The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: I’ve Got Just About Everything

The song of the day for Tuesday, August 26, 2014 is “I’ve Got Just About Everything.”

About This Song

Written by the marvelous jazz pianist and composer Bob Dorough, this song is a true joy to listen to. In his liner notes for Forty/Fifty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett, Bennett says that “this one explains how a singer feels when he sings a song everyone likes.”

In addition to Bennett’s recording, Bob Dorough has also recorded the song as have the duo Tuck and Patti, Natalie Cole and Ann Hampton Calloway.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded today’s song in 1964 for the album When Lights Are Low. For all of this album, it’s Bennett with the Ralph Sharon Trio, featuring Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums. This is the way I love Tony Bennett: the voice singing with a jazz combo. The album was produced by Ernie Altschuler.

About Today

I woke up this morning to an email from the great people at DownBeat Magazine with a link to an interview with the composer of today’s song, Bob Dorough. You can read that interview here. He’s the essence of hip.

I"ve Got Just About Everything

Listen to I"ve Got Just About Everything on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1964


“I’ve Got Just About Everything,” as well as the album When Lights Are Low, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: The Rules of the Road

The song of the day for Thursday, August 7, 2014 is “The Rules of the Road.”

About This Song

“The Rules of the Road” was written in 1961 by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh. While the pair is best-known for their scores for Broadway musicals, such as Little Me and Wildcat, “The Rules of the Road” was not written for a show. In addition to several recordings by Tony Bennett, the song has also been recorded by Lena Horne, Shirley Horne, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney.

But I think that Tony Bennett completely owns this song and always will.

About This Version

Today’s version of “The Rules of the Road” is from Bennett’s 1964 album When Lights Are Low. Bennett is accompanied on this album by the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums.

I’ve been listening to When Lights Are Low all week and especially to “The Rules of the Road.” Regular readers know that this song is a favorite of mine; I choose it often. He’s made several different recordings of this song and each has its own distinct take. I really do love this version, though. I hope you do too.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3Ym1D0K9Qk4PTK2Iw2Z6It
“The Rules of the Road,” as well as the remastered album When Lights Are Low, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: I’ve Got Just About Everything

The song of the day for Tuesday, August 5, 2014 is “I’ve Got Just About Everything.”

About This Song

The inimitable Bob Dorough wrote “I’ve Got Just About Everything” in 1966. He calls it “a really hip love song with a kind of jazz feel” and it certainly is. It has been recorded by Dorough, Tuck and Patti, Natalie Cole and Tony Bennett.

About This Version

This is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums. When Lights Are Low is kind of a follow-up album to Tony Sings For Two. Where he sang with just Ralph Sharon on Tony Sings For Two, When Lights Are Low features the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Hal Gaylord playing a mean bass and Billy Exiner on drums. The arrangement by Sharon is just as hip as the song and the extended piano solo is great fun. No matter how blue I may be, this song never fails to not only pick me up, but smile and laugh too.

http://open.spotify.com/track/32ne5iCh5B7geOvcX8PQsu
“I’ve Got Just About Everything,” as well as the remastered album When Lights Are Low, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Ain’t Misbehaving

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 22, 2014 is “Ain’t Misbehaving.”

About This Song

“Ain’t Misbehaving” was written in 1929 by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks, with lyrics by Andy Razaf. Waller recorded the original version, released by the Victor label on August 2, 1929. This recording received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1984; the song was named as one of the 365 Songs of the (20th) Century, as selected by the Recording Industry Association of America.

There were six other versions recorded in 1929, including those by Ruth Etting, Louis Armstrong and Leo Reisman and His Orchestra. The song has remained vastly popular over the years, with recordings by the greats of jazz: Anita O’Day, Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Kay Starr, Sidney Bechet and many, many more. The song found new popularity in 1978 with the musical revue of the same name with a book by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr. Your author had the great fortune to see the production with the original cast and it was one of the most exciting and happiest evenings I have ever spent in a theatre.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Bennett’s live appearance at the Sahara in Las Vegas in 1964, recently released on the album Live At The Sahara: From This Moment On, recorded in April, 1964. In that same time frame, he recorded the song with the Ralph Sharon Trio for the album When Lights Are Low.

Both versions feature a slower tempo than one usually hears today. I like this tempo a lot and has a much different feel than the song does when sung at the much faster tempo, such as from the 1978 Ain’t Misbehaving. It’s a great song at about any tempo and today’s version is a joy.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4e7Xq3O7WJC9TcJOdOcPEb
“Ain’t Misbehaving,” as well as the album Live At The Sahara: From This Moment On, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: The Song Is Ended

The song of the day for Sunday, July 6, 2014 is “The Song Is Ended.”

About This Song

“The Song Is Ended” was written in 1927 by Irving Berlin, with lyrics by Beda Leohner, for the Broadway musical Will o’ The Whispers. Ruth Etting recorded it in 1927 as did Annette Hanshaw. Other recordings include those by Louis Armstrong with The Mills Brothers, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Jeri Southern.

The song is referenced by Ira Gershwin in the verse to “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” with this line:

the song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote, the melody lingers on

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1987 for his album of Irving Berlin songs, Bennett/Berlin. All of the songs on the album were arranged by Tony Bennett. Dizzy Gillespie plays a nice trumpet on this song; Bennett is accompanied by The Ralph Sharon Trio, with Paul Langosch on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3YudPLcZLV79R1j2WaS4xU
“The Song Is Ended,” as well as the album Bennett/Berlin, is available from iTunes.

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