The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: The Christmas Song

On the Second Day of Tony Bennett Christmas, Saturday, December 15, 2012, the song of the day is The Christmas Song.

Tony Bennett painting for the American Cancer Society Christmas Card for 2012
Tony Bennett painting for the American Cancer Society Christmas Card for 2012

About The Christmas Song

Originally titled Merry Christmas To You, this classic song was written by the singer Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in 1946. It has, of course, been widely recorded by Mr. Tormé, Les Brown, Michael Bublé, Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland and Andy Williams among many others.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s 1968 album Snowfall, arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Listen to The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1968

The Christmas Song, as well as the full Snowfall album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Night and Day

The song of the day for Thursday, December 12, 2012 is Night and Day.

About Night and Day

Night and Day was written by Cole Porter for the 1932 musical Gay Divorce. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire on stage; he later sung the song in the 1934 film version, The Gay Divorcee. The  song has been heavily recorded over the years by prominent jazz and popular artists.

Frank Sinatra recorded the song at least five times, starting in 1942.  Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915; we choose this song today in tribute to his birthday.

About This Version

Today’ version of Night and Day is from Tony Bennett’s 1992 album, Perfectly Frank. The album, naturally, contains songs that were sung by Frank Sinatra. But this is no cover album, the interpretations are pure Tony Bennett. It’s a fine album and The Year of Tony Bennett recommends it highly.

Perfectly Frank was arranged and conducted by the noted Canadian-born composer-arranger-conductor-trumpet player Robert Farnon and features the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Mr. Sharon on piano, Paul Langosch on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums.

Night and Day, as well as full album Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: One For My Baby

As part of Johnny Mercer Week at the Year of Tony Bennett, the song of the day for Wednesday, November 21, 2012 is One For My Baby.

About One For My Baby

This song is one the great songs from the American Songbook, written by two of the greats: Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. It was written for the 1943 film musical The Sky’s The Limit and was introduced by Fred Astaire.  The song is associated with Frank Sinatra, who first recorded it in 1947.

About This Version

Today’s version is from  Tony Bennett’s 1992 Perfectly Frank album, arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon. He also performed the song in his legendary 1962 Carnegie Hall concert.

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Song of the Day: Indian Summer

The Song of the Day for September 14, 2012 is Indian Summer.

There has been quite some discussion about what really constitutes an Indian summer at the Year of Tony Bennett. One of us was born in Liverpool, UK and emigrated to Oregon as child. I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and gradually worked my west as an adult. It turns out that Indian summer means different things to people, depending on where they are from.

But, as it was quite chilly here in Portland last week and is now quite warm with temperatures in the mid-eighties, I declare it to be Indian summer.

About Indian Summer

The song was written as piano solo in 1919 by Victor Herbert.  Al Dubin wrote the lyrics in 1939. The next year, Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra, recorded the song and it reached #1 on the Hit Parade. Sidney Bechet, playing the soprano saxophone, recorded one of the first jazz recordings of the song. It has also been recorded by Gene Krupa, Paul Desmond, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded Indian Summer in 1962 and was released on the 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. This version was arranged and conducted by Ralph Sharon. The version for today is from Perfectly Frank, released in 1992,  orchestrated by Robert Farnon.