Maps of Music

The Good Things in Life (1972)

Where the lyrics of The Good Things in Life take you, and where it was really made.

Tony Bennett painted the back cover himself; the picture shows him alongside conductor Robert Farnon.

Place unknown

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The Good Things in Life: album by Tony Bennett, released in 1972
The track listing has 14 entries, opening with the title track and ending with a closing version of the same song
Title track credits: Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
Covers included: 'O sole mio', 'Oh, Lady Be Good!' and 'Mimi'
Other songs included: 'Passing Strangers', 'End of a Love Affair', 'Blues for Breakfast' and 'Invitation'
Includes 'Someone to Light Up My Life (Se Tudos Fossem Iguals a Voce)', credited to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
Also included: 'It Was You', 'Cute', 'The Midnight Sun' and 'London By Night'
On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection

The back cover features a painting by Bennett of himself and conductor Robert Farnon

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.

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.

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.

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.

Billboard Top LPs chart: debut in the issue dated December 9, 1972
Billboard: the album stayed on the album chart for six weeks
Billboard: peak position No. 196
Cashbox albums chart: debut in the issue dated November 25, 1972, earlier than the Billboard debut
Cashbox: the album remained on the chart for two weeks
Cashbox: peak position 162
The Cashbox peak was higher than the Billboard peak

On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection
The box set is the only later release noted in the source

The back cover painting shows Bennett himself with conductor Robert Farnon, and the painting was made by Bennett.
The album appears on the CD included in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection.
The track listing begins with the title track and ends with 'The Good Things in Life (Closing)'.
The title track was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, and 'Mimi' by Rodgers and Hart.