Maps of Music

When Lights Are Low (1964)

Where the lyrics of When Lights Are Low take you, and where it was really made.

The album's only single reached No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, yet the album itself stayed on the Top LPs chart for 12 weeks.

Key places

Recorded at United Western Recorders (1964)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — The source lists United Western Recorders in Las Vegas as a recording location. The map point uses the city centre of Las Vegas, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio (1964)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The source lists Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City as a recording location. The map point uses the New York City centre, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• When Lights Are Low: 1964 studio album by Tony Bennett
• Italian Wikipedia gives the release date as 20 April 1964
• Japanese Wikipedia also describes it as a 1964 studio album
• Original release has 12 tracks, with 3 bonus tracks on the CD reissue
• Opening track 'Nobody Else but Me' (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II), 2:56
• Title track 'When Lights Are Low' (Benny Carter, Spencer Williams), 4:57
• Longest track 'I've Got Just About Everything' (Bob Dorough), 6:08
• Shortest track 'It Could Happen to You' (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen), 1:18
• Closing track 'The Rules of the Road' (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh), 2:13

Background

• The album's only single was 'It's a Sin to Tell a Lie' (Billy Mayhew), 2:18
• The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated July 11, 1964
• CD reissue bonus tracks: 'How Long Has This Been Going On?', 'All of You', 'We'll Be Together Again'

Recording

• Recording locations listed in the source: United Western Recorders in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Also listed: Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City
• Personnel: Tony Bennett on vocals
• Ralph Sharon on piano and as arranger
• Hal Gaylord on bass
• Billy Exiner on drums

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

Records

• Billboard Top LPs chart: debuted in the issue dated May 23, 1964
• Stayed on the Top LPs chart for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 78
• Cashbox albums chart: debuted in the issue dated May 23, 1964
• Cashbox album run: 15 weeks in total, peaking at No. 29
• Single 'It's a Sin to Tell a Lie' debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated July 11, 1964
• The single spent one week on the Hot 100, peaking at number 99
• The single reached number 81 on the Cashbox singles chart over its two weeks there
• Sony Music Distribution included the CD in The Complete Collection box set in 2011

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The only single from the album was 'It's a Sin to Tell a Lie'
• The single peaked at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 81 on the Cashbox singles chart
• The CD was included in The Complete Collection box set released by Sony Music Distribution in 2011
• The album has 12 main tracks and 3 bonus tracks on the CD reissue
• Ralph Sharon is credited on piano and as arranger

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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