The song of the day for Thursday, June 14, 2018 is “It Amazes Me.”

About This Song

Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh wrote “It Amazes Me” in 1958. Liza Minnelli recorded this song when she was only eighteen years old on her first album. It has also been recorded by Bill Evans, George Shearing and Cleo Laine.

About This Version

Tony Bennett sang this version of “It Amazes Me” on April 12, 1994 on his MTV Unplugged performance. The album MTV Unplugged not only won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance but also for Album Of The Year. And it is a hell of an album. Bennett was backed by The Ralph Sharon Trio, which featured Sharon on piano, Doug Richeson on bass and Clayton Cameron on drums.

About Today

Tony Bennett sang “It Amazes Me” at his concert last week in Portland, but it’s not for that reason alone that I chose this song.

Cy Coleman, who composed this song as well as other hits for Tony Bennett, was born on June 14, 1929 in New York. He was a child prodigy who gave recitals at Steinway and Carnegie hall starting at the age of six. He formed a jazz trio as a young man, but soon found his way to popular music and Broadway scores. He wrote many songs with lyricist Carolyn Leigh, although their relationship was rocky for as long as it lasted. He later partnered with Dorothy Fields, with who he wrote Sweet Charity and Seesaw. Coleman later wrote On The Twentieth Century, Barnum and City of Angels, among others. Coleman died of a heart attack on November 18, 2004.

We honor Cy Coleman on the anniversary of his birth. Thanks for the great songs.