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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

June 9, 2022 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over The Rainbow

The song of the day for Friday, June 10, 2022, is “Over The Rainbow.”

About Today

Please join The Year of Tony Bennett in remembering the great Judy Garland, who was born in Grand Rapid, Minnesota exactly 100 years ago today, June 10, 1922.

I choose to say just one thing about her: I think she was the greatest female singer of the 20th century and her music will never grow old or tired or dated.

About This Song

“Over the Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz and is one of the most widely known songs by Arlen or Harburg. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song “…has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “Over The Rainbow” in July 1995 for his album Here’s To The Ladies, which honors the great female singers of the 20th century. It was arranged by Bill Holman.

“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Here’s To The Ladies is available on Apple Music.

Of course, we have Judy singing today’s song from the 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz.

I’d like to close with a clip of Tony’s visit to The Judy Garland Show, aired on July 30, 1963. You can see here how fond they were of each other.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bill Holman, Happy Birthday Judy Garland, Harold Arlen, Here's To The Ladies, Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett, Yip Harburg

April 7, 2022 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

The song of the day for Friday, April 8, 2022, is “Over The Rainbow.”

About Today

Today we are celebrating one of America’s great lyricists: E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, who was born on April 8, 1896. Known mostly for his work with Harold Arlen, he also wrote lyrics for Vernon Duke, Arthur Schwartz, Burton Lane, and Jerome Kern.

About This Song

“Over The Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg in 1939. Probably the most widely known of all Arlen’s songs, “Over The Rainbow” is from the great Wizard Of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. It has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song

has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “Over The Rainbow” in 1995 for the album Here’s To The Ladies. In this album, Bennett recorded songs associated with the 20th century’s greatest women singers. “Over The Rainbow” was, of course, for Judy Garland. The album was arranged and conducted by Bill Holman.

“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Here’s Top The Ladies is available on Apple Music.

As we are honoring Yip Harburg, I have a clip from a 1979 television program special They Wrote The Songs. Yip Harburg was the guest for one episode. The clip is 11 minutes long and I hope you can find the time to watch it. He talks about the importance of music in our lives, and segues into “Over The Rainbow.” Next, he talks about the making of The Wizard of Oz and some of the lyrics he wrote. He ends with the story of how he and Harold Arlen wrote one of the greatest songs in the Great American Songbook, “Last Night When We Were Young.”

Here’s Tony Bennett’s recording of “Last Night When We Were Young” from his 1992 album Perfectly Frank.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bill Holman, Harold Arlen, Judy Garland, Last Night When We Young Last Night, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett, Yip Harburg

February 16, 2022 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over The Rainbow

The song of the day for Thursday, February 17, 2022, is “Over The Rainbow.”

About This Song

“Over The Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. Probably the most widely known of all Arlen’s songs, “Over The Rainbow” is from the great Wizard Of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song “…has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Over The Rainbow” in 1960 for his songbook tribute to Harold Arlen: Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen. Glenn Osser wrote the arrangements and conducted the orchestra for the entire album.

“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen is available on Apple Music.

We have a very special video today of Yip Harburg singing today’s song.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Glenn Osser, Harold Arlen, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg

April 7, 2021 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over the Rainbow

The song of the day for Thursday, April 8, 2021, is “Over the Rainbow.”

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett is remembering one of America’s great lyricists: Edgar Yipsel “Yip” Harburg on the anniversary of his birth on April 8, 1896. In addition to his work on many memorable songs, including today’s song, he was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his liberal sensibilities. He championed racial and gender equality and union politics.

About This Song

“Over the Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg in 1939 for The Wizard of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland.

In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote:

(the song) has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Over the Rainbow” in 1960 for Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen. Glenn Osser wrote the arrangement and conducted the orchestra. Unlike many recordings of “Over the Rainbow,” Bennett sings the verse, which is quite beautiful.

Over The Rainbow

Listen to Over The Rainbow on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1960.

“Over the Rainbow,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, is available from Apple Music.

We can’t close out this post without two other wonderful versions of today’s song from Judy Garland and Yip Harburg.

Here’s Judy from The Wizard of Oz:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - The Wizard of Oz (1/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD

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And here is Yip singing today’s song. I love this video. I hope you will too.

Yip Harburg - Over The Rainbow

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Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Happy Birthday Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen, Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg

February 16, 2021 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Over The Rainbow

The song of the day for Wednesday, February 17, 2021, is “Over The Rainbow.”

About This Song

Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote “Over The Rainbow” in 1939 for The Wizard of Oz. Probably the most widely known of all Arlen’s songs, “Over The Rainbow” is from The Wizard Of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed downed the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts.The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song “…has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Over The Rainbow” in 1960 for his album Tony Bennett Sings A String of Harold Arlen. It’s no wonder that Bennett chose Arlen for his first tribute album–Arlen’s body of work will never be eclipsed by any other songwriter. Glenn Osser wrote the arrangement and conducted the orchestra.

Over The Rainbow

Listen to Over The Rainbow on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1960.

“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings A String of Harold Arlen, is available from Apple Music.

I got a couple of extra videos for you today.

The first is very dear to me. It’s Yip Harburg singing “Over The Rainbow” from a television program about American songwriting. It makes me cry–in a good way–every time I watch it.

Yip Harburg - Over The Rainbow

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The second is from Judy’s final live performance in Denmark in March 1969. She died on June 22, 1969.

Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow (last performance)

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Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Glenn Osser, Harold Arlen, Harold Arlen Week, Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz, Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett Sings A String of Harold Alren, Yip Harburg

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