The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Skylark

The song of the day for Tuesday, March 31, 2025, is “Skylark.”

About This Song

“Skylark” was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer in 1941. Johnny Mercer is said to have worked on the lyrics for “Skylark” for over a year. The song and the lyrics are outstanding, and it easily became a jazz and popular standard. It’s also believed that Buick named its new car Skylark in 1953, due to the popularity of the song.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Ralph Sharon recorded”Skylark” on October 28, 1959, at the session for their album Tony Sings For Two. Due to space constraints, “Skylark” was not included on the initial CD release; it was added for the 1995 CD release of the album.

“Skylark,” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day : Day In, Day Out

The song of the day for Monday, March 31, 2025, is “Day In, Day Out.”

About This Song

“Day In, Day Out” was written by Rube Bloom and Johnny Mercer in 1939. The tune itself is also rather unusual at 56 measures long. In American Popular Song, Alec Wilder notes that “the melodic line soared and moved across the page like a lovely brush stroke. And it had, remarkable for any pop song, passion.” It has been recorded by many of the finest vocalists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Margaret Whiting.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Day In, Day Out” in June 1992 for Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement and led the trio that accompanied Bennett for this album, with Sharon on piano, Paul Langosch on bass, and Joe LaBarbera on drums.

“Day In, Day Out,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Blues in the Night

The song of the day for Sunday, March 30, 2025, is “Blues in the Night.”

About This Song

“Blues in the Night” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1941 movie of the same name. Arlen wrote the music first and wrote a true blues song. Johnny Mercer, who later wrote the lyrics, drew on his southern heritage to write the exceptional blues lyrics. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to “The Last Time I Saw Paris” by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein.

Arlen recalled the writing process of the song:

The whole thing just poured out. And I knew in my guts, without even thinking what Johnny would write for a lyric, that this was strong, strong, strong! When Mercer wrote “Blues in the Night”, I went over his lyric and I started to hum it over his desk. It sounded marvelous once I got to the second stanza but that first twelve was weak tea. On the third or fourth page of his work sheets I saw some lines—one of them was “My momma done tol’ me, when I was in knee pants.” I said, “Why don’t you try that?” It was one of the very few times I’ve ever suggested anything like that to John.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Blues in the Night” in May 2001 for his album Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues. Rob Mathes wrote the vocal arrangements.

Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Album.

“Blues in the Night,” as well as Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues, is available on Apple Music.

Many thanks to YouTube for having the scene in Blues in the Night when the song was sung.

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Song of the Day: One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

The song of the day for Saturday, March 29, 2025, is “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road).”

Johnny Mercer

We’re continuing our look at lyricists with one of America’s greatest: John Herndon Mercer. Johnny Mercer was born on November 18, 1909, to a prominent family in Savannah, Georgia. He developed a love of music at a young age. He was meant to matriculate at Princeton University, but the family lost most of their money in the 1929 crash. He moved to New York and started his career as a lyricist; one of his first major collaborations was with Hoagy Carmichael. He moved to Hollywood in 1938 and worked with several notable composers, including Richard Whiting and Harry Warren. He began working with Harold Arlen in the 1940s; their collaborations were quite notable.

Although he continued to write lyrics for many years, he also pursued other interests, notably founding Capital Records in 1941. New studio signed many notable artists, including Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, Mel Torme, and many other artists. Frank Sinatra was the first artist to record at the newly built Capitol Records building in Los Angeles.

Johnny Mercer died in Los Angeles from a brain tumor on June 25, 1976. He is buried at the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.

About This Song

“One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 film The Sky’s The Limit, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Harold Arlen called this song one of his “tapeworms” as, at 48 bars, it was longer than the standard 32-bar popular song. Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song, says that “the honors must go to the lyric. Just imagine having the acuity and courage to start a song, as Mercer does, with ‘It’s a quarter to three’!

It has been said (though this may be apocryphal) that Mercer wrote the lyric on a cocktail napkin at P. J. Clarke’s when. Tommy Joyce was the bartender. The next day Mercer called Joyce to apologize for the line “So, set ’em up, Joe,” explaining, “I couldn’t get your name to rhyme.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” in June 1992 for his album Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: I Thought About You

The song of the day for Monday, March 24, 2025, is “I Thought About You.”

About This Song

“I Thought About You” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mercer in 1939. In his biography Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, author Gene Lees quotes Mercer about this song: ‘I can remember the afternoon that we 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.’ “I Thought About You” proved quite popular and has been recorded many times by jazz performers including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, Shirley Horn, Dinah Washington, and Mel Tormé.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Thought About You” in June 1922 for his tribute album to Frank Sinatra: Perfectly Frank.
For this album, Bennett was accompanied by The Ralph Sharon Trio, featuring Sharon on piano, Paul Langosch on bass, and Joe LaBarbera on drums.

“I Thought About You,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

Frank Sinatra recorded “I Thought About You” for his 1956 album Songs for Swingin’ Lovers.