Maps of Music

Because of You (1952)

Where the lyrics of Because of You take you, and where it was really made.

The album came out in 1952, but its tracks were recorded in sessions spanning April 1950 to May 1951.

Key places

Recording at CBS 30th Street Studio (1951)

Recording site Columbia 30th Street Studio — Tracks 5 and 6, including Because of You, were recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York on 4 April 1951. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Because of You: debut studio album by American singer Tony Bennett
• Originally released in 1952 on Columbia, catalogue CL 6221
• Original edition: 10-inch LP with 8 tracks
• Released September 1952
• Reissued in 1956 as CL 2550 in the House Party series
• 1956 edition: 10-inch LP with 6 tracks, as shown on the album cover
• Included on CD in the box set The Complete Collection, 8 November 2011, by Sony Music Distribution

Background

• Tony Bennett credited as vocalist
• House Party series: 10-inch cut-down albums
• Confusion has surrounded CL 2550 over the years

Recording

• Tracks recorded in New York from April 1950 to May 1951
• Percy Faith conducted tracks 5 to 8; Marty Manning conducted tracks 1 to 4
• Tracks 5 and 6 recorded 4 April 1951 at CBS 30th Street Studio, New York
• Tracks 7 and 8 recorded 31 May 1951 at the same studio
• New tracks for the 1956 edition recorded from 1953 to 1956

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.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 September 1952 on Columbia as CL 6221
• Issued as a 10-inch LP with 8 tracks
• Tracks 1 to 4 were conducted by Marty Manning; tracks 5 to 8 by Percy Faith

Reappraisal

• On 8 November 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in the box set The Complete Collection
• The House Party reissue of 1956 (CL 2550) is a 10-inch cut-down album, with 6 tracks shown on the cover

Records

• 1956 reissue: CL 2550, 6 tracks, 10-inch House Party LP
• Copyright line on the release: ℗ 1952 Rarity Music

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

Trivia

• Tracks 1 to 4 and tracks 5 to 8 were conducted by different arrangers, Marty Manning and Percy Faith.
• Tracks 5 and 6 were recorded on 4 April 1951, the same day as the sessions at CBS 30th Street Studio.
• The 1956 House Party edition added four new recordings made between July 1953 and September 1956.
• The 1956 edition was a 10-inch cut-down album, which the House Party series always used.
• The box set The Complete Collection later included this album's CD in November 2011.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

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