The Best is Yet to Come
10 things about music worth sharing, (almost) all-Tony Bennett edition
We just celebrated Tony Bennett’s 100th birthday on August 3 with a show in NYC at Joe’s Pub. He inspired so many artists (over the course of one afternoon, he set me on my path to music — you can hear me tell that story here). It was an epic night (duet with Kat Edmonson!) that ended with Tony’s son Dae telling me some of his dad’s favorite swear words. So fair warning, this edition of 10 things contains a lot of Tony Bennett! Let’s go!
In the lead-up to the Tony Bennett show, I rabbit-holed the 12 tunes on the setlist and shared their backstories in Tony Bennett at 100: A Life in 12 Songs. Did you know “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” almost never got heard? The songwriters (George Cory and Douglass Cross) ran into Bennett MD Ralph Sharon on the street and gave him the sheet music… and Sharon stuck it in a drawer for ten years. TEN. Blows my mind. So often, the iconic status of a piece of art hinges on so little, such absolute serendipity.
New to me: This clip of Duke Ellington accompanying Ella Fitzgerald on the Ed Sullivan Show, March 1965. I’d never seen footage of them performing together. Continued proof that while recorded Ella is great, live Ella confirms the existence of some sort of God, who loves music. Is it just me (it’s not) or is the sexual tension at 11 here? I know will-they-or-won’t-they energy when I see it. (All that, and you never even see Duke’s face.) “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,” music by Duke Ellington, lyrics by Bob Russell (who also worded “Crazy He Calls Me” and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”).
I sat down with digital storyteller Sophia Aste to talk about my experience interviewing Tony Bennett. One of my favorite nuggets of wisdom from the great man was his answer to the question, why do tunes in the Great American Songbook endure? By you, as the artist, bringing your authentic self to them. You bring your own story to the story of a song, and together you tell a new story.
(You can see the whole video series on Instagram and YouTube.)
I made a Spotify playlist of 19 Tony Bennett tracks some of which you’ve (maybe) never heard that are absolute bangers: Tony Bennett: Lesser-Known Goodies.
I recently discovered Moon of Manakoora, a sweet little jewel of a record that won vocalist Janet Seidel the Bell Award for Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album (years ago, but new to me). I love her chamber-jazz arrangements of tunes like “No Moon At All” and “Deep Purple” (which no-one ever sings). Listen to Moon of Manakoora on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube (Thanks to Kay Sharples for the tip — and please keep the music recommendations coming!)
RIP Bonnie Tyler. (This line from her Financial Times obit made me giggle). “Jesus, where’s the kitchen sink?” said singer Rody Dodd when he heard an early mix of the none-more-epic “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (he sang the “turn around” parts). Please (re)watch this version of the (bananas) “Total Eclipse” music video where the lyrics describe what we literally see. As a singer, I think often about how Tyler’s voice got that rasp only after she ignored her surgeon’s orders to rest after vocal-node surgery. Ever heard Bonnie Tyler’s crystal-clear before-voice?
As someone who’s put out seven records with the Hot Sardines (nine, if you count EPs), it’s funny to realize just how many of the people who follow you don’t know what you’re up to because they never see you in their feed. Result: Lots of people asking when the Sardines are putting a new album out. We just did! It’s pretty good! Listen to Good News on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube. My favorite tracks (this week) are Love Potion No. 9 and Lover Come Back to Me.
Tony Bennett’s humanitarian side: A career spanning 70 albums is titanic, making beautiful music well into your 80s is inspiring, but vocally and consistently championing human and civil rights (when many other old-guard stars stayed quiet) is what made Bennett groundbreaking.
Tony Bennett on his mom (pictured below): “My mother, Anna Suraci Benedetto, sewed dresses. She worked in a factory by day and brought home dresses at night because she was paid by the piece and had to support my brother, my sister, and me. My father had died when I was ten. Every night, we’d meet my mother at the Ditmars Boulevard el train stop, the north terminal of the lines from Queens, when she returned from Manhattan and help her carry home a big bundle of unsewn dresses. We’d climb the stairs, and she’d start to sew as soon as she got home. She’d stop to make us dinner, and after that, while we kids read or listened to music, she would bend over her sewing machine again to continue stitching dresses.” From Bennett’s lovely memoir with Scott Simon, Just Getting Started.
I’m going on tour this month! The Hot Sardines bring Good News through the northeast U.S. late August, including the stage with maybe the best view in the world. (Shalin Liu in Rockport, MA.) Tickets via hotsardines.com.
In the next edition: The cover of my debut solo album, out October 16 (!).
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xox Elizabeth
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