The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: You Must Believe in Spring

The song of the day for Thursday, December 12, 2013 is “You Must Believe in Spring.”

About This Song

“You Must Believe in Spring” was written by Michel Legrand, with the English lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman (the French lyrics were by director Jacques Demy). The song was written for the 1967 French film Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, which starred Catherine Deneuve. “You Must Believe In Spring” has been widely recorded by artists including Sylvia Syms, Barbra Streisand and Bill Evans, in a posthumous release of an album with the same name, featuring sessions with Eddie Gomez and Eliot Zigmund.

About This Version

Last summer, someone on Twitter was posting about the Tony Bennett / Bill Evans albums and called them “bruised and beautiful.” I’ve never forgotten that phrase, as (for me, anyway) applies to many of the songs that Bennett and Evans recorded, none more so than “You Must Believe in Spring.” In other hands, this song would express a sense of sadness, tempered with hope. In the hands of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, it’s a pleading song of loss and love and despair, with a small bit of hope coming through. Bruised and beautiful.

In her one-woman show a few years ago, Elaine Stritch remarked on singing Stephen Sondheim’s song “The Ladies Who Lunch” from Company as a three-act play. This recording is also a three-act play of amazing depth, pain, sensitivity and love and hope.

http://open.spotify.com/track/44S9DUM1T1vNN9jn8aOGeL
“You Must Believe in Spring,” as well as the album Together Again, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

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Song of the Day: Theme from “Summer of ’42”

The song of the day for Thursday, December 5, 2013 is “Theme from Summer of ’42.”

About This Song

Also known as “The Summer Knows,” today’s song is from the 1971 movie Summer of ’42. The song was written by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

I spent the summer of 1971 doing summer stock theater at Pennsylvania State University and having the time of my life. On one of our rare evenings off, a group of us went to see this movie and I loved it from the start and still do.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for the album of the same name, released in 1971. There are some wonderful songs on this album in addition to today’s song, including “Walkabout,” “It Was Me” and “The Shining Sea.” Today’s song was arranged and conducted by Torrie Zito and was produced by Teo Macero.

Today’s song was a request from one of our readers. Please don’t hesitate to request any Tony Bennett song that you’d like to hear. You can use the comments box on any page for your request.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4QH3SUgnlRn4FTrdqLDmuI
“Theme from the Summer of ’42,” as well as the album Summer of ’42, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: How Do You Keep The Music Playing

The song of the day for Saturday, November 30, 2013 is “How Do You Keep the Music Playing.”

About This Song

“How Do You Keep the Music Playing” was written by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, in 1982 for the movie Best Friends. The song has been a favorite with popular and cabaret singers, including Susannah McCorkle, Andy Williams, Frankie Laine, Maureen McGovern, Frank Sinatra and, of course, Tony Bennett.

This song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Interestingly, three of the four songs nominated that year had lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. They did win the award for “If We Were In Love,” from the movie Yes, Giorgio.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1986 for his album The Art of Excellence. Your opinionated author has been a fan of this song ever since. The first time I ever heard Tony Bennett in concert (Seattle, Washington in September, 2007), he sang this song. He also told the story of how he was attending a Frank Sinatra concert at the Hollywood Bowl and Frank Sinatra told him, during the concert, that he needed to sing this song. I’m very glad that he took Frank’s advice in this matter.

How Do You Keep The Music Playing?

Listen to How Do You Keep The Music Playing? on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1986

“How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” as well as The Art of Excellence, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

Our YouTube Saturday video is the wonderful video of the duet of Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin recording this song for the album Duets II. That single tear on Tony’s cheek at the end of the song moves me each and every time.

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Song of the Day: Watch What Happens

The song of the day for Sunday, August 25, 2013 is “Watch What Happens.”

About This Song

Thanks to Turner Classic Movies and my digital video recorder, I watched The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the first time this evening and knew within in a few minutes of the movie that “Watch What Happens” had to be the song of the day. The melody runs throughout the entire film. The film was released in 1964 with a marvelous score by Michel Legrand and lyrics in French by Jacques Demy, who also directed the movie. The entire film is sung-through, though it should not be considered an opera. There are no songs sung by a chorus; it’s that instead of spoken dialogue, the dialogues is sung. And it works beautifully as a film. The English lyrics for “Watch What Happens” are by Norman Gimbel.

About This Version

Today’s version of “Watch What Happens” is from Tony Bennett’s 1965 album If I Ruled the World: Songs For the Jet Set. It was arranged and conducted by Don Costa; the album was produced by Ernie Altschuler. This is one of Bennett’s finest albums and includes other great songs, including “If I Ruled the World” and “Fly Me To The Moon.”

http://open.spotify.com/track/6J1m1Bse56jNnCy7opDbXb
“Watch What Happens,” as well as the album If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available from iTunes and Amazon.com (for vinyl fans, amazon.com has a new vinyl LP rerelease of this album for sale as well).

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Song of the Day: Watch What Happens

The song of the day for Saturday, June 29, 2013 is “Watch What Happens.”

About This Song

“Watch What Happens” was written in 1964 by Michel Legrand with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel for the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Bennett’s masterful 1965 album If I Ruled the World – Songs For the Jet Set.

Tony Bennett has opened every concert of his that I have attended with this song, which makes me very happy because I love this song very much and never tire of hearing him sing it. (And yes, this dates back to seeing The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the tender age of fifteen. I think my parents took me because I was taking French in school at the time.)

http://open.spotify.com/track/6J1m1Bse56jNnCy7opDbXb
“Watch What Happens,” as well as the If I Ruled The World – Songs For the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.