Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today!
Encyclopedia
Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today! is a 1970 album by American classic pop and jazz singer Tony Bennett
. Done under pressure from his record company for more marketable material, it featured misguided attempts at Beatles and other current songs and a ludicrous psychedelic art
cover. By all accounts, this album was the nadir
of Bennett's recording career.
, head of Columbia Records
, saw Bennett's album sales steadily decreasing, and decided the cure was for the singer to record more contemporary material. Davis later wrote, "Musically, Tony was looking over his shoulder. His repertory was dated, and the public wasn't buying it." Similar pressure had been applied on singers such as Lena Horne
, Barbra Streisand
, and Mel Tormé
to record contemporary rock songs. Some artists of the time such as Horne and Peggy Lee
welcomed the chance to try their hand at rock music, but Bennett did not.
Bennett later said that, "I started planning the record by listening to as many current hits as I could stand. I mean some of the songs made me physically nauseous." Clive Davis reported that Bennett literally vomited before the first recording session for the album. While many of the songwriters used on the album, such as Lennon and McCartney and Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
, are highly regarded in their own right, Bennett had no genuine feeling for their style.
Allmusic states that of all the songs Bennett attempted on Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today!, "Is That All There Is?
" is the only one he seemed to show any enthusiasm for. Bennett's partly spoken take on The Beatles
' "Eleanor Rigby
" has garnered the most commentary, with music writer Will Friedwald
saying it was recited as if it were Thomas Gray
's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
and Time
magazine describing it as "Shatneresque", making reference to Star Trek
actor William Shatner
's famously bad 1968 interpretation
of the same group's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
".
The album cover
for Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today! also tried to capitalize on current trends and was done in the psychedelic art
style of Peter Max
. The bell-bottom pants
and psychedelic necktie have been noted as contributing to the overall garish appearance.
Released on January 7, 1970, the
commercial goals for the album were not met, as it charted only to #144 on the Billboard 200
albums chart. The passage of time has not improved views of the album; in the 2000s, Allmusic and Time
magazine both referred to it as a disaster. As of 2009, the album has long been out of print and has never been released on Compact Disc
.
Years later Bennett would still recall his dismay at being asked to do contemporary material, comparing it to when his seamstress mother was forced to produce a cheap dress. The album also helped speed Bennett's departure from his label: "I left Columbia Records for one reason: They were forcing me to sing contemporary songs and I just couldn't stand it. I actually regurgitated when I made that awful album—I got physically sick. ... If I really adore a song, I just get into the creative zone and try to get the definitive version of the song that would make the composer feel magnificent. Where he would say, 'That's what I was trying to convey.' And Columbia wouldn't let me do that anymore."
At the time, Bennett soon recovered from this album artistically, by returning to the Great American Songbook
for his material. His commercial fortunes, however, would not improve until he staged a comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s by appealing to a younger audience without changing his music in any way.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
. Done under pressure from his record company for more marketable material, it featured misguided attempts at Beatles and other current songs and a ludicrous psychedelic art
Psychedelic art
Psychedelic art is any kind of visual artwork inspired by psychedelic experiences induced by drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" "mind manifesting". By that definition all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic"...
cover. By all accounts, this album was the nadir
Nadir
The nadir is the direction pointing directly below a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface there. Since the concept of being below is itself somewhat vague, scientists define the nadir in more rigorous...
of Bennett's recording career.
History
Clive DavisClive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, head of Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, saw Bennett's album sales steadily decreasing, and decided the cure was for the singer to record more contemporary material. Davis later wrote, "Musically, Tony was looking over his shoulder. His repertory was dated, and the public wasn't buying it." Similar pressure had been applied on singers such as Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, and Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
to record contemporary rock songs. Some artists of the time such as Horne and Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
welcomed the chance to try their hand at rock music, but Bennett did not.
Bennett later said that, "I started planning the record by listening to as many current hits as I could stand. I mean some of the songs made me physically nauseous." Clive Davis reported that Bennett literally vomited before the first recording session for the album. While many of the songwriters used on the album, such as Lennon and McCartney and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, are highly regarded in their own right, Bennett had no genuine feeling for their style.
Allmusic states that of all the songs Bennett attempted on Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today!, "Is That All There Is?
Is That All There Is?
"Is That All There Is?" is a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s. It became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee from her recording in November 1969...
" is the only one he seemed to show any enthusiasm for. Bennett's partly spoken take on The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
" has garnered the most commentary, with music writer Will Friedwald
Will Friedwald
Will Friedwald is an American author and music critic. He has written for such newspapers as The New York Times, The Village Voice, Newsday, The New York Observer, and The New York Sun, and for such magazines as Entertainment Weekly, Oxford American, New York, Mojo, BBC Music Magazine, Stereo...
saying it was recited as if it were Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. The poem’s origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray’s thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. Originally titled Stanza's Wrote in a Country...
and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine describing it as "Shatneresque", making reference to Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
actor William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
's famously bad 1968 interpretation
The Transformed Man
The Transformed Man is actor William Shatner's debut album. It was released in 1968, while Shatner was still starring in the original Star Trek series, and began his musical career. The concept of the album was to juxtapose famous pieces of poetry with their modern counterparts, pop lyrics...
of the same group's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, for The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...
".
The album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
for Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today! also tried to capitalize on current trends and was done in the psychedelic art
Psychedelic art
Psychedelic art is any kind of visual artwork inspired by psychedelic experiences induced by drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" "mind manifesting". By that definition all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic"...
style of Peter Max
Peter Max
Peter Max is a German-born Jewish American artist. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise...
. The bell-bottom pants
Bell-bottoms
Bell-bottoms are trousers that become wider from the knees downward. Related styles include flare, loon pants and boot-cut/leg trousers. Hip-huggers are bell-bottomed, flare, or boot-cut pants that are fitted tightly around the hips and thighs.-Naval origins:Bell-bottoms' precise origins are...
and psychedelic necktie have been noted as contributing to the overall garish appearance.
Released on January 7, 1970, the
commercial goals for the album were not met, as it charted only to #144 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart. The passage of time has not improved views of the album; in the 2000s, Allmusic and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine both referred to it as a disaster. As of 2009, the album has long been out of print and has never been released on Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Years later Bennett would still recall his dismay at being asked to do contemporary material, comparing it to when his seamstress mother was forced to produce a cheap dress. The album also helped speed Bennett's departure from his label: "I left Columbia Records for one reason: They were forcing me to sing contemporary songs and I just couldn't stand it. I actually regurgitated when I made that awful album—I got physically sick. ... If I really adore a song, I just get into the creative zone and try to get the definitive version of the song that would make the composer feel magnificent. Where he would say, 'That's what I was trying to convey.' And Columbia wouldn't let me do that anymore."
At the time, Bennett soon recovered from this album artistically, by returning to the Great American Songbook
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
for his material. His commercial fortunes, however, would not improve until he staged a comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s by appealing to a younger audience without changing his music in any way.
Track listing
- "MacArthur ParkMacArthur Park (song)"MacArthur Park" is a song by Jimmy Webb, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the first to record it, in 1968; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer's...
" (Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
) - 3:22 - "SomethingSomething"Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...
" (George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
) - 3:18 - "The Look of LoveThe Look of Love (1967 song)"The Look of Love" is a popular song composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dusty Springfield, which appeared in the 1967 spoof James Bond film Casino Royale.-Songwriters:...
" (Burt BacharachBurt BacharachBurt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, Hal DavidHal DavidHarold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
) - 2:49 - "Here, There and EverywhereHere, There and Everywhere"Here, There and Everywhere" is a song written primarily by Paul McCartney , recorded for The Beatles 1966 album Revolver. In his biography Many Years From Now, McCartney said the song is one of his favourites. Beatles' producer George Martin has also mentioned it as one of his favourite McCartney...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) - 2:44 - "Live for Life" (Norman GimbelNorman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
, Francis LaiFrancis LaiFrancis Lai is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores.While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene...
) - 3:43 - "Little Green ApplesLittle Green Apples"Little Green Apples" is a song written by Bobby Russell which was most successful as a 1968 hit single by O. C. Smith.According to Buzz Cason, who partnered Bobby Russell in the Nashville-based Rising Sons music publishing firm, Russell wrote both the songs "Honey" and "Little Green Apples" as "an...
" (Bobby RussellBobby RussellBobby Russell was an American singer and songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he charted five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, including the crossover pop hit "Saturday Morning Confusion." Russell was also married to singer and actress Vicki Lawrence from 1972 to 1974.-Career:Russell wrote...
) - 2:49 - "Eleanor RigbyEleanor Rigby"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) - 3:40 - "My Chérie AmourMy Cherie Amour"My Cherie Amour" is a 1969 soul classic by Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder.The song was originally recorded in 1966, but not released...
" (Henry CosbyHenry CosbyHenry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
, Sylvia MoySylvia MoySylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
, Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
) – 3:50 - "Is That All There Is?Is That All There Is?"Is That All There Is?" is a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s. It became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee from her recording in November 1969...
" (Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller) - 3:25 - "Here" (Gene LeesGene LeesFrederick Eugene John "Gene" Lees was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and former journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States where he was a music critic and lyricist...
) - 3:36 - "Sunrise, Sunset" (Jerry BockJerry BockJerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
, Sheldon HarnickSheldon HarnickSheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
) - 3:37