Photo by Brooke Ismachi
Tony Bennett is 96 years old today.
An Italian-American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes and jazz, Bennett is also a serious and accomplished painter, having created works — under the name Anthony Benedetto — that are on permanent public display in several art institutions.
He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York City.
Raised in New York City, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as an infantryman with the U.S. Army in the European Theatre. Afterwards, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records, and had his first #1 popular song —"Because of You" — in 1951.
Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. Bennett then further refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
His career and personal life then suffered an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era. Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his audience to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact.
He remains a popular and critically praised recording artist and concert performer today, having sold over 50 million records. On December 20, 2016, NBC televised a special concert in honor of Bennett’s 90th birthday.
Here, Bennett and Judy Garland perform “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse perform "Body and Soul"
Photo by Frank Beacham
A Day with Tony Bennett: A Personal Remembrance
It was 1992 and the New York Times was launching a new “American Songbook” format on its WQXR Radio Station in New York City.
I was hastily assigned to cover the story for a radio publication and was told to be at the radio studio for an interview at 8 a.m. sharp. Who I would interview, I was never told. That is typical in a writer's life.
I arrived at the station totally unprepared for anything. A receptionist told me Mr. Bennett was in a conference room waiting for me.
“Mr. Bennett?” I asked.
“Yes, Tony Bennett.”
“The Tony Bennett?” I asked again.
“Yes!”
I panicked. I was to interview Tony Bennett in a matter of seconds and had done zero research. I knew very little about him. But I definitely remembered his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
As I entered the room, he stood and introduced himself. He was very gracious. He put me at ease immediately. Here goes, I shuddered to myself.
“So,” I asked, “I’ve always been curious. How do you find the writers for songs like, ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco?’ It must be difficult to keep finding songs like that over a long career."
Bingo! That was all that was needed. It was as if I’d hit a home run.
Bennett immediately warmed to the question and told me about his lifelong struggle to find good songs to sing and how very difficult it is to find a signature song. He took the question and ran with it. The interview went on for more than 40 minutes. I had asked only one real question, but I listened intensely and frequently nodded. He warmed to me immediately.
At the end, he invited me to a party that night and to a live performance in the studio that afternoon where he would launch the new format. I accepted his invitation on both counts.
That night, when I arrived at the party, he greeted me at the door and took me over to meet Liza Minnelli, who was also friendly and down to earth. I was treated like royalty and could not believe how attentive and friendly they both were.
Here is a picture I took that day of Tony Bennett singing in the studio at WQXR. In the background is Betty Comden and Adolph Green, writers of such hit movies as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Auntie Mame.”
After that day, I became a lifelong fan of Tony Bennett.
Happy Birthday, Tony!