Maps of Music

Tony Sings for Two (1961)

Where the lyrics of Tony Sings for Two take you, and where it was really made.

The album was recorded in October 1959 but did not come out until 1961.

Key places

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded on 28 October 1959 at the CBS 30th Street Studio in New York. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Tony Sings for Two: 1961 studio album by Tony Bennett
Released 6 February 1961
Accompanied only by pianist Ralph Sharon
Personnel: Tony Bennett (vocals), Ralph Sharon (piano)
Twelve songs in the original track listing
Composers include Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael
The CD was included in The Complete Collection box set, issued by Sony Music Distribution on 8 November 2011

The album uses a voice-and-piano format with no band behind the singer
Bennett later recorded two more albums with solo piano accompaniment, with Bill Evans

1	I Don’t Know What Time It Was	1:25
2	Bewitched	2:32
3	Nobody’s Heart Belongs to Me	2:10
4	I’m Thru With Love	3:17
5	My Funny Valentine	2:35
6	The Man That Got Away	3:50
7	Where or When	2:05
8	A Sleepin’ Bee	3:23
9	Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe	2:19
10	Mam’selle	2:40
11	Just Friends	1:38
12	Street of Dreams	2:12

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.

On 8 November 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in the box set The Complete Collection

Bennett later recorded two more albums with solo piano accompaniment, with Bill Evans
The album was recorded in 1959 but released in 1961
In 2011 the CD was included in the box set The Complete Collection
Ralph Sharon is the only accompanist credited on piano