 My father and I don't have very much in common when it comes to music tastes. He's a fantastic singer who decided in his early twenties not to pursue the stage. He settled down with my mother in Florida and I happened. His heroes were Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett.
In my twenties, I decided to pursue music but my heroes were much different and included Johnny Rotten and Henry Rollins… and Tony Bennett.
What? Did you read that correctly?
Yes, indeed you did. It's one of the rare places (classic Santana being the only other one I can think of) where my father and I agree on what constitutes musical greatness. We don't even like the same kind of jazz (I prefer Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis and John Coltrane while he prefers lighter fare like Kenny G. or George Howard).
Why do I like Tony Bennett so much? Well, honestly, it's not his music so much as his voice. Bennett has an unusual quality among singers in that as he gets older, in my opinion, his voice gets better. When you listen to his 1994 MTV Unplugged album and compare it to earlier fare like 1958's Basie Swings, Bennett Sings you'll see what I mean. It's like a fine wine that has suddenly come to life with nuances that are subtle but beautiful. Where his voice has always been powerful when needed, on recent releases (such as 2002's
A Wonderful World or 2001's Playin' With My Friends), that power has been used in moderation, and in its place there is a richer inflection and tone that can only have come with age.
It's the one thing that makes Tony Bennett Sings The Ultimate American Songbook Vol. 1 interesting to listen to. Culled from albums spanning 1958 through 1997, this release is a good way to prove that point even though it doesn't reach far enough into the late '90s for my tastes. Of the songs collected here, there is one from that MTV Unplugged set, one from 1997's On Holiday and one from the soundtrack to My Best Friend's Wedding. Otherwise, 1993's Perfectly Frank is as late as it gets, and while that effort is considered a better than average release, it's not anywhere near the greatness of Bennett's last four albums.
In fact, that's where the flaw is in this compilation, and while some would say it's a minor one, I would disagree. The albums that Columbia pulled these songs from are not the better albums in Bennett's oeuvre. The pace of the disc is extremely slow and that's only made more apparent by the lead off song being a fiery, fantastic version of "Anything Goes". At 1:31, it whets your appetite and then the album slows you down for the next thirteen songs.
Now certainly, the songs of the American Songbook aren't necessarily known to be firebrand kickstarters, but there are plenty there that bring the pace up beyond "barely breathing". I find it frustrating that the producers of this album didn't mix that up more.
Still, there are some fantastic performances on here, including probably my favorite version of "That Old Black Magic" ever recorded. "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "You'll Never Get Away From Me" are also notable and worth downloading if you're just looking to dabble on iTunes.
The fact is, Tony Bennett has probably 100 albums out there, including multiple compilations. While the point of this may have been to showcase his work with the songs Rod Stewart has recently reintroduced to baby boomers, it's a compilation that probably didn't need to be made.
If you're new to Tony Bennett and want to just try him out, I'd point you to 2002's The Essential Tony Bennett, which is really all you'll ever need to turn you on to one of the greatest voices ever recorded.
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