Tony Bennett has passed away at the age of 96. From his first album Because of you (1962) to his latest Tony Bennett New Mono To Stereo Mixes (2023), Frank Sinatra’s favorite jazz singer has multiplied the classics over the decades, sometimes accompanied by the biggest names in music.
The crooner’s signature track was written by George Cory and Douglass Cross in 1953 in New York, out of nostalgia for San Francisco. The song is performed for the first time by Claramae Turner. But it was in December 1961 that Tonny Bennett put his voice for the first time on I Left My Heart In San Francisco. The success was such that the recording won a Grammy Award in 1963 and became one of the official anthems of the Californian city in 1984.
The original title by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, taken from the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, was taken up by Bennett in 1964 in his album Who Can I Turn To. The lyrics are trying. They evoke disconnection from reality, as well as feelings of loneliness and despair. On this song, the artist is vulnerable but powerful at the same time. The disc ranks 33rd on the Hot Billboard 100 and has been covered by many artists (Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfiel, or even Bobby Darin).
The title has become a staple of jazz standards. The song, written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, first appeared in the film Swing Time (1936). In the feature film, Fred Astaire sings it to Dorothy Fields. Kern and Fields were awarded an Oscar in 1937 for the title of “best original song” for the latter. Bennett will not interpret it until 1957 and will inscribe in the memories the famous refrain “The way you look tonight”.
This title was originally recorded by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald. Bennett and Winehouse chose the famous Abbey Road studio in London in 2011 to lend their voices, in turn, to the song written in 1930 by Edward Heyman, Franck Eyton and Robert Sour. This recording was the last of the soul singer, who died some time later of an alcohol overdose. The title appears on the jazzman’s album entitled Tony Bennett Duets II, and was awarded in 2012 at the Grammy Awards. Proceeds from the hit were donated to The Amy Winehouse Foundation.
After a first collaboration on the album Cheek to Cheek (2014), the surprising pair Gaga-Bennett came together again on the title written by Cole Porter (1936). Originally performed by Frank Sinatra, the song that appeared in the American musical film The Admiral Leads the Dance came close to the Oscar for best original song in 1937. This new version appears in their latest album Love for Sale (2021).
