“The Count’s attitude became my philosophy - economy of keep it simple, keep it swingin’,” Bennett once said.īennett landed four top 20 hits on the Hot 100 in 1956, “In the Middle of an Island” charting highest, No. He was also the first male pop singer to work with Basie, releasing In Person with Count Basie and His Orchestra in 1959. His 1957 album The Beat of My Heart was jazz interpretations of standards given heavily percussive arrangements and featuring the drummer backed by Blakey, Jo Jones and Chico Hamilton. And he did so on his own terms, singing pop on singles and turning to jazz for his albums, recording with Art Blakey, Zoot Sims, Count Basie, Bill Evans, Frank Wess and other leading jazz artists. The recording exposed Williams to a pop audience for the first time, starting a trend that would become Bennett’s forte: In his first 18 years of making records, Billboard credited Bennett with introducing nearly 60 songs, helping establish writers such as Cy Coleman and Charles deForest. Jerry Wexler, while working at Billboard prior to joining Atlantic Records, played Williams’ version for Columbia A&R executive Mitch Miller, who brought the song to Bennett. 2.Īn early sign that he would work without attention to genre was “Cold, Cold Heart,” the first pop recording of a Hank Williams song. Bennett joined the Army and was stationed in Germany where he sang with Army bands.Ĭarrie Underwood, Elton John & More Musicians Remember Tony Bennett: ‘He’s Irreplaceable…īennett landed 12 top 20 singles between 19: “Because of You,” “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Rags to Riches” went to No. (He would be an avid visual artist his entire life, using his given name for his oil paintings). His goal, however, was to become a commercial artist after finishing studies at the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan. At 16, he working as an usher at Ditmars Theater, worked as a singing waiter in a couple of local clubs and sang on weekends at a club in Paterson, N.J. His mother became a seamstress and, to contribute to the household of three children, Bennett, whose inspirations were Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Durante, started singing in a tavern for $15 a week. 3, 1926, Bennett started singing when he was 5, learning Irish songs from locals in his Astoria neighborhood and earn pennies and nickels for his performances.īennett’s father was ill most of the singer’s life, dying when Bennett was 10. Through the songs he personally believes in.”īorn Antonio Dominick Benedetto in Long Island City, N.Y., on Aug. Through his wish to communicate with the listener in the audience. “How does a singer get good performances out of himself,” Bennett wrote in a 1968 issue of Billboard. Remembering Tony Bennett: A Life in Photos Similarly, his output in the 1980s slowed as he resisted following trends, the payoff coming in the ‘90s when he paid tribute to the work of Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday and exposed a 21 st century generation to the music he cut his teeth on. That’s the way I like to sing - as if I just picked up the lead sheet for the first time.”īennett would stick to his guns about songs and his interpretations, even when it meant leaving Columbia Records after 23 years and forming his own label, Improv Records. “The way you feel it is the way it comes out, and it’s never the same way twice. “I prefer the way the jazz artists work, and this is one of the things I have learned over the years from guys like (cornetist) Bobby Hackett,” Bennett told Billboard in 1968. He was following the advice of his voice teacher, Miriam Spier, who advised him that the only way to stand out is to emulate instrumentalists rather than other singers. (A performance Tatum once gave of “Danny Boy” affected Bennett to the point that he named his first song Danny). 1 album with Duets II.Ī student of the bel canto style of singing, Bennett developed his own voice by going to the jazz clubs on New York’s 52 nd Street and listening to musicians such as saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Art Tatum. lang and Winehouse, Bennett became a paragon of multi-generational cool starting in the early 1990s as he toured the world and, in 2011 at the age of 85, had his first No. Sticking to his style as he recorded with Gaga, Elvis Costello, k.d. Bennett had a continuous recording career from 1950 to 2014 that would see him release more than 60 albums, 44 of which would chart on the Billboard 200, win 16 Grammy Awards, and include a signature song in “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Over the last 25 years, Bennett thrived as the primary connection between modern pop and the music of the first half of the 20 th century that came from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway shows and movies.
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