RIP: Tony Bennett, the last of the Great American Crooners

[thewayne]

Tony had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's over a decade ago, though the cause of death is undisclosed. He was 96.

He was a social activist and marched in Selma. During World War 2, he lunched with a black friend from high school and was busted from corporal to private and given more demeaning duties. Even then he was singing, his career really launched when he was discovered by Bob Hope who suggested he change his name to Tony Bennett.

Throughout his EIGHT DECADE career, he earned EIGHTEEN Grammy awards, his ever-popular I Left My Heart In San Francisco earning a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame. He recorded with Lady Gaga, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Costello, K.D. Lang, and many others.

I recommend reading the Rolling Stone article. If they want you to subscribe, open a private browsing window and copy/paste the URL into it.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tony-bennett-dead-1123737/

Comments

[acelightning73]

Bennett was part of a wave of Italian-American crooners in the postwar years, alog with Frank Sinatra, Perry Como,and Dean Martin. Even Bing Crosby's style fit into this pattern - the handsome, baritone with the smooth voice and romantic songs. Before Elvis Presley became famous, young women would behave hysterically if they got to see their favorite crooner - girls would throw their bobby sox at Sinatra, just as girls succumbed to "Beatlemania". And from everything I've ever read or heard, Bennet was a nice guy who respected his fans. And he did have a distinctive voice and style.

[disneydream06]

I am so glad I got to see him, even if it was after the Alzheimer got ahold of him. :(
Hugs, Jon

[acelightning73]

I watched the CBS-TV rebroadcast of his concert with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall. Given that both of the singers are of Italian-American descent, when they put their heads close together to sing harmony, they had very similar profiles. And everybody in Radio City was having the absolute most fun anybody can have in public - the two stars, the pit band, the audience, and the technicians running the lights, cameras, sound board, and everything else. And where did Gaga get that Fortuny-pleated gold lame gown?!?

[disneydream06]

That must have been quite the concert. :o

[acelightning73]

It was amazing fun to watch these talented people having fun together. Gaga danced her ass off a few times, and thanked all the members of the band after each had taken a solo. And Tony Bennet was one of the really nicest celebrities I've ever met. And he really did have a unique sound and style. Of all those postwar crooners, he was the most mellow. (Oh, nothing wrong with Sinatra, but some of his stylistic tricks were a bit over the top. And Dean Martin was a lecherous drunk. Bing Crosby's natural vocal range impressed me. And sometimes the musical chances he was willing to take - like the "Little Drummer Boy" duet with David Bowie!

[disneydream06]

I was never a Sinatra fan.
From every thing I have read Dean Martin's persona was all for show.
I've read that Crosby on the other hand was a creep and terrible father.
Would you include, shoot, now I can't remember the name of the guy I was going to ask you about. LOL...
Hugs, Jon

[acelightning73]

Al Martino, Perry Como, were all Italian-American crooners. Jerry Lewis said Dino could never have performed if he drank as much as everybody thought he did. Crosby was horrible to his children, but Perry Como was an Old World-style family man. And Sinatra was just as big a letch as everyone thought.

Having worked in broadcasting, I got to meet a whole lot of famous people, most of whom had never met a woman broadcasting technician before. A couple of them (I won't name names) tried to horndog me, and I'd tell them they couldn't afford me ;-)

The single nicest celebrity I've ever met was Willie Nelson.

[disneydream06]

and I'd tell them they couldn't afford me ;-)
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for you. :)

I forgot about Perry Como. :)
I've heard that about Willie Nelson. :)

Just remembered the name I was trying for earlier, Andy Williams.
Would he fit into the crooner category?
I read his autobiography, seemed like a pretty decent guy.

[acelightning73]

I was almost always the only woman in mostly-male groups, and I developed coping strategies. (Although a lot of the time they treated me like "one of the guys", which sometimes got frustrating.)

Andy Williams wasn't Italian-American - he seems to have been of ordinary American WASP ancestry. Most of his hit songs were "ballads", which sort of makes him a crooner. I think he got a little too "show-biz" later in his career.

[disneydream06]

We stopped in Branson, Missouri many years ago and I had hoped to see Andy Williams there, he had one of the early "theaters" there, but of course he was out of town when we were there. :p

[silveradept]

It being Rolling Stone, they focus on the music bits, which have some impressive collaborations and solo work, but I feel like his civil-rights work and the lifelong work he did in that regard deserves more than a few paragraphs.

[thewayne]

Absolutely.