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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

January 29, 2015 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Good Life

The song of the day for Thursday, January 29, 2015 is “The Good Life.”

About This Song

“The Good Life” was written in 1962 by Sacha Distel, with lyrics by Jack Reardon. Originally titled “La Belle Vie,” the song was featured in the movie Seven Capital Sins. Tony Bennett is the singer most widely identified with “The Good Life;” other good recordings include those by Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Stephane Grappelli. It has been said that Distel wrote this song about Bridgette Bardot, who refused Distel’s marriage proposal.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Good Life” in December, 1962 for the album I Wanna Be Around, released in 1963. It was arranged and conducted by Marty Manning and produced by Ernie Altschuler.

About Today

Songwriter Sacha Distel was born on this day, January 29, in Paris in the year 1933. His uncle, Ray Ventura, was a jazz promoter in the 1930s and was instrumental in developing swing in France. Thanks to his uncle, he was able to meet and listen to the great swing artists and founded his own band that focused on jazz and bebop. He is probably best known for “The Good Life,” though he wrote many other songs over his career. He performed regularly up to his death in 2004.

The Good Life

The Good Life, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify


“The Good Life,” as well as I Wanna Be Around, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: I Wanna Be Around, Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel, Sacha Distel birthday

November 15, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Good Life

The song of the day for Saturday, November 15, 2014 is “The Good Life.”

About This Song

“The Good Life” was written in 1962 with music by Sacha Distel and lyrics by Jack Reardon. Originally titled “La Belle Vie,” “The Good Life” was featured in the movie Seven Capital Sins. Tony Bennett is the singer most widely identified with “The Good Life;” other good recordings include those by Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Stephane Grappelli. It has been said that Distel wrote this song about Bridgette Bardot, who refused Distel’s marriage proposal.

About This Version

This version is Bennett’s original recording for his terrific 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. It was arranged and conducted by Marty Manning and was produced by Ernie Altschuler.

About Today

Yes, it’s Saturday once again. And I have a nice video for us today: Tony Bennett singing today’s song from a 1999 concert, with Ralph Sharon on piano.

The Good Life

The Good Life, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: I Wanna Be Around, Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel

August 23, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Good Life

The song of the day for Saturday, August 23, 2014 is “The Good Life.”

About This Song

Today’s song was written in 1962 by French composer Sacha Distel, with lyrics by Jack Reardon. Originally titled “La Belle Vie,” “The Good Life” was featured in the movie Seven Capital Sins. Tony Bennett is the singer most widely identified with “The Good Life;” other good recordings include those by Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Stephane Grappelli. It has been said that Distel wrote this song about Bridgette Bardot, who refused Distel’s marriage proposal.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Good Life” in December, 1962 for his terrific album I Wanna Be Around, released in 1963. “The Good Life” was arranged and conducted by Marty Manning; the album was produced by Ernie Altschuler and was recorded at the CBS 30th Street Studio, with Frank Laico at the engineering helm. In addition to today’s song (which leads off the album) and the title song, other great songs from this album include “I’ve Got Your Number,” “It Was Me” and “Quiet Nights.”

The Good Life

The Good Life, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“The Good Life,” as well as the album I Wanna Be Around, is available from iTunes.

And for our Saturday YouTube viewing, here are Tony and Billy Joel singing today’s song, from Duets: An American Classic, released in 2006. You can read more about the album and even read the liner notes at our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Billy Joel, I Wanna Be Around, Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel

January 29, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: The Good Life

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 29, 2014 is “The Good Life.”

About This Song

“The Good Life” (originally known as “La Belle Vie”) was written in 1962 by Sacha Distel, with lyrics by Jack Reardon, for the movie The Seven Capital Sins. Tony Bennett is the singer most widely identified with “The Good Life;” other good recordings include those by Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Stephane Grappelli. It has been said that Distel wrote this song about Bridgette Bardot, who refused Distel’s marriage proposal in 1959.

We choose this song today in memory of Sacha Distel, who was born on this day, January 29, 1933 in Paris, France. He was a prominent French singer and guitarist. Distel’s uncle, Ray Ventura, was a jazz promoter and so the young Distel was exposed to jazz music at an early age. He worked with Dizzy Gillespie and other American jazz artists in France in the late 1940s. Sacha Distel had a notable career as a composer and entertainer in Europe and America.

Sacha Distel died on July 22, 2004 at the age of 71.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “The Good Life” for his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. Though recorded by many singers, the song is strongly identified with Tony Bennett.

The Good Life

The Good Life, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify


“The Good Life,” as well as the album I Wanna Be Around, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: 50th Anniversary March on Washington, I Wanna Be Around, Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel

October 25, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Songs of the Day: The Good Life / I Wanna Be Around

The song of the day for Friday, October 25, 2013 is a medley of “The Good Life” and “I Wanna Be Around.”

About These Songs

These are two of Tony Bennett’s most popular songs, both of which originally appeared on Bennett’s 1964 album I Wanna Be Around.

“The Good Life” (“La Belle Vie” in the original French) was written in 1962 by Sacha Distel with lyrics by Jack Reardon. The song originally appeared in the 1963 film Seven Capital Sins.

“I Wanna Be Around” was written 1959 by Johnny Mercer and Sadie Vimmerstedt. Ms. Vimmerstedt, who lived in Youngstown, Ohio, was a big fan of Johnny Mercer. One day she was inspired to write the line “I want to be around to pick up the pieces, when somebody breaks your heart.” She thought it sounded like a Johnny Mercer song, and so she mailed the lyrics to him (Johnny Mercer, Songwriter, New York, NY). The post office forwarded the letter to ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), who gave it to Mercer. Mercer must have agreed with Sadie, as he not only completed the lyric but composed the tune as well. Mercer gave Ms. Vimmerstedt a healthy portion of the royalties, which made Ms. Vimmerstedt a very well-to-do woman.

About This Version

Because Tony Bennett is performing with the quartet tonight (Casino Rama Entertainment Centre in Rama, Ontario, Canada), we thought it would be nice to feature a recording of a live performance. Tonight’s medley is from Tony Bennett’s Grammy-winning album MTV Unplugged from 1994. Bennett, playing with the Ralph Sharon Trio, gave a great concert live on television and won over a whole new generation of fans in one night. This concert also marks the first time Bennett performed with k.d. lang; a few years later they did an album of songs made famous by Louis Armstrong, A Wonderful World. They have been recording together since then.


“The Good Life / I Wanna Be Around,” as well as the entire MTV Unplugged album, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Jack Reardon, Johnny Mercer, MTV Unplugged, Sacha Distel, Sadie Vimmerstedt

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