SO I AM WATCHING TONY BENNETT PLAY TENNIS YESTERDAY AND A GUY COMES UP AFTER THE MATCH, SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT HOW TONY ''JUST HAD TO HEAR'' SOME SONG.
AND TONY WAS SO POLITE.
YOU KNOW, TONY DOESN'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO ANYTHING OR TO ANYONE, BUT HE DOES CHOOSE TO STAY UP ON WHAT'S WHAT IN POP MUSIC.
I COULD TOTALLY KICK TONY BENNETT'S BUTT ON THOSE CLAY COURTS, BY THE WAY.
HA (THAT WAS A CHRIS MATTHEWS/WILLIE WATTERS LAUGH... LOUD).
TONY BENNETT IS TWICE MY AGE AND EATS YOUNGER PLAYERS FOR BREAKFAST.
BUT LET'S GET SERIOUS AND TALK ABOUT POP MUSIC,SHALL WE?
GREAT.
TONY BENNETT WAS JUST SO... GRACIOUS. THE GRACE THAT COMES FROM SUCH A WARM AND WONDERFUL PLACE. HE NODDED AND THANKED THE GUY. ME? I REALLY CAN'T HIDE MY EMOTIONS AND JUST DON'T LIKE IT WHEN MUSIC IS 'PUSHED' ON ME.
(NOTE; I ACTUALLY DELIVERED A SONG FOR TONY TO CONSIDER RECORDING SEVERAL YEARS AGO. HE GAVE IT TO RALPH WHO GAVE IT A LOOK AND LISTEN AND KINDLY GAVE IT BACK TO ME. I FORGET WHO HAD WRITTEN IT, BUT IT WASN'T BAD, IT JUST WASN'T...).
MUSIC... ESPECIALLY POPULAR MUSIC, SHOULD BE DISCOVERED. SO WHEN I RECEIVE ALL OF THESE EMAILS TELLING ME THAT I HAVE TO HEAR THIS OR THAT BAND, I KINDA LET THAT TONE GET TO ME.
I DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE FROM BUSHWALLA AND DISHWALLA. (OK, ACTUALLY? I DO. BILLY WRITES WITH MRAZ AND THE OTHER IS A BAND WHOSE NAME COMES FROM AN ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN TERM THAT MEANS 'TO STEAL CABLE TV,' I THINK ... CURBSIDE PROPHET VS. ROOFTOP PROFIT?)
PEOPLE WHO ARE MY AGE (BUT FOR SOME STRANGE REASON ACT ALL OLD OR WHATEVER) LIKE TO MOURN THE DEATH OF THE RECORD STORE. SUFFER YOUR CD'S UNTO ME.
THAT'S A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT. SURE, I USED TO LOVE RECORD STORES, FLIPPING- THROUGH THE BINS. I USED TO HANG-OUT AT THE TOWER RECORDS ON SUNSET. I EVEN WAS THERE ONE NGHT WHEN BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CAME IN AND SHOPPED. IT WAS LIKE MIDNIGHT ON A SUNDAY, AND IT WAS COOL. HE ASKED SEVERAL PEOPLE- ME INCLUDED, ABOUT THE KIND OF MUSIC WE LIKED. HE TOLD ME HE WAS HALF-ITALIAN (ME TOO) AND AGREED THAT IT WAS COOL WHEN REPRISE INCLUDED A POSTER IN THE FOLD-OUT ALBUM VERSION OF FRANK SINATRA'S 'WATERTOWN,' A PROJECT PUT TOGETHER BY THE JERSEY BOYS THEMSELVES, BOB GAUDIO AND JAKE HOLMES.
(NOTE ABOUT WATERTOWN)- I LISTED IT IN THE TOP 20 BEST SINATRA ALBUMS IN AN ARTICLE I WROTE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, CAUSING VINNIE FALCONE, WHO IN ADDITION TO BEING MY BEST FRIEND IN SHOW BUSINESS, WAS SINATRA'S MUSICAL DIRECTOR FOR THE MOST CREATIVE DECADE IN THE OLD MAN'S LIVE PERFORMING LIFE. VINNIE SO DISAGREED WITH ME, AND I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM ASKING ME WHY I CHOSE TO PUT THAT ALBUM UP THERE ALONGSIDE TRILOGY, SHE SHOT ME DOWN, COME FLY WITH ME, ONLY THE LONELY, ETC. YOU SEE, VINNIE COULD HAVE JUST TOLD ME THAT I WAS WRONG, BUT HE DIDN'T. I WAS MAYBE 20 AND HE COULD HAVE SIMPLY SET ME STRAIGHT. BUT INSTEAD, HE MADE ME QUESTION MY OPINIONS AND IN THE PROCESS, ENCOURAGED ME TO TAKE POP MUSIC OPINIONS SERIOUSLY. VINNIE NEVER SPOKE DOWN TO ME-
NOT EVER.
OH, AND A FURTHER NOTE- SINATRA SO RESPECTED HIS PIANIST/CONDUCTOR/ DIRECTOR/CONTRACTOR THAT HE ACTUALLY USED TO 'SNEEK-OUT' TO HANG OUT WITH VINNIE. YUP. JILLY TOLD ME ALL KINDA STORIES HOW THE OLD MAN RESPECTED VINNIE'S OPINION SO MUCH, BUT DIDN'T REALLY WANT THE OTHER MUSICIANS AROUND SO, ON THE ROAD, JILLY WOULD MAKE SURE VINNIE-AND ONLY VINNIE- KNEW WHERE SINATRA WOULD BE HAVING DINNER AFTER THE CONCERT SO THAT THEY COULD TALK MUSIC. WOW...I'M JUST SAYING. AND YOU CAN READ MR. FALCONE'S FINE BOOK, WHICH IS REALLY AIMED AT STUDENTS OF MUSIC, BUT YOU'LL NEVER FIND A HINT OF WHAT I'VE JUST SAID. NOR DOES VINNIE TAKE ANY KIND OF CREDIT FOR CONDUCTING SO MANY TRACKS ON WHICH OTHERS ARE CREDITED.
MUSIC SHOULD BE DISCOVERED. MUSIC SHOULD BE RECOMMENDED. OPINIONS OF POP MUSIC SHOULD NEVER BE PUSHED ONTO OTHERS.
NOT EVER.
AND WHILE TOWER IS NO MORE, I'VE BEEN TURNED-ONTO MORE GREAT STUFF INSIDE BORDERS AND BARNES & NOBLE THAN ANY OLD HIPPIE EVER STUMBLED ONTO IN THEIR LIVES. A SUPER-COOL GUY WHO IS THE MUSIC BUYER AT BORDERS MADE SURE THAT I WAS HIP TO GUSTER AND ACTUALLY GAVE ME MY FIRST SONDRE LERCHE DISC. HE AND I HAD MORE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW MIND-BLOWINGLY COOL JAMIE CULLUM IS AND HOW PERFECTLY THOUGHT-OUT JASON MRAZ'S LYRICS ARE.
I KNOW THAT THE FUTURE OF MUSIC WILL HAVE TO INVOLVE MORE...STUFF. LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS, YOU MAYBE GOT A POSTER, PHOTOS TAKEN IN THE STUDIO AND ALWAYS GREAT LINER NOTES, WELL, NOW, THE RECORD COMPANIES SHOULD OFFER VIDEOS, INTERVIEWS, SPECIAL STUFF CAPTURED IN THE STUDIO, AND MORE. IF THEY DO, THEY WILL RE-INVENT WHAT IT MEANS TO DISCOVER MUSIC.
BACK TO TONY BENNETT, OK?
I WAS WITH HIM, AND, VINNIE FALCONE WHO WAS CONDUCTING FOR HIM AT THE TIME, THE DAY AFTER FRANK SINATRA PASSED AWAY. WE WERE BACKSTAGE AT CAESARS PALACE- A PLACE SINATRA HAD PERFORMED IN FOR A DECADE, A PLACE WHERE VINNIE STARTED AS HOUSE PIANIST AND A PLACE WHERE TONY BENNETT WAS ONE OF THE REMAINING FEW STARS WHO COULD BE COUNTED ON TO PACK THEM IN, SHOW AFTER SHOW.
JUST PUT UP ON THE MARQUE-"TONY BENNETT," AND THE PLACE IS SOLD-OUT. HE MAY SHOW UP WITH JUST A PIANIST. ADD IN A TRIO. OR LATER IN THE SHOW, A BACK CURTAIN MAY RISE TO PRESENT AN ENTIRE ORCHESTRA. DOESN'T MATTER. THE CROWD IS THERE TO SEE TONY BENNETT. HE OFTEN SINGS A SONG AFTER SETTING DOWN HIS MICROPHONE. HE'LL COMPLIMENT THE ACOUSTICS, OR MAKE A MTV REFERENCE TO BEING 'UNPLUGGED,' BUT WHAT'S MAGICAL IS THE POWER AND CONTROL HE HAS... THE SPELL HE CASTS... THE RESPECT HE DEMANDS AND RECEIVES, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
SO I LOOK FROM THE DRESSING ROOM TV, WHICH HAD BACK-TO-BACK COVERAGE OF THE LIFE AND CAREER OF FRANK SINATRA. I'M STANDING WITH VINNIE FALCONE, WHO WAS CONCERNED HOW SO WRONG SO MANY OF THE COMMENTATORS WERE GETTING THINGS, AND TONY BENNETT. TONY HAD CANCELLED THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE AS SOON AS HE HAD GOTTEN THE NEWS OF MR. SINATRA'S PASSING BUT THEN, THE NEXT NIGHT, WENT OUT AND PUT ON AN EXTRA SPECIAL PERFORMANCE, GOING OUT OF HIS WAY TO STATE HIS OPINIONS ON STAGE AS TO WHY THIS SONG WAS SPECIAL OR WHAT HE LIKED SO MUCH ABOUT THAT LYRIC.
I HEART TONY BENNETT SO MUCH.
HERE'S SOME MUSIC YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK OUT-
*TONY BENNETT AND BILL EVANS TRIO (I MEAN, EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS, RIGHT?)
*TONY'S ALBUMS IN THE MID- 70'S THAT HE PRODUCED FOR HIS OWN RECORD LABEL, IMPROV.
***SOME GREAT SONGS, LIKE THE MOURNFUL: 'SOME OTHER TIME,' THE DYSPHORIC 'WHEN DO THE BELLS RING FOR ME?' AND THE SHINING,STUNNING 'OVER THE RAINBOW' OH-ALSO, CHECK-OUT THE DUET WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY, 'THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU,' WHICH IS A GREAT SONG FROM THE GREAT BRITISH BANDLEADER RAY NOBLE. THE DUET IS SO... RESPECTFUL.
WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC, BE RESPECTFUL.
LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID. LIKE THE LYRIC GOES, "TO ME, THAT'S EVERYTHING.''
