The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: All For You

The song of the day for Friday, February 14, 2014, Valentine’s Day, is “All For You.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “All For You,” is adapted from a Django Reinhardt song called “Nuages” with lyrics by Tony Bennett. Billboard magazine noted the song in an article about the album:

Bennett continues to challenge himself. In fact, for the first time in his career, the artist contributed his own lyrics to a song on his new album, “The Art of Romance.” The cut, “All for You,” is based on an instrumental jazz tune called “Nuages” written by Django Reinhardt and Jacques LaRue.

“I heard a nice trio playing it in Hawaii and went to the piano player and asked what tune it was,” Bennett recalls. “So I found the family who owned it and got permission to write the lyric, and it’s funny, but it just rolled out in an hour.”

A love song for Bennett’s companion Susan Crow, “All for You” keeps with the album title’s theme. He says it was also inspired by “all the great lyricists from the Golden Age — [Jerome] Kern and Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg and [Johnny] Mercer, of course.”

About This Version

“All For Love” is from Tony Bennett’s wonderful 2004 album The Art of Romance. This album is the album that made me the Tony Bennett fan that I am today: I literally listened to it, in its entirety, two or three times a day for week. The album is exactly what it says it is: the art of romance. The album has the arc of a romance: starting with first falling in love (“Close Enough For Love” and “All In Fun”) to deep love (“I Remember You” and “All For You”) and finally to the end of a beautiful affair (“Don’t Like Goodbyes” and “Gone With The Wind”). While any of the songs on the album is always worth a listen, listening to it from start to finish is a remarkable and beautiful exploration about the nature of romance.

The album was produced by Phil Ramone. This song was arranged and conducted by the noted composer and arranger Johnny Mandel (who wrote two of the songs on the album as well) and features the quartet of Lee Musiker (piano), Paul Langosch (bass), Gray Sargent (guitar) and Clayton Cameron (drums).

http://open.spotify.com/track/7BM3dTtWqRswr3wDYZnwXB
“All For You,” as well as the album The Art of Romance, is available from iTunes.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. And remember, nobody can sing a love song like Tony Bennett. He’s the best.

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Song of the Day: The Shadow of Your Smile

The song of the day for Saturday, November 23, 2013 is “The Shadow of Your Smile.”

About This Song

“The Shadow of Your Smile” (also known as the theme from The Sandpiper) was written by Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster for the 1965 film The Sandpiper, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The Sandpiper was set in and filmed on location in Big Sur, on the California coast. The song was very popular and won both the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

We choose this song today in honor of the birthday of Johnny Mandel, who was born on November 23, 1925 in New York City. He is quite well-known for his wonderful film scores, including those for Emily, M*A*S*H and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. His popular songs, many recorded by Tony Bennett, also include “Close Enough For Love” and one of my personal favorites, “Where Do You Start?” He is also associated with Tony Bennett as an arranger and conductor on albums including The Movie Song Album and The Art of Romance. Happy Birthday, Mr. Mandel.

On a personal note, today’s song was a favorite of my late mother and I’d like to dedicate today’s song to her as well.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for what he has often called his favorite of all his albums: the 1966 The Movie Song Album. Today’s song was arranged and conducted by Mr. Mandel. “The Shadow of Your Smile” is a favorite of Tony Bennett: he sings it regularly in his concerts, always to great applause.

http://open.spotify.com/track/66YI4JFp7BcMcepibGprsN
“The Shadow of Your Smile,” as well as The Movie Song Album, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

And no, I haven’t forgotten that it’s YouTube Saturday. Here’s Tony Bennett singing today’s song, from The Andy Williams Show in 1966.

Tip: Never, never, ever trust a spelling checker. The Sandpaper? Really??

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Song of the Day: I Remember You

The song of the day for Tuesday, November 19, 2013 is “I Remember You.”

About This Song

“I Remember You” was written in 1941, with music by Victor Schertzinger and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the 1942 movie The Fleet’s In, where it was introduced by Dorothy Lamour, singing with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. The song is a jazz standard (), with many fine recordings, including those by Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Doris Day and Chet Baker. A country-yodeling version was also recorded by Slim Whitman.

About This Version

The Year of Tony Bennett enjoyed yesterday’s tributes to Johnny Mercer so much that we felt compelled to choose another song from the great lyricist.

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s 2004 album The Art of Romance. This album has a special place in my heart; it was this album that took me from being a fan of Bennett’s music to wanting to explore more deeply the work by America’s greatest singer. I was most struck by the thoughtful and perfect arc in the selection and order of the songs he chose for this album. I listened not just to song or two, but always to the entire album. Even now, nearly ten years later, when I listen to The Art Of Romance, I am swept up in this remarkable chronicle about all of the aspects of romance, from the first inklings to its inevitable resolution. It never fails to move me, even after listening to the album dozens of times.

This album also includes Tony Bennett’s song, “All For You,” for which he wrote the lyrics to music by Django Reinhardt.

“I Remember You” was arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel, who also wrote three of the songs on the album. In addition to the orchestra, Bennett’s quartet included Lee Musiker on piano, Paul Langosch on bass, Clayton Cameron on drums and Gray Sargent on guitar. The album was produced by Phil Ramone. The album is impeccably made; every detail is just so.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3osJ7xPsn1UhfRVDcHN7zf
“I Remember You,” as well as the album The Art of Romance, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

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Song of the Day: The Shining Sea

The song of the day for Monday, August 12, 2013 is “The Shining Sea.”

About This Song

“A Shining Sea” was written by Johnny Mandel and Peggy Lee for the 1964 movie The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony’s 1966 album A Time For Love. The song was arranged and conducted by the composer, Johnny Mandel, and features Bobby Hackett on cornet.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4fBISkPgggFlRoW9sCN9KX
“The Shining Sea,” as well as the entire A Time For Love album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Where Do You Start

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 7, 2013 is “Where Do You Start.”

About This Song

“Where Do You Start” was written by Johnny Mandel with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman in 1987. If there is such as thing as songwriting royalty today, it’s these three. Mandel, who has worked extensively with Tony Bennett, wrote “Emily,”The Shadow of Your Smile,” and “Close Enough For Love,” all of which Bennett has recorded. Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote lyrics for “How Do You Keep The Music Playing,” “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “You Must Believe in Spring” and “The Way We Were.”

About This Version

I must admit that I have an incredible weakness for both “Where Do You Start” and The Art of Romance. I have ten different versions of our song of the day in iTunes, ranging from Nancy Lamott to Tony Bennett to Barbara Cook to Shirley Horn; all of them great. And The Art of Romance. I absolutely adore this album; it’s what made me go out in 2004 and buy every Tony Bennett album I could possibly find. When it first came out, I think I listened to it four or five times a day for a month; I couldn’t believe what an exquisitely beautiful album it was … and still is. One could read books about the nature of romantic love for years and not learn as much about love as Bennett tells us in this album.

So, I’m quite happy to present this beautiful song as the song of the day. Mandel did the arrangement as well as conducted the orchestra for this recording.

Did I mention that I like The Art of Romance a lot?

http://open.spotify.com/track/398Bk2f9uCzJBl1UkAY4UN
“Where Do You Start,” as well as The Art of Romance, is available from iTunes.