The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: My Favorite Things

The song of the day for Thursday, November 28, 2013, US Thanksgiving Day, is “My Favorite Things.”

About This Song

“My Favorite Things” was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein for the 1959 musical The Sound of Music. Sadly, it was the last musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Oscar Hammerstein died from cancer nine months after the opening of the musical on Broadway.

US readers might be interested to know that a live production of The Sound of Music, starring Carrie Underwood as Maria, will air on NBC next Thursday, December 5. I watched a “making of” one hour special about this production on TV Wednesday evening, and it looks quite interesting. I was kind of charmed to see that Carrie Underwood has been listening to her mentor, Tony Bennett. Early in the broadcast, she was asked if she was nervous and she replied that of course she had the butterflies, but if you don’t have butterflies, the audience will likely sense that you don’t really care.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s wonderful 1968 album, Snowfall, which was arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon. Musical supervision was by Tony Tamburello and the album was produced by Jack Gold.

As we near our Christmas celebration with The Twelve Days of a Tony Bennett Christmas, beginning on December 14, we’ll be featuring most of the songs from this wonderful album. An editor at iTunes sums up exactly how I feel about this extraordinary album:

The 1968 set Snowfall is far more than an obligatory holiday release from a legendary singer. Teaming with British arranger/composer Robert Farnon, Tony Bennett brings a warmth and emotional commitment to the familiar tunes, lending them a unique luster. With his customary ability to personalize a song lyric, he makes “The Christmas Song,” “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and other Yuletide standards feel immediate and vital.

I think it’s far and away the best Christmas album ever recorded.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0MoZADdiiC9yzcWpBbNYAC
“My Favorite Things,” as well as the album Snowfall, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

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Song of the Day: There’s A Small Hotel

The song of the day for Friday, November 8, 2013 is “There’s A Small Hotel.”

About This Song

“There’s A Small Hotel” was written in 1935 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It was originally intended to be used in the musical extravaganza Jumbo, but was not used; it did get use the next year in On Your Toes. Several small hotels that once had Mr. Rodgers as a guest claimed that their hotel was the inspiration for the song. I believe that we all have an image and memory of a small hotel, whether we actually stayed there or not. You can read more about There’s A Small Hotel, as well as read the lyrics, at our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography.

About This Version

Todays version is from the work that Tony Bennett did The Ruby Braff / George Barnes Quartet in 1973 and was released originally on Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers and Hart. The two albums of Rodgers and Hart songs that Bennett did are among my very favorites. The quartet of cornet, two guitars and bass is rather extraordinary.

The writer Whitney Balliet wrote an essay about Tony Bennett titled “A Quality That Lets You In” that was published in the New Yorker Magazine on January 7, 1974. This essay has been collected in several of Balliet’s books, including American Singers: Twenty-Seven Portraits in Song. You can read the essay at no charge on Google Books. (Your opinionated author only wishes she could write a paragraph to compare with Balliet’s first paragraph in this essay). Subscribers to The New Yorker can sign up to read all back issues of the magazine online. The essay covers a few days when Tony Bennett was appearing in New York and singing Rodgers and Hart songs with the quartet.

http://open.spotify.com/track/6tme59SeCHTlavnDUWrZys
“There’s a Small Hotel,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: I Wish I Were In Love Again

The song of the day for Monday, October 21, 2013 is “I Wish I Were In Love Again.”

About This Song

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote “I Wish I Were In Love Again” in 1937 for the Broadway musical Babes In Arms (note that the Broadway show bears no resemblance to the Mickey Rooney – Judy Garland film of the same name, though Judy Garland did record this song in 1940). The lyric is Lorenz Hart at his sardonic best:

When love congeals, it soon reveals
The faint aroma of performing seals
The double-crossing of a pair of heels
I wish I were in love again

About This Version

Today’s recording is from Tony Bennett’s album Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers & Hart, released in 1977. This album, as well as its earlier companion, Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers and Hart Songs, feature Tony and the Ruby Braff – George Barnes Quartet, with Braff on cornet, Barnes on guitar, Wayne Wright also on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. All of these recordings can be found on The Complete Improv Recordings box set, which also includes Life is Beautiful, both of his albums with Bill Evans and a recording of a club date with Marion and Jimmy McPartland.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4Qytn2uiRVOpuWHmmo1OMt
“I Wish I Were In Love Again,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes and Amazon. (If you are considering purchasing the The Complete Improv Recordings, I recommend the CD version from Amazon; the booklet by Will Friedwald is excellent.)

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Song of the Day: The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

The song of the day for Monday, October 14, 2013 is “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.”

About This Song

“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1935 for the Broadway spectacular Jumbo. It’s one of the songwriting team’s most popular love songs, with recordings by Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, in addition to Bennett’s very fine recording.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Bennett’s 1976 album Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers and Hart, also released with the songs on Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers and Hart Songs on Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.

Tony Bennett recorded these songs with the Ruby Braff / George Barnes Quartet, with Braff on cornet, Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. No drums; no piano: just cornet, guitars and bass. The results were extraordinary. I find these recordings superb; it’s an intimate and focused treatment of these wonderful songs by Rodgers and Hart. And Bennett is in perfect voice for this song as well as all the songs on the album.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3XTwokibF9IHDzl7lumC2u
“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook is available from Amazon.

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Song of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

The song of the day for Tuesday, October 8, 2013 is “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.”

About This Song

“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” was written for the 1940 Broadway musical Pal Joey by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The song was one of the big hits from this show, in addition to another Bennett favorite “I Could Write a Book.” 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.” In spite of being notey, it’s a cornerstone of the American Songbook.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1961 album Tony Sings For Two. This album is rather remarkable: at that time, and perhaps even today, it was practically unheard of for a very popular singer like Bennett to record an album with just piano accompaniment (from Ralph Sharon). Bennett and Sharon recorded sixteen songs in a single session, twelve of which made it onto the album, which is widely considered to be one of Bennett’s finest.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4Re3BBnTFrSppLM2M4iATX
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” as well as the album Tony Sings For Two, is available from iTunes and Amazon.