Maps of Music

To My Wonderful One (1960)

Where the lyrics of To My Wonderful One take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in 1959 across four dates in New York, this Tony Bennett album reached the public only in 1960 and was later reissued in a 2011 box set.

Key places

Recording site in New York City (1960)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded in 1959 at Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City, over four dates in October and November. The point is placed at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• To My Wonderful One: album by American singer Tony Bennett
• Originally recorded in 1959 and released in 1960 on Columbia as CL 1429
• Track listing: 12 songs
• Opening track: "Wonderful One"; other songs include "Till", "September Song", "Suddenly", and "I'm a Fool to Want You"
• Later tracks include "Autumn Leaves", "Laura", "April in Paris", "Speak Low", "Tenderly", and "Last Night When We Were Young"
• Conductor and arranger: Frank De Vol
• Piano: Ralph Sharon

Background

• Each song credits one to four songwriters on the track listing
• "Autumn Leaves" credits Johnny Mercer, Joseph Kosma, and Jacques Prevert
• "Laura" credits Johnny Mercer and David Raksin
• "Speak Low" credits Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash
• "September Song" credits Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
• "I'm a Fool to Want You" credits Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf, and Joel S. Herron
• "Wonderful One" credits Paul Whiteman, Ferde Grofé, Theodora Morse, and Marshall Neilan
• Tony Bennett is the album's sole credited vocalist

Recording

• Recorded in 1959 on four separate dates in October and November
• October 23: "We Mustn't Say Goodbye"
• November 10: "Wonderful One", "Autumn Leaves", "Laura", "Tenderly"
• November 11: "Till", "September Song", "Speak Low"
• November 12: "Suddenly", "I'm a Fool to Want You", "April in Paris", "Last Night When We Were Young"
• Guitarists: Al Caiola, Billy Bean, Al Casamenti, Tony Mottola, Dan Perri, and Bucky Pizzarelli
• Strings include violoncello, violin, and viola players
• Harp: Janet Soyer
• Drums: Panama Francis
• Recording location is credited to Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City

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 1960 on Columbia as CL 1429
• Originally recorded in 1959 in New York
• Italian Wikipedia gives the release month as February 1960

Reappraisal

• On 8 November 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set titled The Complete Collection
• AllMusic lists a review entry written by William Ruhlmann
• The album's full track listing and personnel are documented in its Wikipedia entry

Records

• Catalogue number: Columbia CL 1429
• Track count: 12 songs
• Recording sessions: four dates in October and November 1959

Sources: it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Italian Wikipedia entry describes the album as a studio album by Tony Bennett released in February 1960
• The 2011 box set reissue appeared more than fifty years after the 1960 release
• The track listing includes several songs by different songwriting teams, such as Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash on "Speak Low"
• The session schedule was split across four dates rather than one continuous recording day

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

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