The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: I Wanna Be Around

The Song of the Day for April 19, 2013 is I Wanna Be Around.

About I Wanna Be Around

The story behind this song is legendary. A woman from Ohio named Sadie Vimmerstedt was a fan of Johnny Mercer. She came up with the first two lines of the song and thought they sounded like a Mercer lyric. She famously mailed a letter with those two lines to “Johnny Mercer, Songwriter, Los Angeles, California.”

Mercer agreed, and went on to write the melody and remaining lyrics for I Wanna Be Around. He asked Tony Bennett to record the song, which Bennett did in October, 1962. It was the foundation for his 1963 album of the same name.

Johnny Mercer gave 50 percent of the royalties from the song to Ms. Vimmerstedt, which allowed her to retire and travel the world.

About This Version

This version
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Song of the Day: One For My Baby

The Song of the Day for September 27, 2012 is One For My Baby.

About One For My Baby

This song was written by two of the greatest songwriters who ever lived: Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, for the 1943 film musical The Sky’s The Limit and was introduced by Fred Astaire. It is a very well-known standard and has been recorded by many jazz and popular singers, including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Frankie Laine, Lena Horne, Marlene Dietrich, Rosemary Clooney and Sammy Davis, Jr. Even the songwriters, both of whom were excellent singers, made recordings of One For My Baby.

Mr. Bennett first recorded this song as a single in 1957. He recorded it again for the 1992 Perfectly Frank and as a duet with John Mayer on Duets II.

About This Version

We choose this live version, as we are still in the thrall of attending two Tony Bennett concerts in two days. Tony Bennett and Lee Musiker seem to be having a lot of fun performing this song in concert.

This version is from the 1962 Carnegie Hall Concert. Make it one for my baby and one more for the road.

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Song of the Day: One For My Baby

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

About One For My Baby

The Song of the Day for August 22, 2012 is one of the great American songs, written by Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). One For My Baby was written for movie The Sky’s The Limit (1943) and was introduced by Fred Astaire. Like most songs by either Arlen or Mercer, this song has been recorded many, many times by American singers ranging from Astaire to Lena Horne to Lou Rawls to Iggy Pop to Willie Nelson.

About This Version

Of all the singers identified with this song, Frank Sinatra is most associated with One For My Baby. He recorded it several times, starting in 1943 and ending in 1993 for his Duets album. Tony Bennett recorded as a single in 1957. Today’s version is from his sublime album Perfectly Frank, his tribute to his great friend Frank Sinatra.

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I Remember You

The Song of the Day for August 13, 2012 is I Remember You. Let’s see: Favorite album by favorite artist, singing a song by a favorite songwriter.

About I Remember You

I Remember You was written in 1941 by Victor L. Schertzinger (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). It was introduced by Dorothy Lamour in The Fleet’s In, released in 1942, directed by Mr. Schertzinger.  It’s a jazz standard and has been recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Julie Christy, Jeri Southern, and Ella Fitzgerald.

About This Version

This version was recorded for The Art of Romance (which may be my favorite Tony Bennett studio album),  released in 2004. Accompanying Tony on this album was the quartet of Lee Musiker, Paul Langosch, Gray Sargent, and Clayton Cameron.  Johnny Mandel arranged the song and conducted the orchestra.