Maps of Music

Hometown, My Town (1959)

Where the lyrics of Hometown, My Town take you, and where it was really made.

Tony Bennett recorded this album in three sessions in November 1958, but it reached listeners only in 1959.

Key places

Recording site in New York City (1959)

Recording site Columbia 30th Street Studio — The album was recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City during sessions held in November 1958. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Hometown, My Town: studio album by American singer Tony Bennett
• Originally recorded in 1958 and released in 1959 on Columbia as CL 1301
• Six tracks, about 27 minutes in total by the sum of the track lengths
• Tracks include The Skyscraper Blues, Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone), By Myself, I Cover the Waterfront, Love Is Here to Stay and The Party's Over
• Included on the CD in The Complete Collection box set released by Sony Music Distribution on November 8, 2011

Background

• The Italian Wikipedia entry gives the release month as July 1959
• Ralph Burns is credited as arranger and conductor, and he fleshed out and linked the numbers with extended passages
• The lineup is large, with reeds, trumpets, trombones, strings and harp alongside a rhythm section
• The album consists largely of ballads, which Bennett sings in a solid manner

Recording

• Recorded on November 3, 4 and 6, 1958, in three sessions
• Ralph Sharon plays piano
• Multiple session players are listed for each track, with some musicians appearing only on specific numbers
• The recording location is listed as Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · 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

• Billboard gave the album four stars, indicating strong sales potential
• Billboard said Bennett solidly sings out a group of ballads on the record
• Billboard called the album a top level performance by Bennett

Reappraisal

• AllMusic critic Nick Dedina described the album as one of the best albums Tony Bennett cut in the 1950s
• Dedina called arranger Ralph Burns the perfect choice to flesh out and connect the numbers
• Dedina noted that Burns also wrote extended musical passages that evoke Manhattan even when the lyrics do not
• The praise centers on the arrangements as much as on Bennett's singing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Sony Music Distribution included the CD in The Complete Collection box set on November 8, 2011
• The Italian Wikipedia entry gives the release month as July 1959, while the English entry gives only the year
• The album was released on Columbia with catalog number CL 1301
• Sessions took place on three days in early November 1958
• AllMusic critic Nick Dedina singled out Ralph Burns's arrangements for praise

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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