The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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

The song of the day for Saturday, March 29, 2025, is “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road).”

Johnny Mercer

We’re continuing our look at lyricists with one of America’s greatest: John Herndon Mercer. Johnny Mercer was born on November 18, 1909, to a prominent family in Savannah, Georgia. He developed a love of music at a young age. He was meant to matriculate at Princeton University, but the family lost most of their money in the 1929 crash. He moved to New York and started his career as a lyricist; one of his first major collaborations was with Hoagy Carmichael. He moved to Hollywood in 1938 and worked with several notable composers, including Richard Whiting and Harry Warren. He began working with Harold Arlen in the 1940s; their collaborations were quite notable.

Although he continued to write lyrics for many years, he also pursued other interests, notably founding Capital Records in 1941. New studio signed many notable artists, including Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, Mel Torme, and many other artists. Frank Sinatra was the first artist to record at the newly built Capitol Records building in Los Angeles.

Johnny Mercer died in Los Angeles from a brain tumor on June 25, 1976. He is buried at the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.

About This Song

“One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 film The Sky’s The Limit, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Harold Arlen called this song one of his “tapeworms” as, at 48 bars, it was longer than the standard 32-bar popular song. Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song, says that “the honors must go to the lyric. Just imagine having the acuity and courage to start a song, as Mercer does, with ‘It’s a quarter to three’!

It has been said (though this may be apocryphal) that Mercer wrote the lyric on a cocktail napkin at P. J. Clarke’s when. Tommy Joyce was the bartender. The next day Mercer called Joyce to apologize for the line “So, set ’em up, Joe,” explaining, “I couldn’t get your name to rhyme.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” in June 1992 for his album Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Rules of the Road

The song of the day for Wednesday, March 26, 2025, is “Rules of the Road.”

About This Song

“Rules of the Road” was written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh in 1961. 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.

About These Versions

It’s no secret that “Rules of the Road” is one of my favorite songs sung by Tony Bennett. He made two studio recordings of the song, and after some consideration, I decided to include both recordings. They are quite different and both are excellent in their own way.

He first recorded the song on April 6, 1961; it was released as a single and later added to his 1962 album I Left My Heart In San Francisco. Ralph Burns wrote the arrangement.

He recorded it again on March 26, 1964, with The Ralph Sharon Trio, for When Lights Are Low. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“Rules of the Road,” as well as I Left My Heart In San Francisco, is available on Apple Music.

“Rules of the Road,” as well as When Lights Are Low, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: I Thought About You

The song of the day for Monday, March 24, 2025, is “I Thought About You.”

About This Song

“I Thought About You” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mercer in 1939. In his biography Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, author Gene Lees quotes Mercer about this song: ‘I can remember the afternoon that we wrote it. He [Van Heusen] played me the melody. I didn’t have any idea, but I had to go to Chicago that night. I think I was on the Benny Goodman program. And I got to thinking about it on the train. I was awake, I couldn’t sleep. The tune was running through my mind, and that’s when I wrote the song. On the train, really going to Chicago.’ “I Thought About You” proved quite popular and has been recorded many times by jazz performers including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, Shirley Horn, Dinah Washington, and Mel Tormé.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Thought About You” in June 1922 for his tribute album to Frank Sinatra: Perfectly Frank.
For this album, Bennett was accompanied by The Ralph Sharon Trio, featuring Sharon on piano, Paul Langosch on bass, and Joe LaBarbera on drums.

“I Thought About You,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

Frank Sinatra recorded “I Thought About You” for his 1956 album Songs for Swingin’ Lovers.

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Song of the Day: Swinging on a Star

The song of the day for Friday, March 14, 2025, is “Swinging on a Star.”

About This Song

“Swinging on a Star” was written in 1944 by the songwriting team of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was written for the movie Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for that year. Crosby recorded a very successful version of the song in 1944. Other recordings include those by Rosemary Clooney, Burl Ives, and Ruby Braff, among many others. The song was a favorite of your author when she was a small child. I actually remember singing it loudly at the breakfast table one morning.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Swinging on a Star” in June 1998 for his children’s album, The Playground. Bennett was accompanied by the Ralph Sharon Quartet, featuring Sharon on piano, Gray Sargent on guitar, Paul Langosh on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums.

“Swinging on a Star,” as well as The Playground, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)

The song of the day for Monday, March 10, 2025, is “Bewitched.”

About This Song

“Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1940 musical Pal Joey, where it was introduced by Vivienne Segal. 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.” Despite being notey, it’s a cornerstone of the American Songbook.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Ralph Sharon recorded “Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)” on October 28, 1959, for their album Tony Sings For Two, which was released in 1961.

Tony Bennett tells his story about Tony Sings For Two in his autobiography, The Good Life:

I always wanted to be unpredictable, and so for my next project, I decided to go in the opposite direction from the big orchestral albums I’d been doing lately and cut an intimate piano-vocal album with Ralph Sharon. We booked time at the studio and pored through music books, trying one tune after another. The arrangements were spontaneous, and we finished each song in one or two takes. In one afternoon, we laid down sixteen tunes—which must be some kind of record—twelve of which made it onto the album, which became 1961’s Tony Sings For Two. Mitch Miller showed up at the start of these sessions, furious that I was really going through with it. When he saw that there was no dissuading me, he turned to Frank Laico and said, “I’m leaving. I can’t support this.” Tony Sings For Two turned out to be one of my finest records ever.

“Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered),” as well as Tony Sings For Two, is available on Apple Music.