The song of the day for Saturday, October 10, 2015 is “Fly Me To The Moon.”

About This Song

“Fly Me To The Moon” was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. It was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song to “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard and many more. However, Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”

About This Version

Today’s version is, of course, that definitive 1965 recording, included on one of Bennett’s finest albums: If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set. It was arranged and conducted by Don Costa. This song is definitely in my top ten of Tony Bennett songs, ever since the first concert of his I attended. It was in Seattle, at the Paramount Theater on September 14, 2007. I was sitting in the balcony. He put down the microphone at the end of the concert and sang “Fly Me To the Moon.” I heard every note and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.

“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Today is Saturday and, if you’re up early, don’t forget that Scott Simon interviews Mr. Bennett on Weekend Edition on NPR this morning. If you’ve overslept, you should be able to find a recording of the interview at npr.org.

It’s also YouTube Saturday and I found a very special video of Tony Bennett singing “Fly Me To The Moon.” The violinist is Joel Smirnoff, who was featured on Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool, accompanying Bennett on “Prelude To A Kiss.”