An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett
The song of the day for Tuesday, October 24, 2023, is “Give Me The Simple Life.”
“Give Me The Simple Life” was written by Rube Bloom and Harry Ruby in 1946 for the film Wake Up and Dream, which starred John Payne and June Haver.
Tony Bennett recorded “Give Me The Simple Life” on December 22, 1954, for the album Cloud 7, released in 1955. It was arranged by Charles Panely.
“Give Me The Simple Life” as well as Cloud 7, is available on Apple Music.
The song of the day for Sunday, August 6, 2023, is “Give Me The Simple Life.”
“Give Me The Simple Life” was written in 1946 by Rube Bloom and Harry Ruby for the 1946 movie Wake Up And Dream.
Tony Bennett recorded “Give Me The Simple Life” on December 22, 1954, for his first LP album, Cloud 7, released in 1955. It was arranged by Charles Panely.
“Give Me The Simple Life,” as well as Cloud 7 is available on Apple Music.
The song of the day for Wednesday, June 1, 2022, is “Give Me The Simple Life.”
“Give Me the Simple Life” was written by Rube Bloom and Harry Ruby in 1946 for the movie Wake Up and Dream, which starred John Payne and June Haver.
Tony Bennett recorded “Give Me The Simple Life” on December 24, 2022, for the album Cloud 7, released in 1955. Charles Panely, who plays trumpet for this recording, wrote the arrangement.
“Give Me The Simple Life,” as well as Cloud 7 is available on Apple Music.
The album of the week starting on February 27, 2022, is My Heart Sings.
Tony Bennett remembers My Heart Sings in his autobiography, The Good Life:
Ralph Burns and I got together again to do some singles, including “Smile,” and for our next album we changed gears again. Instead of the lush, ballad-style arrangements we had used on Hometown, My Town, we switched to a cookin’ jazz sound. The album is called My Heart Sings, and I simply love Ralph’s writing on this one. It’s really beautiful music.
This album is a preview of 1962, which was an outstanding year for Tony Bennett, including his concert at Carnegie Hall and winning his first Grammy Award for “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”
My Heart Sings was recorded in 3 sessions on 3 consecutive days: April 4, April 5, and April 6, 1961.
| Release Date | August 7, 1961 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Producer | Ernie Altschuler |
| Vocals | Tony Bennett |
| Arrangements, Conductor | Ralph Burns |
| Piano | Bernie Leighton |
| Bass | Milt Hinton |
| Drums | Herb Lovelle |
| Guitar | Barry Galbraith, Chuck Wayne, Mundell Lowe |
| Saxophone | Danny Bank, Al Klink, Toots Mondello, Romeo Penque, Jerry Sanfino |
| Trumpet | Bernie Glow, Irving Markowitz, Jimmy Maxwell, Carl Sereinsen |
| Trombone | Robert Alexander, Urbie Green, Dick Hixson, Frank Rehak |
| Vibes | Eddie Costa |
| Song | Composers |
| Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me | Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler |
| Dancing in the Dark | Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz |
| I’m Comin’ Virginia | Donald Heywood, Will Marion Cook |
| My Heart Sings | Jean Blanvillain (Jamblin), Harold Rome, Henri Laurent Herpin |
| It Never Was You | Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson |
| You Took Advantage of Me | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart |
| Close Your Eyes | Bernice Petkere |
| Stella By Starlight | Victor Young, Ned Washington |
| More Than You Know | Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu |
| My Ship | Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin |
| Lover Man | Jimmy Davis, Roger “Ram” Ramirez, James Sherman |
| Toot, Toot, Tootsie | Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman, Ted Fiorito, Dan Russo |
You can also listen to My Heart Sings on
The song of the day for Sunday, May 9, 2021, is “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me.”
“Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” was written by Rube Bloom and Ted Koehler for the 1933 Cotton Club Parade — World’s Fair Edition.
Tony Bennett recorded “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” in 1961 for his album My Heart Sings. Ralph Burns wrote the orchestration.
“Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me,” as well as My Heart Sings, is available from Apple Music.