Maps of Music

Alone at Last with Tony Bennett (1955)

Where the lyrics of Alone at Last with Tony Bennett take you, and where it was really made.

Its six songs were recorded in New York between 1950 and 1953, two to five years before the album was released in 1955.

Key places

Where the tracks were recorded in New York (1955)

Recording site Columbia 30th Street Studio — Tracks on this album were recorded at the CBS studio in New York between 1950 and 1953. This point marks the recording studio linked to the album in its credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Alone at Last with Tony Bennett: third studio album by American singer Tony Bennett
• Released in 1955 by Columbia Records
• Six tracks, three on each side of the LP
• Tracks: Sing You Sinners, Somewhere Along the Way, Since My Love Has Gone, Stranger in Paradise, Here in My Heart, Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again)
• Track lengths range from 2:12 to 3:07

Background

• The songs were recorded in New York in sessions spanning July 1950 to December 1953
• Earliest track: Sing You Sinners, recorded 20 July 1950
• Latest track: Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again), recorded 4 December 1953
• Stranger in Paradise comes from the musical Kismet, with a music adaptation by Robert Wright and Chet Forrest on a theme by Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin
• Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again) was written by Chilton Price

Recording

• Most sessions were held at the CBS Studio in New York
• Percy Faith conducted and arranged most tracks
• Marty Manning conducted the orchestra on Sing You Sinners
• The Ray Charles Singers provided backing vocals on Stranger in Paradise
• Sally Sweetland sang backing vocals on Here in My Heart

Sources: 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

At release

• Released in 1955 by Columbia Records
• Part of Columbia's 10-inch album series, catalogued as CL 2507
• Somewhere Along the Way: Tony Bennett on vocals, Percy Faith conducting and arranging, with a sixteen-piece string section and a horn section
• Since My Love Has Gone: Tony Bennett on vocals, Percy Faith conducting and arranging, with a string section and a rhythm section
• Stranger in Paradise: Tony Bennett on vocals, Percy Faith conducting and arranging, with horns, harp, strings and The Ray Charles Singers on backing vocals
• Here in My Heart: Tony Bennett on vocals, Percy Faith on arrangements, Milton Lomask on violin, Sally Sweetland on backing vocals
• Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again): Tony Bennett on vocals, Percy Faith conducting and arranging, with a brass section including Jimmy Maxwell and Larry Altpeter
• Sing You Sinners: Tony Bennett on vocals, Marty Manning conducting the orchestra

Records

• Catalogued in Columbia's 10-inch album discography as CL 2507, 1955

Sources: it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Ray Charles Singers backed Tony Bennett on Stranger in Paradise, one of the album's tracks
• Stranger in Paradise was taken from the musical Kismet, and its music is adapted from a theme by Borodin
• Sally Sweetland sang backing vocals on Here in My Heart
• Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again) was written by Chilton Price
• Percy Faith arranged most of the album's tracks while Tony Bennett sang lead

Sources: it.wikipedia.org

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