The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: The Lady Is A Tramp

The song of the day for Saturday, June 28, 2014 is “The Lady Is A Tramp.”

About This Song

In tribute to anniversary of the birth of the great Richard Rodgers, our song today is from his collaboration with Lorenz Hart. “The Lady Is A Tramp” is from their 1937 musical Babes In Arms (which bears little, if none, resemblance to the Mickey Rooney / Judy Garland movie of the same name). The song has been widely recorded from the beginning, with notable recordings by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Sophie Tucker, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. And, of course, Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Bennett’s 1973 album Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs, released on his own Improv label. He is accompanied by Ruby Braff – George Barnes Quartet, featuring Braff on cornet, George Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. It’s a wonderful sound for these Rodgers and Hart songs.

http://open.spotify.com/track/65CVsuBhiGb31BMMO5iM3w
“The Lady Is A Tramp,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes.

Our video today features Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, who have a really great time singing this song. And, speaking for just myself, I’m really looking forward to the release of their album Cheek To Cheek in September.

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Song of the Day: Falling In Love With Love

The song of the day for Monday, June 2, 2014 is “Falling In Love With Love.”

About This Song

Today’s song is one of my favorites. “Falling In Love With Love” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1938 for the Broadway musical The Boys of Syracuse, pairs a beautiful Rodgers waltz melody with the adult and rather somber lyric by Hart: in other words, a perfect Rodgers and Hart song. In the musical, the song is set in a room where the wives are at their spinning wheels, weaving cloth. You can hear that lovely rhythm in Rodgers’ melody.

About This Version

“Falling In Love With Love” was a bonus track for the 1995 CD release of If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set. The song was recorded in 1965 and was arranged by Don Costa.

http://open.spotify.com/track/75EBzZgStWsEcRuFiegfgF
“Falling In Love With Love,” as well as the album If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Nobody’s Heart Belongs To Me

The song of the day for Friday, May 9, 2014 is “Nobody’s Heart Belongs To Me.”

About This Song

“Nobody’s Heart Belongs To Me” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1942 musical By Jupiter. The song was introduced by Constance Moore and then reprised later in the show by Ray Bolger. It was their last full-length work. In American Popular Music, Alec Wilder called this song “one of the loveliest songs Rodgers or any other theater writer has ever written. In the area of this form of music it is a masterpiece.”

About This Version

On October 28, 1959, Tony Bennett and his pianist and musical director, Ralph Sharon, walked into the famed CBS 30th Street Studio with a briefcase full of sheet music. Bennett says in his autobiography The Good Life that “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.” Over the course of the afternoon, they would pull out a song and work up spontaneous arrangements and record the songs in just one or two takes. They recorded sixteen songs that day, twelve of which ended up on Tony Sings For Two. Bennett relates that Mitch Miller stormed out of the session in his frustration. Needless to say, Tony Sings For Two is one of the finest albums that Tony Bennett made during his entire career and is beloved by his fans and any one who loves the American Songbook. And I am glad that one of the songs they recorded is this lovely Rodgers and Hart song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0pNwau3h5Xq9LxwLO58Y9c
“Nobody’s Heart Belongs To Me,” as well as the album Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Thou Swell

The Year of Tony Bennett remembers Lorenz Hart, who was born on this day in New York in 1895. In honor of Mr. Hart, the song of the day for Friday, May 2, 2014 is “Thou Swell.”

About This Song

“Thou Swell” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1927 Broadway musical A Connecticut Yankee, based on the Mark Twain novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I’ve always loved “Thou Swell” because of the lyric — the delightful play of modern and medieval terminology: ‘thou swell,’ ‘a hut for two’ and my favorite ‘thine eyes are cute too.’

About This Version

Today’s recording is from Bennett’s Improv album Tony Bennett Sings… More Great Rodgers & Hart, released in 1973. It features the Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet, with Braff on cornet, Barnes on guitar, Wayne Wright on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. It’s a wonderful sound for the Rodgers and Hart songs that I never tire of.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3QNOMECmFdjw2MeT8AXdKW
“Thou Swell,” as well as all of the songs recorded by Tony Bennett’s Improv label, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: This Can’t Be Love

The song of the day for Thursday, April 24, 2014 is “This Can’t Be Love.”

About This Song

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote “This Can’t Be Love” in 1938 for the Broadway musical The Boys From Syracuse, based on William Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors. It is one of their most joyous and least ironic love songs. Both Benny Goodman and Eddy Duchin recorded the song in the late 1930s. In addition to Tony Bennett’s fine recording here, “This Can’t Be Love” has also been recorded by Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Diana Krall.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s wonderful album Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs, released on his own Improv label. This album, as well as the follow-on Tony Bennett Sings … More Great Rodgers & Hart, features the Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet, with Braff on cornet, Barnes on guitar, Wayne Wright on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. It’s a remarkable sound for the selection of Rodgers and Hart songs as well as Bennett’s voice.

This Can"t Be Love

Listen to This Can"t Be Love on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2004

“This Can’t Be Love,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes.

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