The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: So Beats My Heart For You

The song of the day for Friday, October 25, 2024, is “So Beats My Heart For You.”

About This Song

“So Beats My Heart For You” was written in 1930 by Fat Ballard, Charles Henderson, and Tom Waring. As one of the songwriters, Tom Waring, was the brother of Fred Waring, “So Beats My Heart For You,” was featured by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “So Beats My Heart For You” 67 years ago on October 25, 1957, for his third LP album, The Beat of My Heart. For this album, Bennett invited several guest percussionists to play on the album; “So Beats My Heart For You” featured Chico Hamilton. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“So Beats My Heart For You,” as well as The Beat Of My Heart, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Blues In The Night

The song of the day for Monday, September 2. 2024, is “Blues In The Night.”

About This Song

“Blues In The Night” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1941 film of the name. Arlen wrote the music first and wrote a true blues song. Johnny Mercer, who later wrote the lyrics, drew on his Southern heritage to write the exceptional blues lyrics.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Blues In The Night” on October 21, 1957, for the album The Beat Of My Heart. Jo Jones played drums for this recording.

“Blues In The Night,” 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 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: Let’s Begin

The song of the day for Monday, July 7, 2024, is “Let’s Begin.”

About This Song

“Let’s Begin” was written by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical Roberta, which also included many other fine Kern songs, including “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Let’s Begin” on October 14, 1957, for his third album The Beat of My Heart. For this album, Bennett invited percussionists as guest artists; Art Blakely was the guest artist for “Let’s Being.” Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

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

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Song of the Day: Just One Of Those Things

The song of the day for Sunday, April 21, 2024, is “Just One Of Those Things.”

About This Song

Cole Porter wrote “Just One of Those Things” for the 1935 musical Jubilee. It’s one of Porter’s most popular songs and has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Frank Sinatra. In American Popular Song Alec Wilder spoke of the lyric as ‘a trip to the moon on gossamer wings’ and “that it seems impossible that it wasn’t sitting on his piano, waiting for Porter even before he wrote the lyric.” It has a certain literary fame as well: Holden Caulfield, in Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye likes the song and notes that even the “stinking band” in the hotel lounge “couldn’t ruin it entirely.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Just One of Those Things” on October 14, 1957, for his third album, The Beat of My Heart, featuring an arrangement by Ralph Sharon. Bennett invited several percussionists to play on the album; Al Blakey was featured in this song.

“Just One Of Those Things,” as well as The Beat of My Heart, is available on Apple Music.

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