The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Wait Till You See Her

The song of the day for Friday, May 17, 2013 is Wait Till You See Her.

About This Song

Wait Till You See Her is a lovely waltz by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1942 for the musical By Jupiter, which was their next-to-last collaboration. Over Hart’s objections, the song was cut from the show before the official opening. However, Mabel Mercer had fallen in love with the song and began to feature it in her cabaret shows. Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song, called it “…one of the loveliest songs Rodgers or any other theater writer has ever written.” Wilder first heard it sung by Mabel Mercer and credits her for the ongoing popularity of the song as standard.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1973 Improv album Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs. I have always been a big fan of the songs of Rodgers and Hart, but Bennett’s treatment of these songs is truly wonderful. In addition to his light and sensitive treatment of this waltz, the songs in this series are remarkable as well for the composition of the quartet that he used. The quartet was composed of Ruby Braff on cornet, George Barnes and Wayne Wright on guitar and John Guiffrida on bass. The arrangement for Wait Till You See Me is light and subtle. Listen for the very soft and very beautiful cornet work. And even though this song is very short at not quite a minute and a half, it says everything that needs to be said about this song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4oEagl4qc4RY25lYvv5P1f
Wait Till You See Her, as well as the full Tony Bennett Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Falling In Love With Love

The song of the day for Thursday, April 18, 2013 is Falling In Love With Love.

About This Song

Today’s song, Falling In Love With Love, was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1938 musical The Boys From Syracuse.

About This Version

It’s been … what … more than a week since I chose a Rodgers and Hart song? I can’t help myself; I can’t help but gravitate to Tony Bennett singing Rodgers and Hart.

I have come to believe that Tony Bennett may very well be the perfect interpreter of the songs  by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Their songs have always interested me, with Rodgers’ beautiful melodies and Hart’s sometimes cynical,  always witty and technically perfect lyrics. Tony Bennett understands what Rodgers is doing with the music without ever becoming sentimental and what Hart is doing with the lyrics without pretension. Perfect, in other words.

Of course, his masterful Rodgers and Hart albums from 1973 are well-known and well-loved, but Bennett had sung from their works long before those albums. This recording is from the 1997 CD release of If I Ruled The World; it wasn’t used on the original LP release from 1965. It’s a beautiful song and I hope you enjoy it.

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

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Song of the Day: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

The song of the day for Saturday, April 6, 2013 is Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

About This Song

Today’s song is just one of the many fine songs from the score of the Broadway musical, Pal Joey, written in 1940 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. In addition to I Could Write a Book, Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered has become a  much-beloved standard and has been widely recorded by Benny Goodman, Doris Day, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Even Rod Steward and Cher recorded the song as a duet. And though the esteemed Alec Wilder finds the song “notey,” I think it’s one of Rodgers’ best with the usual exquisite lyrics by Hart.

About This Version

I have loved this song since I was a small child; I have memories of my parents listening to this song after they thought we kids had gone to sleep. It’s a great song. But this recording, with just Tony and Ralph Sharon, is extraordinary. Tony Sings  For Two is one of my favorite of Bennett’s albums.  At that point in musical tastes of the public. as well as Bennett’s stature in popular music, I’m sure many thought it risky or perhaps even uninteresting to just have the singer and the pianist, and no other musicians. And it did sit on the shelf for a couple of years before it was released in 1961. Sharon played wonderfully for Bennett and they both demonstrated their deep connection with and understanding of the songs they chose.

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

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Song of the Day: Mountain Greenery

The song of the day for Monday, April 1, 2013 is Mountain Greenery.

About This Song

Written in 1926 for The Garrick Gaieties by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Mountain Greenery is a charming suggestion to enjoy Spring and take your love outdoors and soak up some lovely weather. Sounds like a great idea, no fooling.

About This Version

Mountain Greenery is another great song from Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart that Tony Bennett recorded in  1973 for his Rodgers and Hart Series.

Mountain Greenery

Tony Bennett · Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook · Song · 1973

Mountain Greenery, as well as the full Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Spring Is Here

The song of the day for Saturday, March 30, 2013 is Spring Is Here.

About This Song

Spring Is Here was written in 1938 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the film I Married an Angel. In his discussion of the score for I Married an Angel, Alec Wilder says “and in the same score is another shattering ballad, Spring is Here” and “the lyric is Hart at his best, including the closing line: ‘Spring is here, I hear.'”

The lovely simplicity of Rodger’s tune aptly supports Hart’s lyrics. The combination is an exquisitely poignant ballad with the lonely singer looking at Spring from the outside.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded Spring Is Here in 1973 on his first album for his Improv label, Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs, which was followed by Tony Bennett Sings More Great Rodgers & Hart. Both albums are available on CD as Tony Bennett Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook.

Bennett chose to work with the Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet, which consisted of Ruby Braff (cornet), George Barnes (guitar), Wayne Wright (guitar) and John Guiffrida (bass). All of the recordings from this quartet of Rodgers and Hart songs are exceptional and this relatively unusual combination of instruments (no piano!) with these great songs and Bennett’s voice make for a wonderful album. I think this is one his finest recordings.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0ALVIr2zoYiVLKLsZkVpnn
Spring Is Here, as well as the full Tony Bennett Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook, is available from iTunes.

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