Tony Bennett on Twitter
Loved singing with Stevie Wonder last night at his House of Toys Benefit… and yes, I am growing a cookie duster for the holidays!
Song of the Day: For Once In My Life
The song of the day for Thursday, February 19, 2015 is “For Once In My Life.”
About This Song
“For Once In My Life” was written in 1967 by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden. The song was written for the Motown Record’s Jobete publising company. This song not only found a success as a Motown song, with the recording by Stevie Wonder, but also as a popular standard, starting with Tony Bennett’s recording in 1967. Thanks to Tony Bennett’s recording of the song, it’s been sung by other popular and jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.
About This Version
While Tony Bennett first recorded today’s song in 1967 for his album of the same name, today’s version is from his 2006 album Duets: An American Classic and is sung with Stevie Wonder, who also plays harmonica on the recording. It was arranged and conducted by Jorge Calandrelli.
“For Once In My Life,” as well as Duets: An American Classic, is available from iTunes.
About Today
Last Sunday evening, February 15, 2015, Tony Bennett appeared as a guest on the Grammy-produced tribute to Wonder: Stevie Wonder — Songs in the Key of Life. I didn’t get a chance to watch it Sunday, but had recorded it for later viewing. I was on Twitter Sunday and all of a sudden, Twitter exploded with tweets about Tony’s performance singing this song on the show:
Aside from the Legendary Master himself, #StevieWonder, the Living Legend @itstonybennett gave thee best performance of the night…COLD!!
— Vera G. (@vivaciousvdelor) February 18, 2015
Still dreaming about Tony Bennett's rendition of "For Once In My Life" at the Stevie Wonder Tribute. I mean…that was gospel! So good!
— Meocha Belle (@MeochaBelle) February 18, 2015
@itstonybennett absolutely slayed his rendition of "For Once in My Life"…had me in tears!!!! Is it available on iTunes? #StevieWonder
— Kakes By Kem (@KakesByKem) February 17, 2015
So, I finally found some time to watch this show and these viewers were right … Tony was superb. I’ve heard him sing this song live before, but this performance was absolutely riveting! If you have a chance to catch it, please do. In the meantime, here’s a video of Tony Bennett singing today’s song at The White House for President and Mrs. Obama in 2009. Note Esperanza Spaulding on bass!
Song of the Day: For Once in My Life
The Song of the Day for September 26, 2012 is For Once in My Life.
About For Once in My Life
For Once in My Life was written in 1967 by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records. Originally written for Barbara McNair, it was first recorded by Jean DuShon. The song was originally written as a ballad, but the most famous version of the song is an uptempo recording in 1968 by Stevie Wonder.
Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder sang this song on the original Duets album.
About This Version
We select For Once in My Life today, as Tony Bennett has gifted us today with an early release of his duet of this song with Marc Anthony from next month’s Viva Duets. This new version is really wonderful. We thought it would be nice to listen to Mr. Bennett’s original recording of the song from the 1967 album For Once in My Life, as compiled on The Essential Tony Bennett. It was beautifully arranged and conducted by Torrie Zito.