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 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: 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.

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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.

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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.

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Song of the Day: Oh! You Crazy Moon

The song of the day for Friday, January 17, 2014 is “Oh! You Crazy Moon.”

About This Song

“Oh! You Crazy Moon” was written Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke in 1939. This song has been recorded by Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker and Rebecca Kilgore.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for one of my favorite albums, When Lights Are Low, where he was accompanied by only the excellent Ralph Sharon Trio, with Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums joining Sharon’s piano. This album was released in 1964.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0IUJqVq9rqvX6WzVrUzWyh
“Oh! You Crazy Moon,” as well as the remastered When Lights Are Low album, is available from iTunes.