The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

The song of the day for Wednesday, August 14, 2013, is “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”

About This Song

“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” was written in 1940 by Duke Ellington. Like many Ellington songs, it was originally an instrumental and was originally known as “Never No Lament”; Bob Russell added the lyrics in 1942 and gave the song its new name. The song is noted for having the common Mondegreen: Mister Saturday Night. Ellington’s first recording with vocals was made in 1943 and featured Al Hibbler.

About This Version

Today’s song is from the 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! (The title of the album is answer to the fourth song on the first side of the album: “What Makes It Happen.”)

If you’ve seen the film The Zen of Bennett (and if you haven’t, why not?), you might remember that it has a scene where Tony and Michael Bublé record this song for Duets II. Daegal Bennett asks his Dad to sing the last line kind of all on one note and high like he used to sing it. His Dad replies that he never sang anything that high. I think Daegal was thinking of this recording. And it was almost that high.

http://open.spotify.com/track/491ebIOXElVbEqQgzVILO2
“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” as well as the album Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Country Girl

In honor of the birthday of Robert Farnon, the song of the day for July 24, 2013 is “Country Girl.”

About Robert Farnon

Robert Farnon was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 24, 1917. In his long and extraordinary career, Farnon was a composer, conductor and arranger in addition to playing the trumpet. He not only composed for film and television, but is known for his classical works as well.

Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon

When World War II started, Farnon was commissioned as a Captain in the Canadian Army and was named the head of the Canadian Band of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force and served his country in Europe during the war. After the war, he decided to make England his home, settling in the town of Guernsey.

Farnon had the well-deserved reputation of being one of the finest arrangers in the world. Tony Bennett recalled in The Good Life:

I met Bob Farnon in early 1952, when I was playing the Casino in Toronto. … Even back then, Bob wanted us to record together, but I had such reverence for his work that I told him I wasn’t ready. I just didn’t feel that I had developed enough as an artist to make an album with him. I thought I’d have to wait about twenty years before I sang with Bob, and I was pretty close, because we didn’t work together until 1967.

Their first album together Bennett’s 1968 album Snowfall, which is arguably the finest Christmas album ever recorded and stands tall as an album in and of itself and is anything but a standard album of Christmas songs.

Farnon and Bennett continued to work together on, including With Love, his live concert album Get Happy with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits, Volume 7 (for Verve), and, in 1992, Perfectly Frank, which not only was a gold record in the US, but won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Performance.

Robert Farnon died on April 23, 2005 at the age of 87, in Guernsey. At his memorial service, held at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, Tony Bennett sang “Country Girl.”

For more information about Robert Farnon and his exceptional accomplishments, please visit the Robert Farnon Society website.

About This Song

The song “Country Girl” was written by Farnon based on the Wordsworth poem The Solitary Reaper. “Country Girl” was written in 1966 for the Eurovision Song Contest; it came in third. All I can say is that those other two songs must have been phenomenal, because “Country Girl” is one of the most beautiful and touching songs that I have ever heard.

About This Version

Today’s version comes from the 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! and was arranged and conducted by Marion Evans.

http://open.spotify.com/track/441kwTO21pAs83sCXNZENj
“Country Girl,” as well as the album Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: The Lady’s In Love With You

The song of the day for Tuesday, July 23, 2013 is “The Lady’s In Love With You.”

About This Song

“The Lady’s In Love With You” was written in 1939 by Burton Lane and Frank Loesser. Burton Lane wrote the music for many fine musicals, including Finian’s Rainbow and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Frank Loesser wrote two of the great American musicals: Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Though Burton and Loesser wrote several songs together, they never collaborated on a musical.

About This Version

Today’s song is from Tony Makes It Happen! “The Lady’s In Love With You,” as well as all the songs on this album, was arranged and conducted by Marion Evans. His big band arrangements are superb, and Tony Makes It Happen! is a joy for fans of the big band sound. And Tony swings this number hard!

http://open.spotify.com/track/196IZPSQKytH80IeAzzT4b
“The Lady’s In Love With You,” as well as Tony Makes It Happen!, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

The song of the day for Monday, July 15, 2013 is “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”

About This Song

This great song was written in 1940 by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Bob Russell added in 1942. The original title from 1940 was “Never No Lament,” but was retitled in 1942 when the lyrics were added. Tony Bennett has recorded duets of this song with Michael Bublé (Duets II) and Miguel Bosé (Viva Duets).

About This Version

Today’s version is from the 1967 album Tony Makes It Happen! I love the sound of this album, which was arranged and conducted by the great Marion Evans, who is working with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for their upcoming jazz album.

http://open.spotify.com/track/491ebIOXElVbEqQgzVILO2
“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” as well as the entire Tony Makes It Happen! album, is available from iTunes.