The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: They Can’t Take That Away From Me

The song of the day for Friday, September 4, 2020, is “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

About This Song

This song was written by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 Fred Astaire – Ginger Rodgers movie Shall We Dance. Unlike most songs that Astaire introduced in his films, there was no dance number associated with “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” It is one of the Gershwin’s finest love songs. George Gershwin died just two months after this film was released.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” in 1993 for his album Steppin’ Out. Bennett and Ralph Sharon did the arrangement.

“They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” as well as Steppin’ Out, is available from Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: They Can’t Take That Away From Me

The song of the day for Wednesday, May 29, 2019, is “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

About This Song

This song was written by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 Fred Astaire – Ginger Rodgers movie Shall We Dance. Unlike most songs that Astaire introduced in his films, there was no dance number associated with “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” It is one of the Gershwin’s finest love songs. George Gershwin died just two months after this film was released.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” in 1967 for the album For Once In My Life, with a fine arrangement by Torrie Zito. Burt Collins on the flugelhorn is the featured soloist.

They Can’t Take That Away From Me – Remastered

They Can’t Take That Away From Me – Remastered, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” as well as For Once In My Life, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: They All Laughed

The song of the day for Friday, June 19, 2015 is “They All Laughed.”

About This Song

George and Ira Gershwin wrote “They All Laughed” in 1937 for the Fred Astaire film Shall We Dance. Mr. Bennett often performs this song in concert.

About This Version

I’m so glad that Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga included this song for this album. It’s a great Gershwin tune and I love that slightly self-deprecating lyric. The excellent arrangement is by — who else — Marion Evans.

About Today

Today is the first of four performances at Radio City Music Hall by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Nick, a good friend of the blog, sent me this photograph that he took on recent trip to New York:

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They All Laughed

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“They All Laughed,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: They All Laughed

The song of the day for Friday, April 15, 2015 is “They All Laughed.”

About This Song

George and Ira Gershwin wrote “They All Laughed” in 1937 for the Fred Astaire film Shall We Dance, where it was sung by Ginger Rogers and also features her and Fred dancing.

About This Version

This song is a favorite of Tony Bennett’s. I believe he’s sung at most, if not all, of his concerts that I’ve attended. He always sings it in a charming and somewhat self-effacing way that the audience really loves. He’s recorded it several times, including in 1968 for I’ve Gotta Be Me and in 2011 for Cheek To Cheek with Lady Gaga.

About Today

They All Laughed

Listen to They All Laughed on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1993


“They All Laughed,” as well as Steppin’ Out, is available from iTunes.

Today, we have an extended excerpt from “Shall We Dance,” featuring Ginger Rogers singing today’s song. And she sings the verse, which I’d not heard until today when I found this video!

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Song of the Day: They Can’t Take That Away From Me

The song of the day for Wednesday, May 6, 201 is “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

About This Song

This song was written by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 Fred Astaire – Ginger Rodgers movie Shall We Dance. Unlike most songs that Astaire introduced in his films, there was no dance number associated with “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” It is one of the Gershwin’s finest love songs. George Gershwin died just two months after this film was released.

About This Version

Tony Bennett has recorded this lovely song several times, first in 1967 for the album For Once In My Life, with an arrangement by Torrie Zito. He also sang the song on MTV Unplugged concert in 1994 and as a duet with Brad Paisley for the Target version of Duets II. Today’s beautiful recording is, of course, from Steppin’ Out and was arranged by Tony Bennett and Ralph Sharon.

They Can"t Take That Away from Me

Listen to They Can"t Take That Away from Me on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1993


“They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” as well as Steppin’ Out, is available from iTunes.

I have two videos for you today. First is Tony Bennett singing today’s song with Elvis Costello from the MTV Unplugged concert:

And here is the inimitable Fred Astaire singing this song to Ginger Rogers, from Shall We Dance: