Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96

[demmiblue]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.

Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press, saying he died in his hometown of New York. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

The last of the great saloon singers of the mid-20th century, Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create “a hit catalog rather than hit records.” He released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys, all but two after he reached his 60s, and enjoyed deep and lasting affection from fans and fellow artists.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/tony-bennett-dies-c3b3a7e2360449fb936a38794c7c3266

---

[Marthe48]

1. I liked him

He was one of my favorites among the crooners. Perry Como was another.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

10. Mine too.

Both he and Perry Como could sing a tune that made one's hair on their arms stand up. I have left my heart in San Francisco many times.

Perry Como's AVE MARIA makes me shudder it is so beautiful.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Wow. Damn.

He was hanging on as long as he could but it was a matter of time. One of the last of the crooners.

I remember Lady Gaga had linked up with and had done an album with him.

R.I.P.

[demmiblue]

6. I was just adding a Tony/Gaga video when you commented.

He also did a duet with Amy Winehouse.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. It was good to see that younger generation working with him

because that then broadened their potential and appeal, as they tended do fad/costume performances but were obviously talented enough to let their voices define them.

[twodogsbarking]

3. What a life. Thanks Tony.

[marble falls]

4. I was hoping for just one more duet, with Lady Gaga, or with anybody. A beautiful voice that ...

... that brought out lyrics so well.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. It was just about a year ago that that TV special was on, wasn't it? NT

[no_hypocrisy]

7. I think he was especially amazing in his later years.

He was suffering from Alzheimer's, but put him on stage, and he was just as wonderful (if not more) as ever!

[617Blue]

8. Rest in Peace Anthony Benedetto.

[niyad]

9. Requiescat in pace, good soul.

[nuxvomica]

12. He had the most perfect phrasing of any singer

I remember some famous foreign actor saying that he learned how to pronounce English correctly by listening to Tony Bennett albums. He was one of the all-time greats, and by all accounts a really sweet person. Rest in peace, Tony.

[BeyondGeography]

13. "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer I've ever heard." - Frank Sinatra

And here’s what Tony took from Frank:

Sinatra "taught me, the audience are your friends, they come to see you," Bennett said on "The Tonight Show" (via Rolling Stone). "And he changed my whole psychology about that, there's no such thing as a bad audience. There's a bad performance, but there's not a bad audience."

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/167380/the-untold-truth-of-tony-bennett/

Also in that article:

In 2019, stars aren't shy about utilizing their voices and visibility to advance a cause, but in the '60s, it just wasn't done that way. Only a handful of famous people back then were willing to risk alienating a segment of their fanbase to stand up for what is right, Tony Bennett among them. 

In the 1960s, Bennett advocated for the Civil Rights Movement, participating in the Selma March of 1965 organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While he was a worldwide star, Bennett refused to perform concerts in South Africa due to the country's separatist apartheid laws. His reasons for doing so are wonderfully simple. "We are all human and we are all on this planet together," Bennett told PBS. "So what better reason do you need to not tolerate any form of violence against another human being?" Bennett did so much work in the name of justice that he was honored by the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame and was awarded the Martin Luther King Center's Salute to Greatness Award.

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/167380/the-untold-truth-of-tony-bennett/

He really was great and good.

[Happy Hoosier]

14. Rest in Peace....

Loved his voice.

My parents were from the "crooner" generation. They loved the classic mid-century crooners, and I grew up listening to them, alongside good ole rock and roll. I still have a nostalgic spot for them, even though there are a "before my time."

[Joinfortmill]

20. Me too

[Zorro]

15. I'll remember him for this

One of the most romantic ballads ever.

[Joinfortmill]

21. 👍

[melm00se]

16. Many many moons ago

I worked at a radio station which sponsored a show of his.

I was tasked with picking him up, driving him around, getting him to the venue, things like that.

It was an enjoyable few hours with the man.

We stopped and got lunch, the owner recognized him and offered to seat us immediately (lunch time rush). Tony Bennett said that wouldn't be fair to the dozen or so people ahead of us so we waited.

[Joinfortmill]

22. Nice

[karin_sj]

35. What a wonderful experience

He was one of a kind...

[highplainsdem]

49. Lovely anecdote about a lovely man! There's a nice story about Tony Bennett in the

autobiography of record producer Tony Visconti, which I've recommended at times. Visconti's best known for his work with David Bowie, but in his teens in the early 1960s he played bass in the band for a Brooklyn nightclub that brought in top comedians (Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett) and top singers like Bennett. Visconti didn't get to play while Bennett was performing because he'd brought his own rhythm section, piano, bass and drums. But Visconti, who was a talented amateur photographer with a darkroom at home, was free to wander around the club and take photos of Bennett. He showed his favorite to Bennett, who loved it and wanted it to be used as the cover of his next album. Bennett asked Visconti to meet him at Columbia Records the next day. But when they met the art director, Visconti's photo was dismissed in seconds.

'Can't use it, we have so many like this already,' and he walked off. The meeting lasted 15 seconds. Bennett turned to me, slightly embarrassed and said, 'Gee kid, I'm sorry. That's how it goes.' I was crushed but managed to hold back the tears.

That photo is in Visconti's book, in the first set of photos after page 96. Really good photo, and it was kind of Bennett to try to help a talented teenager that way, even though the art director was a jerk.

[Joinfortmill]

17. Rest in peace. Such a treasure

[area51]

18. RIP

What a voice.

[ancianita]

19. ...

[bronxiteforever]

23. My cousin was the doorman for his apartment

on 5th Ave. He told me that Tony Bennett was a total class act and kind person. When a delivery was set for his apartment, he would tell the delivery person to come in and sit down by his piano and he would play and sing a song for them.
Rest in Peace Tony!

[llmart]

24. What a voice!

I saw him perform in person only one time, but it was memorable. It was sometime in the very late 1990's in an outdoor venue in summer. I remember thinking that his voice was still as memorable as it was in his younger days, and I didn't want the evening to end. He was genuinely a once in a lifetime performer.

[The Grand Illuminist]

25. The last of the golden crooners.

RIP

[sarge43]

26. Rest in star light, Balladeer

Thank you for all that beauty.

[hibbing]

27. He always seemed happy

Have always liked and respected him.

Peace

[flying_wahini]

28. I saw him perform twice and he did not disappoint. I've never had quite the

Overwhelming experience seeing a performance like when I saw him. My husband and I squealed like schoolgirls when he came out.
He was a warm and friendly entertainer and I will miss him and his great American standards.
When my boys were little, my 4 year old knew all the words to many of his songs.
His favorite line was “and time is just a thief”. ❤️

[Historic NY]

29. Tony Bennett Rip

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto August 3, 1926 in Queens, New York he spent the 1950 summer honing his voice singing at local vacation spot Meadowbrook Lodge, Meadowbrook NY. An Italian family owned venue that still caters weddings, etc. "Because of You" came on in 1951 his first big song. He was a WWII vet. Co.. B 255th Infantry Regt. 63rd Division Combat infantryman badge.

]

[sinkingfeeling]

30. A great loss. R.I.P.

[nwliberalkiwi]

31. Great singer and person

We had the pleasure of seeing him perform at the Hollywood Bowl just a couple of years ago---an amazing night!!!

[panfluteman]

32. Thank You, Tony Bennet!!! I Played Your Song on Fisherman's Wharf Back in the Nineties

I played "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" to the accompaniment of a prefabricated backing track on my Pan Flute in San Francisco, in tourist venues like Ghirardelli Square on Fisherman's Wharf in that great American city. I played with Friends of the Andes, a local Andean band under the direction of Peruvian / American guitarist Ernesto (AKA Ernesto the Besto) Pomareda, who now lives and plays in Florida. The other San Francisco song we played for tourists was Scott McKenzie's hippie classic, San Francisco: Flowers in Your Hair. I made better money being a Pan Flutist with an Andean band in San Francisco than anything else I have ever done.

[Aristus]

33. My all-time favorite Bennett (I'm a fan of Borodin, too.) :

[calimary]

34. Damn. Sorry to hear this.

What a great voice.

At least we’ll always have those recordings. That signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” is truly one for the ages. Just like him.

Just kinda figured he’d be always there…

[zonemaster]

36. Here's a melancholic one:

[iscooterliberally]

37. I got to work a show with him once. It was back in the late 80s.

He appeared at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. I remember he did sound check in his tennis outfit. His piano player had a 12 foot Bosendorfer grand piano. If it wasn't the nicest piano I had ever seen it was definitely in the top 5. He sang really well. He was very nice and easy to work with too. I was working on the sound and lighting crew, but not engineering. He was definitely a class act.

RIP Tony Bennett

[twodogsbarking]

38. Class says it all.

[Gore1FL]

39. If he is an organ donor,

A San Francisco cardiologist’s patient is going to get some happy news.

[mountain grammy]

40. Beautiful..

if this doesn't make you smile, there's something wrong with you...

Thanks for so many years.. rest in peace Tony Bennett

[58Sunliner]

41. Thank you Tony for gracing this earth and giving us your gift.

[Snackshack]

42. All the movie stars

singers and entertainers I grew up listening to because my grandmother and mother loved to watch or hear are now gone as they are.

I don’t recognize this world anymore.

[bahboo]

43. a tip of the hat to the great Tony Bennett....

a true artist....

[Tanuki]

44. He was also a gifted and dedicated visual artist.

https://www.today.com/popculture/tony-bennett-paints-too-see-singers-art-studio-works-1d79991365


"July 29, 2014, 1:19 PM CDT
By Erin Quinlan
He may have 17 Grammys, a packed summer tour schedule and a new album on the way with Lady Gaga, but even Tony Bennett needs a break from the spotlight once in a while. That's when he picks up his paint set.

Some fans of the star's music will be surprised to hear that Bennett, under his given name of Anthony Benedetto, has been churning out watercolors, oil paintings and sketches every day for years, whether he's on the road or working from his bright New York studio.

Bennett caught the fine-arts bug as a kid drawing with sidewalk chalk near his childhood home in Queens, New York, according to his artist bio, and has trained with various masters throughout his life.

Photographer and TODAY producer Neal Carter went behind the scenes with Bennett to bring us a special glimpse of the singer’s self-described alter ego and colorful creative work."



­

[highplainsdem]

45. Such a great singer. I'm sorry he's gone, and that he'd suffered from

Alzheimer's. Wish he'd had more years in perfect health.

[Paladin]

46. One of the genuine greats. RIP. (nt)

[virgdem]

47. RIP Tony Bennett

Your incomparable talent will be truly missed.

[ificandream]

48. Loved his music. Bennett and Sinatra were the best.

True story: Many years ago, my son and I were attending a San Francisco Giants game at Pac Bell Park (the old name) and before the game started we were out in the cable car in center field. All of a sudden, the PA starts playing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." I thought, "That's weird. They don't play that until after the game." I happened to look out at the pitcher's mound and there he was singing a couple of verses of the song. The crowd, of course, cheered wildly. And that was it. He left. It was the only time I ever saw him live. At the time, he was appearing at the Fairmont Hotel. He released a DVD of that appearance and at the very end is video of him at Pac Bell Park that day. (I couldn't see myself in the video.) Anyway, that DVD is wonderful for the Fairmont performance and I recommend it. RIP, Tony, and thanks for the music.

[Fresh Water Falling]

50. From a Time when Talent was Needed to become Famous

Instead of just listing the days of the week or showing your genitalia on a 'leaked' sex tape!

[quabbin]

51. Long ago concert memory.

I saw him live in 1983 at the Drury Lane theater in Oak Brook, Illinois. I was sitting in the 2nd row center stage. I will never forget that performance. At one point in the show, he instructed the sound man to turn off all the amplification. He sang one number without a microphone. He had an incredibly powerful voice. As usual, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" brought the house down. He was such a gifted and charming man. He touched so many people with his talent. May he rest in peace.

[Talitha]

52. So sad - RIP...

[Cha]

53. Love Tony Bennet💕🤷‍♂️

[BigmanPigman]

54. The opening scene in Goodfellas and the song

"I've Gone From Rags To Riches" are a perfect match. Scorsese uses music well.

[spike jones]

55. No dis respect intended, but does anyone remember the joke whose punch line was,

"I left my harp in Sam Clam's disco?" I can't remember the story line.

On edit, of course there are many references to it on a search. I should have looked before posting. But I found a reference to a shaggy dog story. Then I remembered this.

Sorry, I live alone and often have these conversation with myself. Perhaps I should keep them that way.

[Kennah]

56. Served in WWII and became a pacifist

Fought at the Battle of the Bulge and other hellish places late in the war. Was involved in the liberation of Kaufering, a subcamp of Dachau. He would later write, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one ... It was a nightmare that's permanent."