No real reason for this one.... I've just been listening to Tony Bennett and K. D. Lang's A Wonderful World lately.
Judging him as a singer, I've always considered Tony Bennett to be more gimmick than talent, but you know what? He sure seems like a heck of a nice guy. He has a real generous spirit about him, doesn't take himself too seriously, and apparently he's taken pretty good care of himself over the years too. He's been a good ambassador, mentor, and consummate professional.
As for K.D. Lang, now that gal can flat out sing.
7 comments:
Nice :)
Tony Bennett really has achieved a lot in his time and it seems that the older you get the more generous you become.
Ok sinner vic! I think you better quit while you're ahead. Remember that this is your first posting here and you don't want it to be your last do you?
sinner vic, if you can't say anything nice about K.D. Lang, don't say anything!
Hey! I'll have you know that I like that gal's voice also.
OK?
Hey men!
Vic,
it seems that the older you get the more generous you become.
Oh, if only that was always true! :-)
C'est la vie en rose des hommes qui me fait comme je suis.
Excuse my French but it's the life of pink in men who make me like I am.
God Bless and peace to all men on earth!
I like Tony, I like K.D Lang, I love Edith Piaf . . . but I can't say I'm grooving on this version of "La Vie en Rose." It's r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w. And too many strings.
Still, makes me want to hear more of their album together. I didn't know they had done one.
Tony's interesting because he basically started out just as this style of music vanished as a popular form. Yet he kept on plugging away at it for decades until it came back 'round again.
Really like K.D. Lang's Absolute Torch and Twang. That's one I used to listen to a lot. She had that whole Patsy Cline thing on the money. She's looking a lot bigger now - I hadn't seen her in a while.
William,
According to his wiki bio, Tony Bennedetto tried his hand at psychedelia in the late 60's:
There was great pressure on singers such as Lena Horne and Barbra Streisand to record "contemporary" rock songs, and in this vein Columbia Records' Clive Davis suggested that Bennett do the same. Bennett was very reluctant, and when he tried, the results pleased no one. This was exemplified by 'Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today!' (1969), which featured misguided attempts at Beatles and other current songs and a ludicrous psychedelic art cover.
Can you imagine such a thing? That was some great, clear-headed advice from his producer and his agent.
I didn't know he was a real infantry combat vet from WWII. That was pretty interesting to read about.
She's looking a lot bigger now - I hadn't seen her in a while.
Maybe that was just the cut of her suit. Why the big suit? :-)
Can you imagine such a thing?
Oh yes. I've had the misfortune to listen to some of these attempts. Sarah Vaughn's album of Beatles songs - with some of the worst arrangements ever. Strange how you can take two great musical figures and put them together with such disastrous results.
In fact, as I've gotten older and studied more musical and social history, I find myself fairly angry and disenchanted with that side of rock and roll. The history of jazz was so important - both in terms of musical and social advancement. But then rock came along - a simplistic musical form played mostly by alienated, middle-class white males - and it destroyed so much of what jazz had developed. Amazing musicians, many of whom had suffered a lot in their lives yet overcome, were forced to leave the country (Ben Webster, Bud Powell) or play for TV orchestras (Benny Carter, Hank Jones), or record mostly vapid pop songs (Sarah and many others.)
I love rock and roll, but looking back on it now, I realize how utterly domineering it was as a cultural force from 1960-1990s. I heard little else when I was growing up until I began exploring on my own. And from a certain angle, the music that once represented freedom and social revolution for me, suddenly looked repressive and small. And, artistically, I see people like Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane (who practiced 16 hours a day!) pushing the form of music to new heights, replaced by Sid Vicious, who couldn't even play bass in a damn punk rock band.
But Tony doing psychedelia? Hmm... I might have to look for that!
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