Consider This from NPR - Remembering Tony Bennett

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

Tony Bennett, the crooner whose success spanned generations, died Friday. He was 96 years old.His voice was synonymous with the Great American Songbook, which he continued to bring to new audiences even as the country's musical tastes changed.NPR's Walter Ray Watson traces the arc of Bennett's life, from his days as a singing waiter in Astoria, New York, to his Billboard-charting hits as a nonagenarian.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University performs breakthrough research every year, making discoveries that improve human health, combat climate change, and move society forward. More at iu.edu forward. For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. That's what Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, told Life magazine in 1965. It changed my life in many ways. First, it was negative because I had to live up to those accolades. But it ended up a blessing because it had me bump into my best friend.

I call him discipline. That's Tony Bennett speaking to NPR back in 1998. It allowed me to just be very consistent. Poets often use many words to say a simple thing. It takes thought and time and rhyme To make a poem sing And being consistent with the audience, do consistent performances. Tony Bennett died Friday morning at the age of 96, after a life that was a testament to that consistency.

Think about it, Sinatra said that back in 1965, and Bennett was still putting out albums this decade. And all that time, he stuck to the American pop standards that first brought him acclaim. Fly me to the moon I don't sing any bad songs. I believe what I'm singing. I know they're good.

I know they're telling stories. Maybe it was that choice of songs that explains Bennett's remarkable endurance over the years, even as the country's musical taste changed. I look for optimistic songs because everybody has personal tragedies. Most of us are all troubled. We worry.

What I try to do is when I perform is make people forget their problems and then also they just say, well, maybe there is a way as they walk out of my concerts. I left my heart in San Francisco His last public performance was alongside his frequent collaborator, Lady Gaga, at Radio City Music Hall in 2021. It calls to me It was later broadcast on CBS, and it was several years after Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and he still had the audience hanging on every note.

Your golden sun will shine for me. Ahead, we look back at Tony Bennett's life. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. It's Friday, July 21st. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally

and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation. Working together to create a just world where all people have access to renewable energy, clean air and water, and healthy food.

The Schmidt Family Foundation is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org. It's Consider This from NPR, and here's a Tony Bennett quote that made us laugh. It's from the Washington Post obituary today. Bennett was asked at one point whether he ever got tired of performing I Left My Heart in San Francisco, his most enduring hit. And his answer was, do you ever get tired of making love?

NPR's Walter Ray Watson has this appreciation of Tony Bennett. He was a showman with an intimate nightclub sensibility, and he wore it everywhere like his tailored suits, age-appropriate yet timelessly cool. He made his first records when he was 20. The world knew him as Tony Bennett. Bob Hope gave him that name, but he was born Anthony Dominic Benedetto in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. His father died when he was 10.

Eventually, he quit high school, working odd jobs to help support his family. I became a singing waiter in Astoria, Long Island, and it was the only job that I said, if I have to do this the rest of my life, I'll be happy doing that. That's Bennett in 1998 on WHYY's Fresh Air. Bennett said music was a family affair that started back in Italy with his father, who charmed with opera. In Calabria, he had a reputation for singing on the top of a mountain and the whole valley would hear it. And they enjoyed him so much. Bennett himself studied opera on the GI Bill,

specifically the technique of bel canto singing. He says a teacher told him to emulate the phrasing of instrumentalists to find his own voice. I walk along the street of sorrow to find his own voice. A demo of this song made it to producer Mitch Miller at Columbia Records, and Bennett was signed. In short order, he became a million-seller, and a ten-year string of hits followed. If you would only say you care Just in time I found you just in time

Tony Bennett made a name for himself as a crooner, but he loved jazz, though he wasn't sure he could pull it off. He always says, I'm not a jazz singer, but I mean, he has a great feel for a beat. Pianist Ralph Sharon was Tony Bennett's accompanist and arranger for more than 50 years. He told NPR in 1998 that the likes of Duke Ellington and Miles Davis appreciated the jazz sensibility Bennett brought to pop music.

I think that's why musicians love, they love to play with Tony and also like to listen to him. And because he liked listening to them, Bennett wanted to sing with them. He leveraged his pop stardom to record jazz albums with Art Blakey and Count Basie's orchestra. But when I get to the center there do I get to better that And grab me some glow

No Caesar got him I'm mad about Lauren Eberle No matter what style Bennett tried on, Ralph Sharon says one thing was clear. I think it definitely is and was an identifiable sound. I think you always knew it was him. Shine a little light on, shine a little light on, shine a little light on me. Then, in 1962, Bennett's career really took off.

The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay. The glory that was Rome is of another day. Pianist Ralph Sharon says the song that became Bennett's signature was an accident. Sharon found the sheet music

for I Left My Heart in San Francisco stashed in a drawer with some shirts. He packed it before hitting the road. I always remember, we got to a place called Hot Springs, Arkansas, and I took this out of my bag

and looked at it and called Tony, and I said, you know something, we're going to San Francisco next. And I said, there's a song here that might be interesting. It was much more than that. I Left My Heart in San Francisco next. And I said, there's a song here that might be interesting.

It was much more than that. I Left My Heart in San Francisco became an international hit, clinging to the U.S. charts for almost a year and winning Bennett two Grammy Awards. I left my heart in San Francisco With his superstardom, Bennett lent his voice to causes, including civil rights. In 1965, protesters attempting to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama were attacked.

The incident became known as Bloody Sunday. Two weeks later, Harry Belafonte convinced his friend to brave the violence down south and go with him to Montgomery to perform, as Bennett recalled on CNN in 2013. I didn't want to do it, but then he told me what went down, how some blacks were burned, had gasoline thrown on them, and they were burned.

When I heard that, I said, I'll go with you. Tony Bennett was sensitive to the changing times, but he wasn't too keen to change his music. Bennett mostly refused to sing rock, the new sound, instead sticking to standards and recording two acclaimed albums with jazz pianist Bill Evans. Bennett played smaller venues and even did some television, The Muppet Show, David Letterman, The Simpsons, and MTV. It must have been moon glow Way up in the blue

In 1994, he sang on MTV Unplugged with Katie Lang making a cameo. The success of the show and album helped tee up Bennett's next 20 years, putting his voice into the ears of a brand new generation. He went on to make duet recordings with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Lady Gaga. Oh, I love to climb a mountain and reach the highest peak. But it doesn't thrill me half as much as dancing cheek to cheek. And I love to go out fishing in a river or a creek, but I don't enjoy it half as much as dancing cheek to cheek. Tony Bennett embraced all kinds of music. He told NPR in 2011 that was his life and the secret to his longevity.

I love life. To me, I wish I could communicate to the whole planet of what a gift it is to be alive. Being alive for Tony Bennett meant following his passions, which included not only music, but painting landscapes and portraits, signed Anthony Benedetto. That's NPR's Walter Ray Watson. Let someone start believing in you Let him hold out his hand Let him find you

Watch what happens It's Consider This from NPR I'm Scott Detrow