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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, July 21st, 2023, and this week the Grim Reaper has taken from us one of the all-time greats, twenty-time Grammy winner, the last of the great pre-Rock’n’Roll crooners, Mr. Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known to billions worldwide as Tony Bennett. This week’s show is dedicated exclusively to Mr. Bennett, as the Reaper and I take you through the highlights of the career of a singer who has been on the charts in every one of the last eight decades.
Opening Act:
Tony Bennett was born August 3rd, 1926, in Queens, New York, the son of a grocer and a seamstress. He was already singing publicly by age 10 at the opening of the Triborough Bridge and singing professionally in Italian restaurants by age 13. By age 25, he recorded this, the first #1 hit single he’d have in the 1950s, “Because of You.”
Tony Bennett – Because of You
Headliner:
After being drafted and serving in World War II, Bennett’s singing was heard by Pearl Bailey, who had him open a show for her in Greenwich Village. Bob Hope was at that show and took him on the road, giving him the new stage name “Tony Bennett.” He became a superstar in the Fifties, notching 27 top-40 singles, including these two #1s, “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Rags to Riches.”
Tony Bennett – Cold, Cold Heart
Tony Bennett – Rags to Riches
Main Stage:
By the 1960s, Tony Bennett was establishing a successful nightclub act, like his contemporaries Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. It was then that he covered this little-known, decade-old song that only reached #19 on the charts but came to be known as his signature piece.
Tony Bennett – I Left My Heart In San Francisco
However, the musical world in which Bennett and the other Fifties crooners had dominated changed in 1955 with the genesis of rock’n’roll. Bennett’s records were placing lower and lower on the charts until 1964, when the arrival of the Beatles and the British Invasion mostly killed the lounge singer era. By 1970, desperate to remain relevant, Bennett was pushed by producer Clive Davis to try his voice on modern tunes, like this Beatles tune.
Tony Bennett – Something
Tony Bennett fell on hard times through the 1970s as the musical world moved on without him. The IRS was after his home, and he nearly died from his cocaine addiction. By the mid-1980s, with his son as his manager, he turned his life around and was back on the charts, receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “Life in a Looking Glass” from the Blake Edwards’ movie, “That’s Life.”
Tony Bennett – Life in a Looking Glass
Jazz Cellar:
At the dawn of the 1990s, Bennett’s manager-son Danny felt there was no need to change his father’s style to attract younger audiences. With late-night TV bookings on Letterman, Conan, and MTV, he brought the Great American Songbook to a younger audience. Here’s “The Lady is a Tramp” from Bennett’s 1992 salute to old Blue Eyes, “Perfectly Frank.”
Tony Bennett – The Lady is a Tramp
Danny’s plan worked. Tony Bennett became a cultural touchstone, appearing on Sesame Street, The Simpsons, and Muppets Tonight. In the 90s, Bennett was seen at the MTV Video Music Awards shows side by side with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Flavor Flav, and as his “Steppin’ Out with My Baby” video received MTV airplay.
Tony Bennett – Steppin’ Out with My Baby
Tony Bennett’s comeback reached its 90s peak with his performance on MTV Unplugged, on which he quipped “I’ve been unplugged my whole career.” The album went platinum and, besides taking the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance Grammy award for the third straight year, also won the top Grammy prize of Album of the Year. This duet of “Moonglow” with k.d. lang from that album was his first single released in 18 years.
Tony Bennett – Moonglow (ft. k.d. lang)
Festival Stage:
Duets became a signature part of Tony Bennett’s career as he entered the 2000s. Bennett’s 2001 album “Playin’ with my Friends” featured Natalie Cole, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, BB King, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Wonder. Here’s the title track.
Tony Bennett – Playin’ With My Friends
Tony Bennett – New York State of Mind (Duet with Billy Joel)
As Tony Bennett turned 80 years old, he released “Duets: An American Classic” featuring duets with the likes of Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Sting, Bono, and George Michael, to name a few. The album went to #3 on the charts and cemented Bennett’s legacy as an American icon. Here he is with Stevie Wonder on “For Once in My Life.”
Tony Bennett – For Once In My Life (ft. Stevie Wonder)
International Stage:
Tony Bennett continued his string of duets into the 2010s, releasing “Duets II” in 2011, which debuted at #1, making it Bennett’s first #1 album and making him the oldest living musician to ever debut at #1. The album featured collaborations with John Mayer, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Carrie Underwood, and Mariah Carey, as well as the last song Amy Winehouse ever recorded, “Body and Soul.” This song barely made the Hot 100, but that was enough to make Bennett the oldest artist to ever appear on the charts and the artist with the longest career span on the charts.
Tony Bennett – Body And Soul (Feat. Amy Winehouse)
Tony Bennett called on Latin performers to join him on 2012’s “Viva Duets,” sung in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and featuring Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, and others. This is Gloria Estefan on the adaptation of “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)?”
Tony Bennett – Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (ft. Gloria Estefan)
But when it comes to Tony Bennett duets, he will always be remembered for his late-life friendship with Lady Gaga. They released the duet album “Cheek to Cheek” in 2014, which debuted at #1 and extended Bennett’s record. Their tour for the album was an enormous success, and Bennett continued performing live throughout the rest of the 2010s.
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – Cheek to Cheek
Encore:
We close this week as did Tony Bennett, performing in the 2020s to the very end. His final album was his second collaboration with Lady Gaga, 2021’s “Love For Sale,” giving him the Guinness World Record for the oldest person to release an album of new material, at the age of 95 years and 60 days, as well as the record for his 60-year span between top ten albums, from 1961 to 2021. Here they are with the Cole Porter classic, “I Get a Kick Out of You.”
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – I Get A Kick Out Of You
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, July 21st, 2023, featuring our tribute to the late great Tony Bennett. Join us here next week for our regular tribute to the artists who have passed recently. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
