Tony Bennett: RIP to an Enduring Legend

July 23,2023

Tony Bennett.. Anthony Dominick Benedetto, has left the building. Part of my heart went with him. Heck, part of the hearts a few million others figuratively soared up and away with him. 

Bennett was an omnivore of good material. He had a sense of what made the song tick...and once he sang a song, it was hard to imagine any other version that satisfied as much as his.

Many of his songs were recognizable after the first phrase. And some not so much, like "My Reverie", "a 1938 popular song with lyrics by Larry Clinton and melody based on the 1890 piano piece Rêverie by the French composer Claude Debussy."

He was drinking from the trough of history to satisfy his need  to learn, grow, and create anew. His inquisitive nature needed to be nourished by blowing on the embers of a song created in a composition over 100 years old.  Who does that these days?

Bennett was not only interesting but interested....in people, history, contemporary events and the arts. He walked the walk and sang the talk. He was genuine and generous, never strayed far from his ethnic roots. He took up painting late in life. And was well regarded. The art shows he participated in weren't because he was already famous. It was because he was a good artist.

I cried when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2019. I cheered when, with specific memories undisturbed by the disease, he performed a show with his friend Lady Gaga.

His definitive rendition of  "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" was in heavy rotation in my early romantic life. An old adage says "when we go somewhere that changes us, we leave it with the parts of us that it was able to change, grow, and adapt."  Tony has left us.

I'm not singing "I Left My Heart In San Francisco."  I'm singing "Tony left a little part of his heart in Tamburello."

 

Comments

[Myke Farricker]

Great writing as always, and great last line!

[Paul A Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Myke, thank you, The last line wrote itself. I thought it might be a little hokey but it felt right and kept it,
Astonishing Bennett could still tap into his hard wired memory bank to sing songs after the awful disease erased his memory bank.

[Susan Bennett]

Another loss of a part of our past and an amazing talent. Thanks PT!