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

[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.