a Star” was written in 1944 by the songwriting team of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was written for the movie Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for that year. Crosby recorded a very successful version of the song in 1944. Other recordings include those by Rosemary Clooney, Burl Ives, and Ruby Braff, among many others.

This song is a favorite of your opinionated author, who remembers hearing the song in the family kitchen while her mother making dinner when your author was only three years old. I remember laughing every time I heard the song. I also remember my mother would sometimes turn to me and sing just “or would you rather be a fish” and I would laugh again.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for his 1998 album The Playground, a collection of songs for the entire family. It’s a charming album with many great songs and features duets with Elmo and Kermit The Frog. Of course, this is quite timely, as Mr. Bennett has a cameo in the latest Muppets movie, Muppets Most Wanted.

http://open.spotify.com/track/12K4vdbpLp6f9DYjE9AOrB
“Swinging on a Star,” as well as the album The Playground, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Sunday, March 16, 2014 is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

“But Beautiful” was written in 1947 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke for the movie Road To Rio. Road To Rio was one a series of “Road” films starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. In this film, Bing Crosby introduced this song, singing it to his co-star, Dorothy Lamour. The song quickly found its home in the jazz world, with great recordings by Stan Getz, Shirley Horn, Billie Holiday and Gregory Porter. The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans version is among the very best.

About This Version

My website content management system just let me know that I’ve used this song as the song of the day six times. I try to not repeat myself too much, but this beautiful version from Tony Bennett and Bill Evans must be the exception to that rule. Evans, of course, is no accompanist. In this song, as in the album, they meet as both two instruments and two voices in these performances. For this author, it’s both musicians at their very best.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0239f1wAgvbGw7pzFg5Upd
“But Beautiful,” as well as The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I Thought About You

The song of the day for Friday, March 7, 2014 is “I Thought About You.”

About This Song

“I Thought About You” was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer in 1939. The lyrics are said to have been inspired by a train trip. Gene Lees, author of Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, quotes Mercer:

I can remember the afternoon that he 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.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Thought About You” for his 1992 album Perfectly Frank. The song was arranged by Ralph Sharon, with the Ralph Sharon Trio (Paul Langosch on bass, Joe LaBarbera on drums) accompanying Bennett.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3ly3nRfuPcNWEpHRv1AOJ7
“I Thought About You,” as well as the album Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes.

By Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: All My Tomorrows

The song of the day for Tuesday, January 28, 2014 is “All My Tomorrows.”

About This Song

“All My Tomorrows” was written in 1959 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for the Frank Capra film A Hole in the Head, which starred Frank Sinatra. Sinatra sang the song over the credits; he also released as a single with another Van Heusen / Cahn song, “High Hopes.” This song has also been recorded by Shirley Horn and Jack Jones, as well as Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “All My Tomorrows” in 1965 for If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set. While many of the songs on this album use a full orchestra, arranged and conducted by Don Costa, today’s song features the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums. It’s a beautiful arrangement, with a seeming simplicity that serves both the song and Tony Bennett’s voice perfectly.

http://open.spotify.com/track/77FBZJrodMtpxyM2NxPKc7
“All My Tomorrows,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

Subscribe to The Year of Tony Bennett

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Current Reader Favorites