Tony (album)

Tony is a 1957 album by singer Tony Bennett. It reached number 14 on the Billboard album chart in 1957, first appearing February 23 that year, and remaining on the chart for nine weeks.^[2]

Tony
Studio album by Tony Bennett
Released	January 14, 1957
Recorded	June 6 & September 11–13, 1956
Studio	CBS 30th Street (New York City)
Genre	Jazz
Length	33:27
Label	Columbia CL 938
Producer	Ernie Altschuler
Tony Bennett chronology
Alone at Last with Tony Bennett (1955) Tony (1957) The Beat of My Heart (1957)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Sony Music Distribution included this CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection, which contains fifty-eight of his studio albums, 4 compilation, three DVDs, six volumes of Bennett’s non-album singles, a previously unreleased CD of his Las Vegas debut from 1964, and two discs of rarities, including Bennett’s first recording, an Army V-Disc of “St. James Infirmary Blues, and was released on November 8, 2011.^[3]

Reception

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said "particularly on the side-ending "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," while Faith's strings provide lush, wistful underpinnings to the often-sad sentiments of the ballads on the second side. Bennett matches the arrangements with his vocal performances, keeping pace with the jazzy horns or soaring above the sweet strings"^[1]

Billboard gave the album a postive reviews, saying "he sings a dozen standards, backed by modern and tasteful arrangement by Ray Conniff"^[4]

Track listing

1. "It Had to Be You" (Isham Jones, Gus Kahn) – 2:58
2. "You Can Depend on Me" (Charlie Carpenter, Louis Dunlap, Earl Hines) – 2:14
3. "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So" (Mack David, Duke Ellington) – 3:29
4. "Taking a Chance on Love" (Vernon Duke, Ted Fetter, John Latouche) – 2:09
5. "These Foolish Things" (Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) – 3:28
6. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) – 2:37
7. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) – 2:32
8. "I'll Be Seeing You" (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) – 2:48
9. "Always" (Irving Berlin) – 2:59
10. "Love Walked In" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:00
11. "Lost in the Stars" (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill) – 3:25
12. "Without a Song" (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 2:48

Tracks recorded on June 6 (#11), September 11 (#1–4), September 12 (#5, 8, 10, 12), September 13 (#6–7, 9), 1956.

Personnel

• Tony Bennett – vocals
• Orchestra conducted by Ray Conniff (#1–10 & 12) and Percy Faith (#11)
• Gil Evans – arranger
• A. Epstein, A. Howard, Bernard Kaufman, J. Palmer, E. Powell, F. Schwartz, Wolf Taninbaum, W. Versaci, Stan Webb, Milt Yaner – r
• Phil Bodner – alto sax, tenor sax, cl
• Peter Pumiglio – alto sax, cl
• Billy Butterfield, Bernie Glow, Dale McMickle, Jimmy Nottingham, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen – trumpet
• Robert Alexander, Larry Altpeter, Albert Godlis, Urbie Green, T. Mitchell, Jack Satterfield – trombone
• Dick Hyman, Bernie Leighton – piano
• D. Arnone, Al Caiola, Chuck Wayne – guitar
• I. Cusikoff, Lucien Schmidt, Alan Schuman – vc
• Frank Carroll – bass
• H. Breuer, William Exiner, M. Grupp – drums
• Mike Stewart – backing vocals

Strings

• R. Bocho, Julius Brand, Samuel Carmell, Emanuel Green, Julius Held, H. Hoffman, Leo Kruczek, Milton Lomask, Harold Melnikoff, George Ockner, Gene Orloff, Samuel Rand, Julius Schachter – violin
• Sidney Brecher, Richard Dickler – viola

References

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Tony Bennett - Tony: Rating & Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
2. The Billboard Albums, 6th edn. Joel Whitburn. 2006. Record Research Inc. p. 92. ISBN 0-89820-166-7.
3. "The Complete Collection - Tony Bennett". allmusic.com. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
4. "Pop Spotlight: Tony". Billboard. February 16, 1957. p. 34.