Tony Bennett, 94, Has Alzheimer's Disease
February 1, 2021 8:42 PM Subscribe
For four years, the legendary singer and his family have kept his secret. Now, they're breaking their silence. (AARP.org)
Tony Bennett talks less. He paints less. But as for the singing...
[Bennett's neurologist, Gayatri] Devi recommended that Tony continue to rehearse, and twice a week, his longtime pianist Lee Musiker, who lives a mere three-minute walk away, comes to the apartment and runs through Tony's 90-minute set with him. [...] Musiker placed a set list on the piano in front of Tony, but they didn't stick to it. Indeed, the first chord Musiker hit was from a song that wasn't on the list and that Tony hadn't sung much in recent years. Yet immediately, incredibly, he opened his mouth and out rolled a stream of rich, resonant notes, swelling up and outward from the lower part of his range, the melancholy tone perfectly matched to the lyric, which he produced with his famously clear articulation: “Maybe this tiiiime, I'll be luckyyyy …” The song was “Maybe This Time” by John Kander and Fred Ebb, made famous by Liza Minelli in the movie Cabaret in 1972, which is when Tony recorded it, in a stunning performance that he reproduced now. The song built in intensity as the lyrics and aching melody mounted into his high register, a full three octaves from where he started, increasing in volume and power until he was filling the room with a crescendoing cry: “It's got to happen, happen sometime—maybe this time, I'll winnnnnnn!"
Neuroscience even today cannot explain how a man whose speaking voice has become so hesitant — whose memory of events, people and places has largely vanished — can, at the sound of a musical cue, lift his voice in song with such beauty and expression, except to say that music and singing emerge, as [neuroscientist, musician, and author Daniel] Levitin has pointed out, from areas of the brain quite distinct from those associated with speech and language. And so it went, for the next hour, a miraculous concert that was, quite literally, a gift for an observer and a stroll down memory lane.
"How about the Duke Ellington tune?” Musiker said — and right away, Tony's voice floated toward the ceiling like notes from a lovely muted trumpet.
"In my solitude,” he sang, “You haunt me/ With dreadful ease/ Of days gone by./ In my solitude/ You taunt me/ With memories/ That never die."
[...] Musiker shook his head in amazement, looked at Tony and thumped his fist against his heart. "This is it,” he said to Tony. “The heart."
"Every time,” Tony said — his first spontaneous verbal reaction of the afternoon. As the rehearsal went on, he increasingly traded short conversational back-and-forths with Musiker.
April 2020: From his home to yours, Tony Bennett performs Charlie Chaplin's classic, "Smile." [Benefiting the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.]
The incomparable Mr. Bennett's latest album (a second collaboration with Lady Gaga; "songs were recorded, in widely spaced sessions, between 2018 and early 2020"), will be released this spring.
Tony Bennett talks less. He paints less. But as for the singing...
[Bennett's neurologist, Gayatri] Devi recommended that Tony continue to rehearse, and twice a week, his longtime pianist Lee Musiker, who lives a mere three-minute walk away, comes to the apartment and runs through Tony's 90-minute set with him. [...] Musiker placed a set list on the piano in front of Tony, but they didn't stick to it. Indeed, the first chord Musiker hit was from a song that wasn't on the list and that Tony hadn't sung much in recent years. Yet immediately, incredibly, he opened his mouth and out rolled a stream of rich, resonant notes, swelling up and outward from the lower part of his range, the melancholy tone perfectly matched to the lyric, which he produced with his famously clear articulation: “Maybe this tiiiime, I'll be luckyyyy …” The song was “Maybe This Time” by John Kander and Fred Ebb, made famous by Liza Minelli in the movie Cabaret in 1972, which is when Tony recorded it, in a stunning performance that he reproduced now. The song built in intensity as the lyrics and aching melody mounted into his high register, a full three octaves from where he started, increasing in volume and power until he was filling the room with a crescendoing cry: “It's got to happen, happen sometime—maybe this time, I'll winnnnnnn!"
Neuroscience even today cannot explain how a man whose speaking voice has become so hesitant — whose memory of events, people and places has largely vanished — can, at the sound of a musical cue, lift his voice in song with such beauty and expression, except to say that music and singing emerge, as [neuroscientist, musician, and author Daniel] Levitin has pointed out, from areas of the brain quite distinct from those associated with speech and language. And so it went, for the next hour, a miraculous concert that was, quite literally, a gift for an observer and a stroll down memory lane.
"How about the Duke Ellington tune?” Musiker said — and right away, Tony's voice floated toward the ceiling like notes from a lovely muted trumpet.
"In my solitude,” he sang, “You haunt me/ With dreadful ease/ Of days gone by./ In my solitude/ You taunt me/ With memories/ That never die."
[...] Musiker shook his head in amazement, looked at Tony and thumped his fist against his heart. "This is it,” he said to Tony. “The heart."
"Every time,” Tony said — his first spontaneous verbal reaction of the afternoon. As the rehearsal went on, he increasingly traded short conversational back-and-forths with Musiker.
April 2020: From his home to yours, Tony Bennett performs Charlie Chaplin's classic, "Smile." [Benefiting the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.]
The incomparable Mr. Bennett's latest album (a second collaboration with Lady Gaga; "songs were recorded, in widely spaced sessions, between 2018 and early 2020"), will be released this spring.
My sympathies and love to his family. As Alzheimer's grinds down the brain, he'll lose even the music, but for some reason, it's one of the last things to go.
I had the good fortune to see him perform in a small setting (an Apple work bash) several years ago. He has, or had, a magnetic personality which shines on stage.
posted by blob at 8:52 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
I had the good fortune to see him perform in a small setting (an Apple work bash) several years ago. He has, or had, a magnetic personality which shines on stage.
posted by blob at 8:52 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Well, dammit. He's been so prolific and so oddly current for so long. I'm sad to hear his light will be dimmed, but he's given us so much and continues to release material so...
Thanks Tony. I wish for you a graceful exit, and I truly thank you for all the lovely moments you've provided across my life.
posted by hippybear at 9:02 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Thanks Tony. I wish for you a graceful exit, and I truly thank you for all the lovely moments you've provided across my life.
posted by hippybear at 9:02 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh, Tony.
I am so immensely grateful I got to see him perform a few years ago. I've gotten to hear a lot of amazing musicians in my life, but hearing Tony sing in person was something I really wished for, and I am so lucky I got that chance.
I am so sad to know he's been stricken by this terrible disease; but glad that he has such a profound tie to music, one of the last things to be ravaged by Alzheimer's; and also so glad that he's had so many, many years to fully embrace his gifts, and to share his wonderful self with the world; and so deeply glad that we have gotten to know him and his artistry all this time.
Thank you for sharing this sad news, Iris. I'm glad to be thinking of Tony tonight.
posted by kristi at 9:18 PM on February 1, 2021 [5 favorites]
I am so immensely grateful I got to see him perform a few years ago. I've gotten to hear a lot of amazing musicians in my life, but hearing Tony sing in person was something I really wished for, and I am so lucky I got that chance.
I am so sad to know he's been stricken by this terrible disease; but glad that he has such a profound tie to music, one of the last things to be ravaged by Alzheimer's; and also so glad that he's had so many, many years to fully embrace his gifts, and to share his wonderful self with the world; and so deeply glad that we have gotten to know him and his artistry all this time.
Thank you for sharing this sad news, Iris. I'm glad to be thinking of Tony tonight.
posted by kristi at 9:18 PM on February 1, 2021 [5 favorites]
I hope I can still sing when my family history comes home.
.
posted by Windopaene at 9:19 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
.
posted by Windopaene at 9:19 PM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]
Muppets Tonight, S1E6, 1996... Tony Bennett.
posted by hippybear at 9:22 PM on February 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:22 PM on February 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
I’ve seen Mister Tony five times (?), each time thinking it would be the last. Magnificent each time. Got to meet him once while he was painting in Central Park, and although I hated to interrupt him, he was a real gent about it, but at the same time he made it clear he was Very Busy. Still, I met Mister Tony!
He’s one of the great pillars of my life. This news hit hard. And if Mister Tony is the old Tone when he sings, naturally, he was singing all through my house tonight.
I’m sad for him, but also happy, that he’s in such good hands. We all love Mister Tony, and always will.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:31 PM on February 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
He’s one of the great pillars of my life. This news hit hard. And if Mister Tony is the old Tone when he sings, naturally, he was singing all through my house tonight.
I’m sad for him, but also happy, that he’s in such good hands. We all love Mister Tony, and always will.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:31 PM on February 1, 2021 [4 favorites]
Well, dammit. He's been so prolific and so oddly current for so long
I don't necessarily agree with this....
The best thing his son did for him when he began to manage his dad's career was to pull him out of Vegas namely for the reason as he felt it was a singer's graveyard and that action would keep Bennett current.
Bennett also practiced bel canto singing which is an opera influenced practice that kept his voice in shape. This showed in his range and his projection. I saw him one night in the Hollywood Bowl. We were sitting in the cheap seats. At some point he said, "This is for all of you in the back row" He then sang in a capella the slowest and sweetest version of "Fly Me to the Moon"
Learning that this was his practice made a lot of sense to me. I had always seen him as an opera singer singing in a boxer's body. His phrasing is as good if not better than Sinatra's. I feel that he took more risks than Sinatra. His work with Gil Evans is outstanding. And he always seemed to really enjoy what he is doing.
Lastly, and I am surprised that more critics don't pick up on this. Sinatra came out of a big band era. Bennett came out of a post-war bebop era. Sinatra was a microphone. Bennett was an instrument. Bennett could sing in intimate settings with small groups. Besides a singer he was also an instrument. Sinatra flamed early and lost his relevance because he couldn't adapt to small settings as he couldn't do this. He became as anachronistic and pallid as the arrangements were behind him.
It says a lot about him and the artistic choices he made. And he was incredibly generous
The Way You Look Tonight
Return To Me
My Foolish Heart
Body and Soul w/Amy Winehouse
Bennett is among the best, if not the best, performer I've seen so far. I heard some say that there always seems to be a smile in his voice.
Molte bene', brother! Thanks for being a bright light
posted by goalyeehah at 11:47 PM on February 1, 2021 [19 favorites]
I don't necessarily agree with this....
The best thing his son did for him when he began to manage his dad's career was to pull him out of Vegas namely for the reason as he felt it was a singer's graveyard and that action would keep Bennett current.
Bennett also practiced bel canto singing which is an opera influenced practice that kept his voice in shape. This showed in his range and his projection. I saw him one night in the Hollywood Bowl. We were sitting in the cheap seats. At some point he said, "This is for all of you in the back row" He then sang in a capella the slowest and sweetest version of "Fly Me to the Moon"
Learning that this was his practice made a lot of sense to me. I had always seen him as an opera singer singing in a boxer's body. His phrasing is as good if not better than Sinatra's. I feel that he took more risks than Sinatra. His work with Gil Evans is outstanding. And he always seemed to really enjoy what he is doing.
Lastly, and I am surprised that more critics don't pick up on this. Sinatra came out of a big band era. Bennett came out of a post-war bebop era. Sinatra was a microphone. Bennett was an instrument. Bennett could sing in intimate settings with small groups. Besides a singer he was also an instrument. Sinatra flamed early and lost his relevance because he couldn't adapt to small settings as he couldn't do this. He became as anachronistic and pallid as the arrangements were behind him.
It says a lot about him and the artistic choices he made. And he was incredibly generous
The Way You Look Tonight
Return To Me
My Foolish Heart
Body and Soul w/Amy Winehouse
Bennett is among the best, if not the best, performer I've seen so far. I heard some say that there always seems to be a smile in his voice.
Molte bene', brother! Thanks for being a bright light
posted by goalyeehah at 11:47 PM on February 1, 2021 [19 favorites]
I briefly visited San Francisco just once, in 1990, as part of a work trip from New Zealand on our way to COMDEX in Las Vegas. My only preparation was to take my mother's Walkman with me and ensure I had a tape of Bennett singing, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". I played it in my hotel room, my eyes closed, in a kinda heaven. Such a sweet, sweet memory. Mum succumbed to the frailty/dementia decline nearly a decade ago, her Walkman long consigned to rubbish bin. But the sound of Bennett's voice that day in San Francisco will stay with me forever. I wish him all the best. The gift he has given so many of us is immeasurable.
posted by vac2003 at 12:05 AM on February 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by vac2003 at 12:05 AM on February 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
I adore Tony Bennett; this is heartbreaking.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:13 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:13 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
That was a great article, despite the sadness of the subject. Thank you for posting.
Neuroscience even today cannot explain how a man whose speaking voice has become so hesitant — whose memory of events, people and places has largely vanished — can, at the sound of a musical cue, lift his voice in song with such beauty and expression, except to say that music and singing emerge, as Levitin has pointed out, from areas of the brain quite distinct from those associated with speech and language. The powerful feelings released by music can connect listeners to their deep emotional memories, even those inaccessible to the conscious mind.
And so it went, for the next hour, a miraculous concert that was, quite literally, a gift for an observer and a stroll down memory lane.
"How about the Duke Ellington tune?” Musiker said — and right away, Tony's voice floated toward the ceiling like notes from a lovely muted trumpet."
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:32 AM on February 2, 2021
Neuroscience even today cannot explain how a man whose speaking voice has become so hesitant — whose memory of events, people and places has largely vanished — can, at the sound of a musical cue, lift his voice in song with such beauty and expression, except to say that music and singing emerge, as Levitin has pointed out, from areas of the brain quite distinct from those associated with speech and language. The powerful feelings released by music can connect listeners to their deep emotional memories, even those inaccessible to the conscious mind.
And so it went, for the next hour, a miraculous concert that was, quite literally, a gift for an observer and a stroll down memory lane.
"How about the Duke Ellington tune?” Musiker said — and right away, Tony's voice floated toward the ceiling like notes from a lovely muted trumpet."
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:32 AM on February 2, 2021
On “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the first single he cut for Columbia, in 1950, Tony, at 23 years old, had ended the song with a full bel canto window-rattler — and astonishingly he reproduced it now: “… and dance along the boulevaaaaaahd of brooooooken dreams!”
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:37 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:37 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
How do you keep the music playing? - Tony at 90, delivering the goods as only he can.
How do you keep the music playing?
How do you make it last?
How do you keep the song from fading
Too fast?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:08 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
How do you keep the music playing?
How do you make it last?
How do you keep the song from fading
Too fast?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:08 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
i love him. i an so sad to learn this news, but i am so happy he has given us music for so long. he does, indeed, have a smile in his voice - even when it is melancholy.
posted by lapolla at 3:39 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by lapolla at 3:39 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Sad to know Tony is headed down this path, but at least he has a companion: Music, whose powers are mysterious and magical.
My mother-in-law sang joyfully in a barbershop group for decades. Long after Alzheimer’s had rendered her nonverbal, when she no longer reacted to our visits in any meaningful way, we could always connect with a song. We’d start in, and her blank eyes would brighten, she’d sit up straighter, and soon join in with perfect harmony, never missing a beat, lyric or note. For the duration of the song she’d beam her best stage smile and even make eye contact. Then the song would end and she’d quickly sink back down into herself. It was astonishing and heartbreaking at the same time.
May the Force of Music be with us all, forever.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:00 AM on February 2, 2021 [10 favorites]
My mother-in-law sang joyfully in a barbershop group for decades. Long after Alzheimer’s had rendered her nonverbal, when she no longer reacted to our visits in any meaningful way, we could always connect with a song. We’d start in, and her blank eyes would brighten, she’d sit up straighter, and soon join in with perfect harmony, never missing a beat, lyric or note. For the duration of the song she’d beam her best stage smile and even make eye contact. Then the song would end and she’d quickly sink back down into herself. It was astonishing and heartbreaking at the same time.
May the Force of Music be with us all, forever.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:00 AM on February 2, 2021 [10 favorites]
❤️
posted by jquinby at 4:21 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jquinby at 4:21 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
This paragraph did me in:
But Tony was a considerably more muted presence during the recording of the new album with Gaga. In raw documentary footage of the sessions, he speaks rarely, and when he does his words are halting; at times, he seems lost and bewildered. Gaga, clearly aware of his condition, keeps her utterances short and simple (as is recommended by experts in the disease when talking to Alzheimer's patients). “You sound so good, Tony,” she tells him at one point. “Thanks,” is his one-word response. She says that she thinks “all the time” about their 2015 tour. Tony looks at her wordlessly. “Wasn't that fun every night?” she prompts him. “Yeah,” he says, uncertainly. The pain and sadness in Gaga's face is clear at such moments — but never more so than in an extraordinarily moving sequence in which Tony (a man she calls “an incredible mentor, and friend, and father figure") sings a solo passage of a love song. Gaga looks on, from behind her mic, her smile breaking into a quiver, her eyes brimming, before she puts her hands over her face and sobs.posted by jazon at 5:44 AM on February 2, 2021 [28 favorites]
He puts me in mind of a lighthouse: that voice shining out, even when you're far away and it's a little faint. Always clear and bright and beckoning.
Celebrity news doesn't often touch me, but Tony Bennett really is a special person. *sigh* 💔
posted by wenestvedt at 6:03 AM on February 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
Celebrity news doesn't often touch me, but Tony Bennett really is a special person. *sigh* 💔
posted by wenestvedt at 6:03 AM on February 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
@jazon - that paragraph made me tear up as well.
This was a touching and heartbreaking article. His wife truly seems like a pillar of strength.
posted by hepta at 6:37 AM on February 2, 2021
This was a touching and heartbreaking article. His wife truly seems like a pillar of strength.
posted by hepta at 6:37 AM on February 2, 2021
Well, my 94 year old Nana died about six months ago, suffering from a variety of things, including Alzheimer’s. “Smile” was one of her favorites as was Tony Bennett and I just killed the last box of kleenex, y’all. Just destroyed here.
posted by thivaia at 6:51 AM on February 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 6:51 AM on February 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
Sinatra was a microphone. Bennett was an instrument.
I’ve never heard the difference between the two of them explained better than that. For all the legend that has been given to Sinatra (and he was definitely good), Bennett has always brought so much more fullness to his work.
On another note, Lady Gaga is a stunningly fantastic singer, and knowing that she has been learning from Bennett, someone who saw talents in her she didn’t know she had, makes me feel good about the future of her music.
posted by azpenguin at 7:23 AM on February 2, 2021 [11 favorites]
I’ve never heard the difference between the two of them explained better than that. For all the legend that has been given to Sinatra (and he was definitely good), Bennett has always brought so much more fullness to his work.
On another note, Lady Gaga is a stunningly fantastic singer, and knowing that she has been learning from Bennett, someone who saw talents in her she didn’t know she had, makes me feel good about the future of her music.
posted by azpenguin at 7:23 AM on February 2, 2021 [11 favorites]
My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year. I was really hoping the only thing she and Tony would have in common was that they’re both good people from New Jersey.
posted by pxe2000 at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is heartbreaking.
Bennett is not only a tremendous artist, but he's a great person. In the 50s, my father was working coat check at the Three Rivers Inn in Oswego County, NY, and someone knocked over an entire coat rack. Mr. Bennett, there to perform and passing by, stopped and helped him pick up the mess. Not many big stars would bother.
As for singing versus memory, my grandmother had a stroke that kept her from speaking, but she sang along with every hymn in church, no need for the hymnal. They really are different parts of the brain.
I've seen him in concert twice in the last five years, and the last time it was clear that his memory was going, but he put on a great show. I'm sorry for him, but mostly for his family. It's a fucker of a disease.
posted by corvikate at 8:34 AM on February 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
Bennett is not only a tremendous artist, but he's a great person. In the 50s, my father was working coat check at the Three Rivers Inn in Oswego County, NY, and someone knocked over an entire coat rack. Mr. Bennett, there to perform and passing by, stopped and helped him pick up the mess. Not many big stars would bother.
As for singing versus memory, my grandmother had a stroke that kept her from speaking, but she sang along with every hymn in church, no need for the hymnal. They really are different parts of the brain.
I've seen him in concert twice in the last five years, and the last time it was clear that his memory was going, but he put on a great show. I'm sorry for him, but mostly for his family. It's a fucker of a disease.
posted by corvikate at 8:34 AM on February 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
(Iris, this is a very well put-together post, and a lovely tribute to the man and his work that you have made. Thank you for giving this to his fans among MeFites.)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:12 AM on February 2, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 9:12 AM on February 2, 2021 [6 favorites]
I have felt that Sinatra's song selections were great. But I do like Tony's voice better. I remember one of my first Jazz Vocal album I bought to introduce myself to this genre (I grew up in India without access to much western music), it was an album of Tony singing songs made famous by Sinatra, "Perfectly Frank".
This has led me to many, many greats. I saw him in one of his regular stops at Ravinia.
I am sorry for him, and his family and friends.
posted by indianbadger1 at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
This has led me to many, many greats. I saw him in one of his regular stops at Ravinia.
I am sorry for him, and his family and friends.
posted by indianbadger1 at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
On another note, Lady Gaga is a stunningly fantastic singer, and knowing that she has been learning from Bennett, someone who saw talents in her she didn’t know she had, makes me feel good about the future of her music.
Absolutely!!! While I rarely listen to her, I have an incredible amount of respect for her as an artist regarding the choices the SHE has made. May she age into her art as well as Bennett has.
Last concert I saw with him was with her in 2015. It was very sweet to see so many fans of hers at the concert. She is bringing a whole new generation into loving some prime classic stuff.
posted by goalyeehah at 11:14 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Absolutely!!! While I rarely listen to her, I have an incredible amount of respect for her as an artist regarding the choices the SHE has made. May she age into her art as well as Bennett has.
Last concert I saw with him was with her in 2015. It was very sweet to see so many fans of hers at the concert. She is bringing a whole new generation into loving some prime classic stuff.
posted by goalyeehah at 11:14 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
When a friend of mine was getting her Master’s in Music Therapy, she worked on a study where they found that patients who had lost the use of certain muscles still had activity in them when listening to music they had played before their illness or injury. I’m not surprised to hear that singing survives when speech is fading.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:56 PM on February 2, 2021
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:56 PM on February 2, 2021
Tony is what they'd say is "A Real Class-Act"; A very kind and gracious man offstage, and much loved.
Compared to, say, someone like Mel, who also had a rich baritone, but was annoying in person (kinda a jerk sometimes). Frankie had a mercurial personality and a sharp temper. But I don't like to rate them against each other in terms of talent, they're all very gifted and unique in their own way.
Loosely related anecdote: I saw Sinatra perform live on his last tour. He seemed disoriented and unaware of his surroundings, and Eydie Gorme joined him onstage to give him a hug and help him through a few more numbers. He could barely get through a song... and yet... every time Frank raised his microphone and opened his voice, a pure deep resonant sound came forth, perfect phrasing and intonation, harmony of the spheres...
(Also: Steve & Eydie opened for Frank with a super-tight complex jazz-vocal set. I always liked Eydie, but she really impressed me on that night.)
posted by ovvl at 5:17 PM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Compared to, say, someone like Mel, who also had a rich baritone, but was annoying in person (kinda a jerk sometimes). Frankie had a mercurial personality and a sharp temper. But I don't like to rate them against each other in terms of talent, they're all very gifted and unique in their own way.
Loosely related anecdote: I saw Sinatra perform live on his last tour. He seemed disoriented and unaware of his surroundings, and Eydie Gorme joined him onstage to give him a hug and help him through a few more numbers. He could barely get through a song... and yet... every time Frank raised his microphone and opened his voice, a pure deep resonant sound came forth, perfect phrasing and intonation, harmony of the spheres...
(Also: Steve & Eydie opened for Frank with a super-tight complex jazz-vocal set. I always liked Eydie, but she really impressed me on that night.)
posted by ovvl at 5:17 PM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
[Gaga] is bringing a whole new generation into loving some prime classic stuff.
And I know more than one senior citizen keen on Gaga, and Amy Winehouse, because Tony Bennett said that they were the real deal.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:01 PM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
And I know more than one senior citizen keen on Gaga, and Amy Winehouse, because Tony Bennett said that they were the real deal.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:01 PM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Convinced that people his own age and younger need only hear his father's music to fall in love with it, Danny first established name and face recognition for Tony by cajoling SCTV, a Canadian comedy show popular with college kids, into putting Tony in an episode.
This struck me as an odd way to try to rejuvenate his career, so I went digging. He wasn't just on SCTV - he was on Bob and Doug McKenzie's Great White North, of all things! Bizarre to be sure, but endearing as well. And maybe relevant.
posted by Naberius at 10:33 PM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
This struck me as an odd way to try to rejuvenate his career, so I went digging. He wasn't just on SCTV - he was on Bob and Doug McKenzie's Great White North, of all things! Bizarre to be sure, but endearing as well. And maybe relevant.
posted by Naberius at 10:33 PM on February 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Molte grazie, Anthony Benedetto.
He was drafted in November 1944 and served in a replacement unit during and after the Battle of the Bulge. "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one."
He was part of the American occupation force after the war and was demoted and reassigned to Graves Registration Service duties after having dinner with having dinner with his best friend from high school, a Black man named Frank Smith.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:11 AM on February 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
He was drafted in November 1944 and served in a replacement unit during and after the Battle of the Bulge. "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one."
He was part of the American occupation force after the war and was demoted and reassigned to Graves Registration Service duties after having dinner with having dinner with his best friend from high school, a Black man named Frank Smith.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:11 AM on February 3, 2021 [2 favorites]
Thanksgiving dinner, no less, after he'd run into Frank unexpectedly on the street in Germany, and they'd attended a church service. About the "Graves Registration Service" detail:
Tony Bennett was discovered by Pearl Bailey; used to sneak Duke Ellington into segregated clubs so they could play together; and marched with Dr. King (Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett remember civil rights march, CNN, March 22, 2013.)
There's a great profile from 2007, Tony Bennett: The musician and the artist, in which he happily, generously credits just about everyone he's ever met for his artistry.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:44 PM on February 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
... there often hadn't been time for the soldiers to properly bury the men who died on the battlefield. The surviving soldiers often had to wrap the bodies in the dead soldiers' own mattress bags and bury them in common graves. Men like myself in Graves Registration came along later to retrieve them. I'd spend all day digging up dead bodies and reburying them in individual graves. They fed us horrible, starchy foods like rice and potatoes to dull our senses.- The Good Life: The Autobiography of Tony Bennett, 1998, P. 70-71
Tony Bennett was discovered by Pearl Bailey; used to sneak Duke Ellington into segregated clubs so they could play together; and marched with Dr. King (Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett remember civil rights march, CNN, March 22, 2013.)
There's a great profile from 2007, Tony Bennett: The musician and the artist, in which he happily, generously credits just about everyone he's ever met for his artistry.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:44 PM on February 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
More on the military service, and subsequent pacifism: Tony Bennett was drafted in November 1944, at age 18, and two months later he was assigned as a replacement infantryman to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division, a unit filling in for the heavy losses suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. In his autobiography, he writes:
Stern then asked Bennett about how America should deal with terrorists, specifically those responsible for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. (ABC)
“But who are the terrorists? Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists? Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Bennett said. In a soft-spoken voice, the singer disagreed with Stern’s premise that 9/11 terrorists’ actions led to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They flew the plane in, but we caused it. [...] Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop.”
Following seconds of silence, Stern said that his guest was “making some good points.”
Before leaving [the studio], Bennett recalled an evening in 2005 when he was honored at the Kennedy Center. Meeting President George W. Bush at the event, the singer said that the commander-in-chief shared his opinion about the Iraq War.
“He told me personally that night that, he said, ‘I think I made a mistake,’” Bennett said. Bennett believed that the president made this revelation because “he had a special liking to me.”posted by Iris Gambol at 2:11 PM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
It was gratifying that the last official mission of the 255th Regiment was the liberation of a concentration camp in the town of Landsberg. It was thirty miles south of the notorious Dachau camp, on the opposite bank of the Lech River.In September 2011, Howard Stern interviewed Tony Bennett during the singer's “Duets II” promotion schedule; for context, this was Stern, born in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1954, talking with a fellow lifelong New Yorker (born Anthony Benedetto, Astoria, Queens, in 1926). They discussed war, and Bennett's WWII experience, and he told Stern:
"I'm anti-war. It's the lowest form of human behavior [...] it was a nightmare that’s permanent.
"The first time I saw a dead German, that’s when I became a pacifist."
Stern then asked Bennett about how America should deal with terrorists, specifically those responsible for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. (ABC)
“But who are the terrorists? Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists? Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Bennett said. In a soft-spoken voice, the singer disagreed with Stern’s premise that 9/11 terrorists’ actions led to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They flew the plane in, but we caused it. [...] Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop.”
Following seconds of silence, Stern said that his guest was “making some good points.”
Before leaving [the studio], Bennett recalled an evening in 2005 when he was honored at the Kennedy Center. Meeting President George W. Bush at the event, the singer said that the commander-in-chief shared his opinion about the Iraq War.
“He told me personally that night that, he said, ‘I think I made a mistake,’” Bennett said. Bennett believed that the president made this revelation because “he had a special liking to me.”posted by Iris Gambol at 2:11 PM on February 4, 2021 [2 favorites]
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posted by Iris Gambol at 8:44 PM on February 1, 2021 [1 favorite]