The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Indian Summer

The song of the day for Thursday, October 5, 2023, is “Indian Summer.”

About This Song

“Indian Summer” was composed by Victor Herbert in 1919. However, “Indian Summer” did not become a hit until bands picked it up in the early 1940s (this may have coincided with the addition of the lyrics by Al Dubin in 1939). Frank Sinatra recorded with Tommy Dorsey in 1940. Other recordings include those by Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Sidney Bechet, and Sarah Vaughan.

About This Version

Tony Bennet recorded “Indian Summer” in June 1992 for Bennett’s tribute album to Frank Sinatra, Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon wrote the arrangement.

“Indian Summer,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: Indian Summer

The song of the day for Friday, October 3, 2014 is “Indian Summer.”

About This Song

“Indian Summer” was composed in 1919 by Victor Herbert; the lyrics were written in 1939 by Al Dubin. Although written in 1919, “Indian Summer” did not become a hit until bands picked it up in the early 1940s (this may have coincided with the addition of the lyrics by Al Dubin in 1939). Frank Sinatra recorded with Tommy Dorsey in 1940. Other recordings include those by Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Sidney Bechet and Sarah Vaughan.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Bennett’s 1992 album Perfectly Frank. He also recorded a lovely version in 1962 that was made available in 2011 with the Complete Collection box set, when it was added to I Wanna Be Around as a bonus track.

About Today

After two weeks of cool, rainy, Portland fall weather, we are having a few days of glorious late summer temperatures. If that isn’t an Indian Summer, I’m not sure what is.

Indian Summer

Listen to Indian Summer on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1992

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Song of the Day: Indian Summer

The song of the day for Sunday, October 6, 2013 is “Indian Summer.”

About This Song

“Indian Summer” was written as a piano piece in 1919 by Victor Herbert; the lyrics were added in 1939 by Al Dubin. It’s a popular jazz song, with recordings by Frank Sinatra, Sidney Bechet, Gene Krupa, Sarah Vaughan and Paul Desmond, among others. Tony Bennett first recorded “Indian Summer” in 1962 for his album I Wanna Be Around.

About This Version

Indian Summer can be defined as a warm, dry day in autumn following a period of wet, rainy weather. It’s been cold and raining for several weeks in Portland, Oregon (home of The Year of Tony Bennett) until we woke up this morning to clear skies with much sunshine and a high of 72 degrees. To celebrate this beautiful Portland weekend, our song today must be “Indian Summer.”

Today’s version is from Bennett’s 1992 Grammy-winning album Perfectly Frank, in which he sings songs also sung by Frank Sinatra.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4N5DxvYPtXtBeQWV6RfN0G
“Indian Summer,” as well as the album Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes and Amazon.

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Song of the Day: Indian Summer

The Song of the Day for September 14, 2012 is Indian Summer.

There has been quite some discussion about what really constitutes an Indian summer at the Year of Tony Bennett. One of us was born in Liverpool, UK and emigrated to Oregon as child. I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and gradually worked my west as an adult. It turns out that Indian summer means different things to people, depending on where they are from.

But, as it was quite chilly here in Portland last week and is now quite warm with temperatures in the mid-eighties, I declare it to be Indian summer.

About Indian Summer

The song was written as piano solo in 1919 by Victor Herbert.  Al Dubin wrote the lyrics in 1939. The next year, Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra, recorded the song and it reached #1 on the Hit Parade. Sidney Bechet, playing the soprano saxophone, recorded one of the first jazz recordings of the song. It has also been recorded by Gene Krupa, Paul Desmond, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded Indian Summer in 1962 and was released on the 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. This version was arranged and conducted by Ralph Sharon. The version for today is from Perfectly Frank, released in 1992,  orchestrated by Robert Farnon.