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Tony Bennett: Columbia Records
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Tony Bennett is the kind of artist that moves the hearts and souls of audiences. Tie’s the singer’s singer. On his latest album ‘for Columbia Records, Tony Bennett offers up a toast to hi sources of inspiration: HERE S TO THE LADIES, an 18-song tribute to some of the greatest female musical artists of all time. Bennett has recorded, in his own inimitable style, songs popularized by Barbra Streisand (People), Peggy Lee ("I’m in Love Again"), Judy Garland ("Somewhere Over The Rainbow"), Blossom Deane ("My Love Went To London"), Sarah Vaughn ("Poor Butterfly"), Doris Day ("Sentimental Journey"), Carmen McRae ("cloudy Morning"), Rosemary Clooney ("Tenderly"), Mabel Mercer ("Down In The Depths"), Margaret Whiting ("Moonlight in Vermont" and "My Ideal"), Helen O’Connell ("Tangerine"), Billie Holiday ("God B]ess The Child"), Dinah Washington ("Daybreak’), [Ha Fitzgerald ("You Showed Me The Way"), Lena Home ("Honeysuckle Rose"), Liza Minnelli ("Maybe This Time") and Ethel Merman ("I Got Rhythm").
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Tony Bennett is a musical icon; an enduring beacon of musicality and good taste. And that voice!—there’s no other on the planet quite like it. In the mid '70s, the indomitable Tony Bennett found himself free from the creative constraints of a major label. Free to do things his way. Free to sing the songs he wanted to sing. Forming his own record label, Bennett basked in complete artistic freedom, recording and releasing five timeless albums under his Improv imprint: Life Is Beautiful; Sings 10 Great Rodgers and Hart Songs and …Sings More Great Rodgers and Hart (both with the Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet); Together Again (with jazz piano legend Bill Evans); and the spirited, informal live jam session Tony Bennett/The McPartlands and Friends Make Magnificent Music. Not surprisingly, with complete artistic control and a deliberate disregard for the fickle pop/rock trends of the era, Bennett made not only some his finest recordings of the '70s, but ... arguably some of his best recorded work, period.
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Tony Bennett's life is extremely interesting. He was born on August 3, 1926 in Queens. He grew up working hard, and learned to sing at an early age. He was inspired by such artists as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong, among others. He fought with distinction in World War II, and his music career is the stuff of legend. He has released dozens of albums and sold millions of records worldwide over the years.
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Tony Bennett's career has enjoyed three distinct phases, each of them very successful. In the early '50s, he scored a series of major hits that made him one of the most popular recording artists of the time. In the early '60s, he mounted a comeback as more of an adult-album seller. And from the mid-'80s on, he achieved renewed popularity with generations of listeners who hadn't been born when he first appeared. This... defines Bennett more in terms of marketing than music. He himself probably would say that, in each phase of his career, he has remained largely constant to his goals of singing the best available songs the best way he knows how.
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With rock’n’roll beginning to rear its formidable head,Tony Bennett saw much of his young audience beginning to evaporate. One of his last top ten hits of the decade was Cinnamon Sinner, a novelty written by Lincoln Chase, who wrote “Jim Dandy” for LaVern Baker and a succession of songs in the early ’60s for his wife Shirley Ellis. The R&Btinged record was noticeably out of his element, but Bennett refused to submit to the pressures of the trend towards teenyboppers and instead, issued his first 10” LP, Alone at Last, in 1954. The next year, Bennett switched to the 12”format, releasing Cloud 7, which signalled his predilection to appeal to older audiences, who were better heeled to purchase long playing albums than the singles-oriented younger set.
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In tribute to Tony Bennett's 80th birthday (August 3, 2006), SONYBMG will release a duets CD in honor of this milestone, to be in stores on September 26th. An impressive roster of vocalists joined Tony in the recording studio earlier this year to record duet versions of the songs most associated with Bennett's repertoire. Among the list of guest duet artists are: Barbra Streisand, Bono, Elton John, John Legend, the Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, k.d. lang, Juanes, Elvis Costello, Tim McGraw and Sting.
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