Maps of Music

I've Gotta Be Me (1969)

Where the lyrics of I've Gotta Be Me take you, and where it was really made.

Released on Columbia in 1969, the album peaked at No. 137 on Billboard's Top LPs chart and stayed there for only five weeks, yet it was reissued on CD in 2009 and included in a box set in 2011.

Key places

Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City (1969)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album page lists Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City as the recording place. The pin is set at city-center level, and the building's exact position is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I've Gotta Be Me is an album by American singer Tony Bennett
• Originally released in 1969 on Columbia as CS 9882
• Track listing has 11 songs, opening with the title track by Walter Marks
• Other tracks include "Alfie" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Bacharach and David, and "Whoever You Are, I Love You" by Bacharach and David
• The last track is the theme from Valley of the Dolls, credited to André Previn and Dory Previn
• Later reissued on CD in 2009, paired with the 1967 album For Once in My Life
• Included in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection

Background

• The album came out in 1969, during the period when Bennett recorded several albums for Columbia
• The album page compares it with Bennett's other albums from the late 1960s

Recording

• The album page lists the recording place as Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City
• Vocals by Tony Bennett
• Conductor and arranger credits go to Peter Matz and Torrie Zito
• Reed section includes Don Ashworth, Phil Bodner, Wally Kane, Romeo Penque, Pete Fanelli, Sol Schlinger, Joe Soldo and Bobby Tricarico
• Trumpets include Marky Markowitz, John Bello, Al De Risi, Joe Ferrante, Joe Wilder, Ernie Royal, Marvin Stamm and Snooky Young
• Trombones include Wayne Andre, John Messner, Tony Studd, Chauncey Welsch, Paul Faulise, J. J. Johnson and Fred Zito
• Guitar: Gene Bertoncini, Jim Mitchell and Bucky Pizzarelli; piano: John Bunch; harp: Margaret Ross
• Drums: Louie Bellson, Sol Gubin and Mel Lewis; percussion: Dave Carey, Jack Jennings and Phil Kraus
• Bass: Richard Davis, George Duvivier, Milt Hinton, Jack Lesberg and Homer Mensch
• A large string section of cellos, violins and violas is also credited

Sources: en.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 1969 on Columbia as CS 9882
• Debuted on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated September 6, 1969

Reappraisal

• Will Friedwald, in A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, calls the album "terrific"
• Friedwald says that, like Bennett's other late-1960s albums, it does not measure up to Bennett's "earlier long-playing projects"

Records

• Billboard Top LPs chart: debut in the issue dated September 6, 1969
• Remained on the album chart for five weeks
• Peak position: No. 137

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 2009 CD reissue put this album on the same disc as For Once in My Life, which came out in 1967
• In the 2009 reissue this album occupies tracks 11 through 13 of the combined disc
• The album was included in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection, issued by Sony Music Distribution on November 8, 2011
• The album's opening track, the title song, is credited to Walter Marks
• The final track is the theme from Valley of the Dolls, credited to André Previn and Dory Previn

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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