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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

September 22, 2024 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Close You Eyes

The song of the day for Sunday, September 22, 2024, is “Close Your Eyes.”

About This Song

“Close Your Eyes” was written in 1933 by Bernice Petkere. Petkere was named by Irving Berlin as the “Queen of Tin Pan Alley.” A vaudeville performer as a child, she sold her first song in 1931, “Starlight,” recorded by Bing Crosby. “Close Your Eyes” is her most well-known song. The song started getting jazz treatments in the 1950s, starting with a great duet from Coleman Hawkins and Milt Jackson.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Close Your Eyes” on July 31, 1953; the recording was released in 1956 in the Columbia collection Because Of You and again in Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1, released in 2011 in The Complete Collection box set. This version was arranged by Gil Evans and features The Pastels on background vocals.

“Close Your Eyes,” as well as Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1, is available on Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bernice Petkere, Gil Evans, Outtakes & Other Delights, Rarities, The Pastels, Tony Bennett, Vol. 1

August 23, 2015 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Close Your Eyes

The song of the day for Sunday, August 23, 2015 is “Close Your Eyes.”

About This Song

“Close Your Eyes” was written in 1933 by Bernice Petkere, named by Irving Berlin as the “Queen of Tin Pan Alley.” A vaudeville performer as a child, she sold her first song in 1931, “Starlight,” recorded by Bing Crosby. “Close Your Eyes” is her most well-known song. The song started getting jazz treatments in the 1950s, starting with a great duet from Coleman Hawkins and Milt Jackson.

About These Versions

Tony Bennett has recorded this song three times: first in 1953, arranged by Gil Evans and featuring The Pastels; in 1955 with an arrangement by Percy Faith featuring The Ray Charles Singers and finally in 1961, arranged by Ralph Burns for his album My Heart Sings.

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett introduces a new feature this Sunday, where we present several different recordings of the same song recorded by Tony Bennett. Whenever I decide to use a certain song and am presented with several different recordings to choose from, I listen to them all before I decide which to use as Song of the Day. It’s always quite interesting to hear both the similarities and differences over the years and with different musicians. So our new Sunday feature will present those versions so that you can listen to them all, if you wish, and decide which one you like best.

1953

Close Your Eyes

Tony Bennett · Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1 · Song · 2012

“Close Your Eyes,” as well as Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights, Vol. 1, is available from iTunes.

1955

Close Your Eyes

Listen to Close Your Eyes on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

“Close Your Eyes,” as well as The Columbia Singles, Vol. 3, is available from iTunes.

1961

Close Your Eyes

Listen to Close Your Eyes on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1961

“Close Your Eyes,” as well as My Heart Sings, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bernice Petkere, Gil Evans, Percy Faith, Ralph Burns, The Pastels, The Ray Charles Singers

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