Maps of Music

A Wonderful World (2002)

Where the lyrics of A Wonderful World take you, and where it was really made.

Tony Bennett and k.d. lang sing together on this 2002 album, yet two of its twelve songs are sung by lang alone.

Key places

Recording and mixing at Bennett Studios (2002)

Recording site Bubble Hill Studios — The album was recorded and mixed at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey. The pin sits on the city center, not on the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• A Wonderful World: collaborative studio album by Tony Bennett and k.d. lang
• Released in 2002
• Twelve tracks of traditional pop songs
• Bennett and lang share the vocals
• k.d. lang sings solo on "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)"
• The track list includes "What a Wonderful World"

Background

• The Italian Wikipedia entry describes the album as a collaboration in which the two artists perform several traditional pop songs
• Track list: "Exactly Like You", "La Vie en Rose", "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)", "You Can Depend on Me", "What a Wonderful World", "That's My Home", "A Kiss to Build a Dream On", "I Wonder", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "You Can't Lose a Broken Heart", "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)", "If We Never Meet Again"
• Writers of the songs include Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh, Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong and George David Weiss

Recording

• Recorded and mixed at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey
• Mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City
• Lee Musiker plays piano and writes the arrangements
• Clayton Cameron on drums, Paul Langosch on double bass, Gray Sargent on guitar
• Scott Hamilton on tenor saxophone
• Peter Matz conducts
• Engineering credits include Tom Young, Brian Dozoretz and Mike Piersante
• Dae Bennett is credited with recording and mixing
• Greg Calbi is credited with mastering

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

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

Reappraisal

• The album later won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
• The Grammy came after the 2002 release, making it the main later honor recorded for this album.
• The Grammy is the only award listed for this album.

Records

• In the U.S., the album achieved gold record status.
• In the UK, the album reached the top 40.
• On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection.
• The box set came nine years after the 2002 release.
• The album's certification is recorded as U.S. gold status.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Sony Music Distribution placed the CD in the box set The Complete Collection on November 8, 2011.
• Two of the twelve tracks feature k.d. lang alone, while the rest are shared by both singers.
• The album closes with "If We Never Meet Again", a song credited to Louis Armstrong and Horace Gerlach.
• Peter Matz is credited as conductor, and Scott Hamilton plays tenor saxophone.
• Mastering took place at Sterling Sound in New York City, while recording and mixing took place at Bennett Studios in New Jersey.

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

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