The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Love For Sale

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 28, 2024, is “Love For Sale.”

About This Song

“Love For Sale” was written by Cole Porter for the 1930 Broadway musical The New Yorkers. The song was sung by a prostitute advertising her services. The song was considered rather scandalous at the time. In fact, for the production of The New Yorkers, it was supposed to be sung by the white star Kathryn Crawford, but the song was assigned to an African-American singer instead. In spite of being banned from play on the radio, “Love For Sale” has had many fine recordings, including those by Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Miles Davis.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Love For Sale” on October 24, 1957, for The Beat of My Heart. For The Beat of My Heart, Bennett invited guest percussionists to play on the album; “Love For Sale” featured Sabu and Candido. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon.

“Love For Sale,” as well as The Beat of My Heart, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Love For Sale

The song of the day for Saturday, February 3, 2024, is “Love For Sale.”

About This Song

“Love For Sale” was written by Cole Porter in 1930 for the Broadway musical The New Yorkers, sung by a prostitute advertising her services. The song was considered rather scandalous at the time. In fact, for the production of The New Yorkers, it was supposed to be sung by the white star Kathryn Crawford, but the song was assigned to an African-American singer instead. Despite being banned from playing on the radio, “Love For Sale” has had many fine recordings, including those by Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Miles Davis.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Love For Sale” on October 24, 1957, for his second jazz album, The Beat of My Heart, featuring an arrangement by Ralph Sharon. Bennett invited percussionists to play on the album; for this song he used Candico, Sabu, and his regular drummer, Billy Exiner.

” Love For Sale,” as well as The Beat of My Heart, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: You Go To My Head

The song of the day for Tuesday, June 6, 2023, is “You Go To My Head.”

About This Song

“You Got To My Head” was written in 1938 by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, the same songwriting team that gave us “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” Alec Wilder called “You Got To My Head” “a phenomenon” and “a minor masterpiece.” Al Gioia in The Jazz Standards notes that “this song comes closer than any tune I know to capturing in musical form the feeling of losing control.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “You Go To My Head” on October 14, 1957. It was an outtake for the original release of The Beat of My Heart in 1957, but was included on the 1997 re-release of the album. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon. The Beat of My Heart featured a number of percussionists as guest artists; in addition to Bennett’s regular drummer Billy Exiner, Sabu and Candido were featured on this recording.

“You Go To My Head,” as well as The Beat of My Heart is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Let’s Face The Music and Dance

The song of the day for Monday, August 1, 2022, is “Let’s Face The Music and Dance.”

About This Song

“Let’s Face the Music and Dance” was written by Irving Berlin in 1936 for the film Follow the Fleet starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The Astaire – Rogers dance to this song is considered one of their best. This song has also been recorded by singers including Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Let’s Face The Music and Dance” on October 25, 1957. It wasn’t included in 1957 on the album The Beat of My Heart, but was added to the CD re-release. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon and features percussionists Candido, Sabu, and Billy Exiner.

“Let’s Face The Music and Dance,” as well as The Beat of My Heart is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Love For Sale

The song of the day for Tuesday, January 5, 2020, is “Love For Sale.”

About This Song

“Love For Sale” was written by Cole Porter in 1930 for his Broadway musical The New Yorkers. The song was sung by a prostitute advertising her services. The song was considered rather scandalous at the time. In fact, for the production of The New Yorkers, it was supposed to be sung by the white star Kathryn Crawford, but the song was assigned to an African-American singer instead. In spite of being banned from play on the radio, “Love For Sale” has had many fine recordings, including those by Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Miles Davis

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Love For Sale” in 1957 for his third album, The Beat of My Heart. Ralph Sharon had just been hired as Bennett’s pianist and musical director; together they conceived the album. In addition to creating a very good jazz band for the album, they brought in percussionists to play as well. “Love for Sale” featured Candido, Sabu, and Bennett’s regular drummer, Billy Exiner.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4PszrhPI65d40lfySeIMOg?si=uKOyweQdQp6ok78ngQS6Gw

“Love For Sale,” as well as The Beat of My Heart, is available from Apple Music.

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