The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Maybe September

The song of the day for Monday, September 30, 2013 is “Maybe September.”

About This Song

This song is from the 1966 film The Oscar, which starred Stephen Boyd and Elke Sommer and co-starred Tony Bennett as Hymie Kelly, whose memories of the lead character served as the narration of the film. This song was written by Percy Faith, with lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. I’ve never seen the film; alas, it not available on DVD. It does show up on Turner Classic Movies from time to time … I’ll try to keep an eye on their schedule and give everyone a heads up if and when it is shown again.

About This Version

As today is the last day of September, it seemed time to feature this song. Today’s recording is from Bennett’s 1966 The Movie Song Album; it was arranged by Larry Wilcox and conducted by Johnny Mandel. Bennett also recorded this song in 1977 with Bill Evans for Together Again.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3NxRVqbwByRGvlo6Sb1ISF
“Maybe September,” as well as The Movie Song Album, is available from iTunes and amazon.com.

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Song of the Day: Because Of You

The song of the day for Thursday, July 11, 2013 is “Because Of You.”

About This Song

“Because Of You” was written in 1940, with music by Dudley Wilkinson and lyrics by Arthur Hammerstein (uncle to Oscar Hammerstein). It was a moderate hit when written, but really took off in 1952 with Tony Bennett’s recording.

About This Version

“Because Of You” holds a special place in the musical history of Tony Bennett. Having been signed to contract at Columbia in 1950, by 1951 he hadn’t produced a huge hit and there was talk of dropping him from the label. He says in his autobiography The Good Life:

I went into Percy’s (Percy Faith) office and he said, “In this next session you really have to deliver. We have only three songs ready, so we need another song.” I remember that he looked through a bunch of sheet music on his desk, grabbed a song, and said, “Well, let’s do this one.” That song was “Because Of You.” I was doing a lot of dramatic singing on my early records … but Percy said to me, “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song,” I took his advice.

And what great advice that was. The record didn’t start out getting a lot of airplay. It did, however, get a lot jukebox plays and so a groundswell of popularity began for this recording and the calls came pouring in to the DJs at the radio stations to play “Because of You.”

.. it reached number one on Billboard magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951. It stayed on the chart for thirty-two weeks–ten weeks at number one. I finally had my first major hit record.

I have no doubt that Tony Bennett would have become the legend he is today even if “Because of You” had not been picked up off the desk that day. That said, it was an amazing bit of good fortune that Percy Faith did pick it up that day. “Because of You” sold a million copies and firmly cemented Tony Bennett as a star.

Today’s version is, of course, the original version from 1951. It sounds as fresh and wonderful as if it had been recorded this year.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4DTO96EvOW9JT6OIUNFpZW
“Because Of You,” as well as the The Columbia Singles, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes. This volume of the Columbia single also includes other great early singles including “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Sing You Sinners,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and a heart-breakingly beautiful version of “While We’re Young.”

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Song of the Day: Because Of You

As we kick off The Tony Bennett 1950s Hit Parade week, our song of the day for Sunday, January 6, 2013 is Because Of You.

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This song was written in 1940 by Arthur Hammerstein (uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II) and Dudley Wilkinson. The song was used in the 1951 film I Was An American Spy.

About This Version

Because Of You was the first song of Tony Bennett’s to reach #1 on the Billboard charts. In his autobiography, The Good Life, Mr. Bennett relates this story:

By the spring of 1951, I was told that if I didn’t get a hit soon I’d be dropped from the label. I went into Percy’s (Percy Faith) office and he said, “In this next session you really have to deliver. We have only three songs ready, so we need another song.” I remember that he looked through a bunch of sheet music on his desk, grabbed a song, and said, “Well, let’s do this one.” That song was “Because Of You.” I was doing a lot of dramatic singing on my early records like “Sing You Sinners” and “Boulevard” but Percy said to me, “Just relax. Use your natural voice and sing the song.” I took his advice.

Because Of You became Tony Bennett’s first hit song. It started getting a lot of play on jukeboxes and the momentum grew and it became popular on radio as well.

Listeners from all around the country began calling local radio stations and requesting “Because Of You,” and it reached number one on the Billboard magazine’s pop chart on June 23, 1951. It stayed on the chart for thirty-two weeks–ten weeks at number one. I finally had my first major hit record.

The song was recorded on April 4, 1951. It was arranged and conducted by Percy Faith and produced by Mitch Miller.

Because of You

Listen to Because of You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

Because Of You, as well as Columbia Singles: Volume 1, is available from iTunes.