The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

The song of the day for Tuesday, October 8, 2013 is “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.”

About This Song

“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” was written for the 1940 Broadway musical Pal Joey by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The song was one of the big hits from this show, in addition to another Bennett favorite “I Could Write a Book.” Notable recordings are by Benny Goodman, Mel Tormé, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Alec Wilder admired the lyric and the verse, but found the song “notey.” In spite of being notey, it’s a cornerstone of the American Songbook.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1961 album Tony Sings For Two. This album is rather remarkable: at that time, and perhaps even today, it was practically unheard of for a very popular singer like Bennett to record an album with just piano accompaniment (from Ralph Sharon). Bennett and Sharon recorded sixteen songs in a single session, twelve of which made it onto the album, which is widely considered to be one of Bennett’s finest.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4Re3BBnTFrSppLM2M4iATX
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” as well as the album Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

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Song of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

The song of the day for Saturday, April 6, 2013 is Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

About This Song

Today’s song is just one of the many fine songs from the score of the Broadway musical, Pal Joey, written in 1940 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. In addition to I Could Write a Book, Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered has become a  much-beloved standard and has been widely recorded by Benny Goodman, Doris Day, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Even Rod Steward and Cher recorded the song as a duet. And though the esteemed Alec Wilder finds the song “notey,” I think it’s one of Rodgers’ best with the usual exquisite lyrics by Hart.

About This Version

I have loved this song since I was a small child; I have memories of my parents listening to this song after they thought we kids had gone to sleep. It’s a great song. But this recording, with just Tony and Ralph Sharon, is extraordinary. Tony Sings  For Two is one of my favorite of Bennett’s albums.  At that point in musical tastes of the public. as well as Bennett’s stature in popular music, I’m sure many thought it risky or perhaps even uninteresting to just have the singer and the pianist, and no other musicians. And it did sit on the shelf for a couple of years before it was released in 1961. Sharon played wonderfully for Bennett and they both demonstrated their deep connection with and understanding of the songs they chose.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4Re3BBnTFrSppLM2M4iATX
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, as well as the remastered album Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: I Could Write A Book

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 30, 2012 is I Could Write A Book.

About I Could Write A Book

Composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, I Could Write A Book is one of the hit songs from the 1940 musical Pal Joey (the other being Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered). Rodgers and Hart had a magnificent career and worked together from 1919 until Hart’s death in 1943. They wrote two more musicals after Pal Joey: By Jupiter and A Connecticut Yankee. After Hart’s death, Rodgers partnered with Oscar Hammerstein II.

The contribution of Rodgers and Hart to the American Songbook cannot be underestimated. Mountain Greenery, Thou Swell, Blue Moon, This Can’t Be Love and many, many more are some of the songs that were popular when written and remain popular today with jazz and cabaret singers.

10RodgersHart

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded two Rodgers and Hart albums for his Improv label: Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers and Hart Songs and Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers and Hart, both released in 1973.

Bennett is an excellent interpreter of the songs of Rodgers and Hart. The albums are also remarkable for the musicians he recorded the albums with. Bennett was a big fan of the cornet player Ruby Braff. Together, they created a wonderful sound with Braff’s cornet, George Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar, and John Guiffrida on bass. No drums, no piano: just cornet, two guitars and bass. It’s a warm, inviting and very intimate sound that Bennett’s voice fits beautifully with.

I Could Write A Book originally appeared on Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs.

I Could Write A Book

Listen to I Could Write A Book on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1973

I Could Write A Book, as well as the full Tony Bennett Sings Rodgers and Hart, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

This afternoon at the office, I set my iPod to shuffle Tony Bennett songs. The first song that popped up was Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. So, for the Song of The Day for August 25, 2012, we feature another wonderful Rodgers and Hart song.

About Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered was written for the 1940 musical, Pal Joey. It was introduced on Broadway by Vivienne Segal.  The score of Pal Joey is first-rate, but this song is the runaway hit song from the show (though I Could Write a Book is a close second).  The song has been enormously popular with popular, jazz and cabaret singers from 1940 until today.  In addition to Tony’s recording presented here, significant recordings include Helen Forrest with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Dori Day, Ella Fitzgerald and, of course, Frank Sinatra, who starred as Joey Evans in the 1957 film.

About This Version

This version of Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered is from the 1961 album Tony Sings For Two.  The album was just Tony with Ralph Sharon. The album is a deep exploration of the Great American Songbook, performed by two masterful musicians at the top of their game.  Tony’s phrasing on this album is impeccable, as exemplified in our Song of the Day.