Maps of Music

A Swingin' Christmas (2008)

Where the lyrics of A Swingin' Christmas take you, and where it was really made.

A Christmas album by a crooner whose cover parodies a Norman Rockwell painting.

Key places

Bergen/PAC Theatre, Englewood (2008)

Recording site Bubble Hill Studios — Discogs credits Bergen/PAC Theatre as a recording location for this album. The point is set at city-center level, not at the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• A Swingin' Christmas: Christmas album by Tony Bennett, released in 2008, with the Count Basie Big Band
• Bennett's daughter Antonia duets with him on one track
• Eleven tracks, including 'I'll Be Home for Christmas', 'Silver Bells', and 'My Favorite Things'
• On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection

Background

• To promote the release, Bennett gave numerous interviews and made television performances from release through the holiday season
• Free street performance outside Bloomingdale's in New York City on November 20, with three songs performed before the store's window displays were unveiled
• Concert at New York City's Apollo Theater on December 16, billed as his only show in support of the album with the Count Basie Big Band

Recording

• Phil Ramone produced the album; Danny Bennett was executive producer
• Dae Bennett handled recording and mixing; Bob Ludwig mastered the album
• Discogs lists Bennett Studios and Bergen/PAC Theatre as recording locations

Cover

• The album cover parodies Norman Rockwell's 1942 painting, Freedom from Want

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in Long Island City, Queens, New York City.
• Grew up in poverty after his father, a grocer, became unable to work and died when Tony was ten.
• Sang for money from age 13 as a singing waiter in Italian restaurants in Queens.
• Attended New York's School of Industrial Art but dropped out at 16 to help support his family.

Military service

• Drafted into the U.S. Army in November 1944 and fought as an infantryman in the final stages of World War II.
• Stayed in Germany with the occupying force and sang with an Army Special Services band under the name Joe Bari.

Career

• Studied bel canto at the American Theatre Wing on the GI Bill; Pearl Bailey and Bob Hope helped launch him, and Hope shortened his name to Tony Bennett.
• Signed with Columbia Records in 1950; first number-one hit "Because of You" in 1951.
• Shifted toward jazz singing in the late 1950s; "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (1962) became his signature song.
• Declined commercially during the rock era and struggled with addiction and debt until a comeback in the late 1980s, managed by his son Danny.
• The 1994 MTV Unplugged album won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Later career

• Collaborated with Lady Gaga from Cheek to Cheek (2014) through Love for Sale (2021).
• Won 20 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and sold more than 50 million records worldwide.
• Received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2005 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Co-founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens with Susan Crow.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Records

• Grammy Awards: nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards
• Sony Music Distribution added the CD to The Complete Collection box set on November 8, 2011
• Phonographic copyright line: ℗ 2008 Sony BMG Music Entertainment
• Copyright line: © 2004, 2008 Sony BMG Music Entertainment/Columbia
• Target sold an edition with a bonus DVD of a making-of documentary and concert performances
• FYE sold an edition with the same bonus DVD and a holiday postcard reproducing Bennett's artwork
• Borders sold an edition with ten of Bennett's holiday-themed artwork postcards
• Barnes & Noble sold an edition with its exclusive version of 'Christmas Auld Lang Syne'; a deluxe edition with a DVD and the exclusive track was also sold
• Bloomingdale's sold an edition with Bennett's version of 'Jingle Bells', exclusive to the store
• Discogs notes that track durations are not listed on the release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bloomingdale's street show on November 20 came before the store's window displays were unveiled
• The Apollo Theater concert on December 16 was billed as his only show with the Count Basie Big Band for this album
• Antonia Bennett sings a duet on 'I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm'
• Dae Bennett handled recording and mixing; Bob Ludwig mastered the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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