TOP 5 TONY BENNETT ALBUMS (RANKED)
Okay, I'll keep this brief as I appreciate not everyone is a Tony Bennett nut like me. In case any of you did want to pay tribute to the great man by listening or sampling some of his albums offline/online, here are my top 5 from three decades of listening to the guy.
1. Who Can I Turn To (1964)
Returning to my 'Northern Exposure' vibe of late, this album perfectly captures that late September turning the corner into Autumn October atmosphere that Nat King Cole is also so good at evoking especially on his classic album 'After Midnight'. I remember well visiting a Jazz/Easy Listening CD/Record shop in Montpelier, Cheltenham back in the early to mid 90's where a father/son team supplied the best jazz vocal/easy listening albums to devoted connoisseurs of the genre. Every time I'd walk into the cosy place they would be playing Tony, Frank or Ella. It was heaven and I forever associate my memories of the shop with crisp, sunny autumn days where after purchasing a classic album from them I'd sit with my dad and friends at a cafe in the nearby courtyard and drink frothy cappuccinos whilst admiring the artwork and sleeve note essays of our latest treasures. Somehow listening to 'Who Can I Turn To' takes me back to that serene time when our biggest worry was how quickly the latest Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra import might take being delivered from the States. Happy days.
2. The Movie Song Album (1966)
The artist David Hockney claimed 'The Movie Song Album' was his favourite Tony Bennett album of all time and it's not hard to see why. This collection of songs has an end-of-summer vibe to it where I imagine long walks along the beach with the occasional sea spray covering you from the crashing waves nearby and where you might return home with a pocketful of shells stolen from coral reefs possibly even holding your ear up against a conch to see if you can hear the ocean while you relax in a warm bath. Of course 'The Trolley Song' is the only real anomaly on this album that breaks the spell just a little but not enough to deter me from declaring this album a masterpiece.
3. The Art Of Excellence
This album is the peak of Western Civilisation and I'm not even joking, even with that crazy jumper on the front cover framed against the twin towers. This project conjures the late romantic spirit of New York before post-modernism had strangled the life out of the place. Songs such as 'People/Why Do People Fall In Love', 'How Do You Keep The Music Playing' and 'I Got Lost In Her Arms' all seem to evoke a city of poetic introspection where one might have a chance meeting in an art gallery such as the Guggenheim, Whitney etc or brush into an old flame on a rainy day before retreating to a nearby restaurant for a late lunch with drinks. Okay, I'm sounding a bit Don Draperish here but this album sets a great mellow mood that when I close my eyes and listen to it, I can visualise myself sitting in the Oak Room of the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue or ensconced in the famous Russian Tea Room on 57th St and losing all sense of time. Ah, music.
4. Songs Of The Jet Set (1965)
Here we have the perfect Tony Bennett album to play while you're flying above the clouds looking down on Rio just as the cinematic cover depicts before making your slow descent to begin your South American holiday. And if you can't do that then listening from the cosy chair in your living room with a sleep mask on will suffice. But in all seriousness this is Tony rivaling Frank's iconic 'Come Fly With Me' album with an artfully curated collection of songs that although aren't overtly travel-related creates that familiar sense of being relaxed in a foreign country where you've left all your domestic troubles behind you. My favorite tracks on this album have to be 'Songs For The Jet Set', 'Fly Me To The Moon' and 'If I Ruled The World' which all have lush string arrangements to act as the wings to assist Tony's voice to soar. Okay, that didn't quite work. But don't worry about that, listen to this instead.
5. Here's To The Ladies (1995)
Although that's Tony posing in New York again on the front cover I actually think of this album as a good all-around-the-world city album (London, Paris, Vienna etc) though it absolutely has to be listened to at that same crisp autumn time of the year I described earlier with perhaps a chilled glass of white wine to enjoy as you play it. The stunning orchestrations by arranger Jorge Calandrelli and subtle singing by Tony B on 'My Love Went To London' and 'Cloudy Morning' has convinced me that much of this album is like musical valium. Next time I have a panic attack, I'll be sure to put this on just so long as I remember to skip 'Down In The Depths' as that's a bit of a riot.
The concept behind this stunning album is Tony paying tribute to all of his female musical heroes with each track specifically dedicated to them. It works really well and holds up to my mind as perhaps Bennett's last true masterpiece coming thirty years after 'Jet Set' but amazingly showing no signs of vocal wear and tear for the singer who clearly looked after himself which is why no doubt he lived to be an impressive 96 years old.