An American classic turns 80

Tony Bennett turned 80 last Aug. 3. That means he has now spent over 60 years of his life in the music business. That is quite a long time and Bennett has just the right length of hit list to go with it. Because of You, Stranger in Paradise, Rags to Riches, From the Candy Store on the Corner to the Chapel on the Hill, The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Cold Cold Heart, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Blue Velvet and many others.

That is quite a feat, more so, when you consider the fact that the former Anthony Benedetto from Queens, New York remains an active performer whose elegant style and grasp of material can put most young artists to shame. Just in case you’ve forgotten, this guy did one of the early MTV Unplugged albums and won a Grammy for his efforts. The same thing goes for his vocals which is still in its usual fantastic form in his latest album Duets, An American Classic.

Produced by Phil Ramone, Duets is a tribute album. Just like Sinatra did some years ago in his own Duets and Ray Charles with his Genius Loves Company, the older statesman of pop music being honored is right there in the thick of things. Bennett redoes his hits in the album with a formidable line-up of collaborators that ranges from Latin heartthrob Juanes to the ultimate diva of them all, Barbra Streisand. They are all big stars in their own right but were probably still tickled pink to have been asked to sing with Bennett.

Get a load of the list: Lullaby of Broadway with the Dixie Chicks. Such fun to hear this country trio goes big band; Smile with Streisand, one of the most beautiful cuts; The Very Thought of You with Paul McCartney. Never imagined I’d hear Paul sing like this; The Shadow of Your Smile with the soulful Juanes. This makes me wonder why there are no Juanes CDs in the local stores; If I Ruled the World made me realize how much we miss Celine Dion; How Do You Keep the Music Playing with George Michael; Cold Cold Heart with Tim McGraw; Put On a Happy Face with James Taylor; Rags to Riches with Elton John; The Good Life with Billy Joel; The Best is Yet to Come with Diana Krall; For Once in My Life with Stevie Wonder; Are You Having Any Fun with Elvis Costello; Because of You with k.d. lang; Just in Time with Michael Bublé; The Boulevard of Broken Dreams with Sting; I Wanna be Around with Bono; Sing You Sinners with John Legend; If I Ruled the World with Lee Hom Wang and probably because, he alone does it best, Bennett once more takes on the solo spot with I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

Though he still has the spunk to play around with new compositions, Bennett is nowadays considered the leading custodian of American standards. He is seen as somebody who should be able to get away with putting Rod or Barry in their places, that is, should those young brats misbehave while interpreting the old songs. Why not? Bennett knows those songs inside out. Besides no one among them has been able to exhibit the same knack for sincere phrasing, dreamy crooning and hint of deep-bellied laughter Bennett is known for.

Truth to tell, the only one to whom Bennett can be fairly compared with is the great, but late Sinatra. But as everybody knows, you have to contend with the daunting emotional baggage of tattered romances he brings along while listening to Frankie. He let everything hang out and those things were mostly painful. With Tony though, romance is always the good life, a song in his heart and melting cold, cold hearts every step of the way.

In case you are interested to better celebrate his 80th birthday, also available are more of Bennett’s best recordings. One is The Art of Romance, which features light jazz takes on heartbreak classics like Gone with the Wind, Being Alive, Close Enough for Love, The Best Man, Where Do You Start, I Remember You and Little Did I Dream. Another one is the digitally remastered Perfectly Frank. The Frank in the title is the name of another American classic and this album is made up of songs usually associated with who else but Sinatra, like Nancy, I’ve Got the World on a String, The Lady is a Tramp, Call Me Irresponsible, One for My Baby, Angel Eyes, I’ll be Seeing You and others.