Once Upon a Summertime

Michel Legrand

Michel Legrand

PROFILE
Composers Michel Legrand, Eddie Barclay
Lyricist (French) Eddie Marnay
Lyricist (English)) Johnny Mercer
Year Written 1954
About Once Upon a Summertime
Blossom Dearie recorded the first English version of “Once Upon a Summertime” in 1958 for her album of the same name. Tony Bennett, Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan recorded it in 1963, followed by Bill Evans in 1964.

Lyrics

Once upon a summertime, if you recall,
We stopped beside a little flower stall.
A bunch of bright forget-me-nots was all
I’d let you buy me.
Once upon a summertime, just like today,
We laughed the happy afternoon away
And stole a kiss in ev’ry street cafe
You were sweeter than the blossoms on the tree.
I was as proud as any girl could be,
As if the Mayor had offered me the key
To Paris!
Now, another wintertime has come and gone.
The pigeons feeding in the square have flown,
But I remember when the vespers chime
You loved me once upon a summertime.

Session / Album Information

1962

“Once Upon a Summertime” was recorded on October 19, 1962 and released in 1963 on the album I Wanna Be Around. It was arranged by Marty Manning.

Once Upon A Summertime

Listen to Once Upon A Summertime on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1963

This recording released on:

  • 1963: Columbia LP 12″: P 13575 — I Wanna Be Around
  • 1963: Columbia LP 12″ (Mono): CL 2000 — I Wanna Be Around
  • 1963: CBS LP 12″: SBPG 62149 — I Wanna Be Around (UK)
  • 1963: Columbia LP 12″: CS 8800 — I Wanna Be Around
  • 1995: Columbia CD: CK 66504 — I Wanna Be Around
  • 2006: RPM/Columbia/Legacy CD: 82876 87234 — I Wanna Be Around
  • 2011: Disc #26 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK25) I Wanna Be Around

Not As A Stranger

Naas1955
PROFILE
Composer Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyricist Buddy Kaye
Year Written 1954
About Not As A Stranger
This song was written for the film Not As A Stranger, released in 1955. It starred Robert Mitchum and Olivia de Havilland; the co-stars included Frank Sinatra, Broderick Crawford and Lee Marvin.

Lyrics

I think of you, my love
Not as a stranger
Although it’s true
My love we’ve only met

Yet I know your smile
And I know your sigh
Know them well from
Dreams I can’t forget

We’ve kissed like this before
You are not a stranger
A thousand times or more
‘Neath stars above

Now the path is clear
For at last you’re here
Not as a stranger dear
But my own true love

Session / Album Information

1954

“Not As A Stranger” was recorded on May 11, 1954 and released that year as a single. It was arranged by Percy Faith.

Not As A Stranger

Listen to Not As A Stranger on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

This recording released on:

  • 1954: Columbia 78: 40311
  • 1954: Columbia 45: 4-40311
  • 1959: Philips 78: PB 357
  • 2006: Naxos Nostalgia CD: 8120803 — While We’re Young: Original Recordings 1950-1955
  • 2007: roper CD: PROPERBOX 121 — Young Tony
  • 2011: Disc #5 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK5) The Columbia Singles, Volume 3

Lazy Afternoon

Lazy Afternoon
PROFILE
Composer Jerome Moss
Lyricist John Latouche
Year Written 1954
About Lazy Afternoon
“Lazy Afternoon” was written for the 1954 musical The Golden Apple, which uses mythological Greek characters from Ulysses but set in the state of Washington (at Mount Olympia, of course) in the United States. This song, as well as the entire score, is quite beautiful.

Lyrics

It’s a lazy afternoon
And the beetle bugs are zooming
And the tulip trees are blooming
And there’s not another human in view,
But us two

It’s a lazy afternoon
And the farmer leaves his reaping
And the meadow cows are sleeping
And the speckled trouts stop leaping up stream
As we dream

A far pink cloud hangs over the hill
Unfolding like a rose
If you hold my hand and sit real still,
You can hear the grass as it grows

It’s a hazy afternoon
And I know a place that’s quiet, except for daisies running riot
And there’s no one passing by it to see
Come spend this lazy afternoon with me

Session / Album Information

1957

Lazy Afternoon was recorded on June 27, 1957 and released in 1957 on the album The Beat of My Heart. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon.

Lazy Afternoon

Tony Bennett · The Beat Of My Heart · Song · 1957

This recording also released on:

  •  Pacific LP 12″: — Just One Of Those Things [Australia]
  • 1957:  Philips LP 12″: BBL 7219 — The Beat Of My Heart
  • 1962:  Columbia LP 12″: CS 8563 — Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Broadway Hits
  • 1962:  Columbia LP 12″ (Mono): CL 1763 — Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Broadway Hits
  • 1969:  Harmony LP 12″: HS 11340 — Just One Of Those Things
  • 1970: Hallmark LP 12″: SHM 646 — Just One Of Those Things [UK]
  • 1991:  Columbia CD: C4K 46843 — Forty Years – The Artistry Of Tony Bennett
  • 1993:  CBS/Sony CD: SRCS-6641 — Forty Years: The Artistry Of Tony Bennett
  • 1997:  Columbia CD: CK 66502 — The Beat Of My Heart
  • 2004: Columbia/Legacy CD: C5K 92784 — Fifty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett
  • 2008: Not Now Music CD: NOT3CD010 — Three Original Hit Albums [UK]
  • 2008: Columbia/RPM/Legacy CD: 731397 — The Essential Tony Bennett [Limited Edition 3.0]
  • 2011: Disc #11 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK11) The Beat of My Heart
  • 2011: Disc #21 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK21)Mr. Broadway: Tony’s Greatest Broadway Hits

1962

“Lazy Afternoon” was recorded live at Tony Bennett’s concert at Carnegie Hall on June 9, 1962 and was initially released in 1962 on the album Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall. Ralph Sharon arranged the song.

This recording released on:

  • 1962: CBS LP 12″: BPG62116 — At Carnegie Hall – Part 1 (UK)
  • 1962: Columbia LP 12″: CS 8705 — At Carnegie Hall – vol.1
  • 1962: Columbia LP 12″: C2L 23 — Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall
  • 1962: Columbia LP 12″: C2S 823 — Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall
  • 1993: Sony Music Special Products CD: 15056 — Tony Bennett Sings for You
  • 1995:  Sony Music CD: WK 75012 — Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall
  • 1997: Columbia CD: C2K 64609 — At Carnegie Hall June 9, 1962: Complete Concert
  • 2011: Disc #24 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK24) Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall

How Can I Replace You?

tony-bennett-how-can-i-replace-you-columbia
PROFILE
Composer Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyricist Sammy Gallop
Year Written
About How Can I Replace You?
tbd

Lyrics

TBD

Session / Album Information

1955

“How Can I Replace You?” was recorded on May 5, 1955 and released that year as a single.

How Can I Replace You

Listen to How Can I Replace You on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 2011

This recording released on:

  • 1955: Philips 78: PB 521
  • 1955: Columbia 78: 40567
  • 1955: Columbia 45: 4-40567
  • 2011: Disc #5 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK5) The Columbia Singles, Volume 3

House of Flowers

house-of-flowers-broadway-movie-poster-1954-1020407584
PROFILE
Composer Harold Arlen
Lyricist Truman Capote
Year Written 1954
ABOUT House of Flowers
House of Flowers was written for the Broadway musical of the same. Set in Haiti, the cast included Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll, Ray Walston, Geoffrey Holder and Alvin Ailey. The score featured a steel-drum trio from Trinidad.

Lyrics

My house is made of flowers
The warm winds carpet the floor
Whenever there’s spring showers
I open the rainbow door

The frog, the toad, the turtle
All make my home their home
My curtains are crape myrtle
And the firefly flies neath my dome
Haro
I’ve never had money
And I’ll never need none
The moon is my lamp
And my clock is the sun

My home’s a home
For all those things
What grows, what flies, what sings
If it all sounds tempting

And it do you entice
I show to the heavens
That it do make it nice
Won’t you come live with me

I’d come live with me
If I were you, if I were you.

Session / Album Information

1960

This song was recorded on August 15, 1960 and released in 1960 on the album A String of Harold Arlen.

House Of Flowers

Tony Bennett · Tony Bennett Sings A String Of Harold Arlen · Song · 1960

This recording released on:

  • 1960: Columbia LP 12″: CS 8359 — A String Of Harold Arlen
  • 1960: Columbia LP 12″ (Mono): CL 1559 — A String Of Harold Arlen
  • 1960:  Philips LP 12″ (Mono): BBL 7455 — Sings A String Of Harold Arlen (UK)
  • Sony Music CD: SMSP A 8359 — A String Of Harold Arlen
  • 1975: Columbia LP 12″: KG 33376 — Let’s Fall In Love With The Songs Of Harold Arlen and Cy Coleman
  • 1990: CBS/Sony CD: CSCS-5244 — Sings A String Of Harold Arlen [Japan]
  • 1990: Columbia House Music Collection CD: C22 8015 — The Great American Composers: Harold Arlen
  • 1993:  Sony Music Special Products CD: 15056 — Tony Bennett Sings for You
  • 2011: Disc #18 in The Tony Bennett Complete Collection (88697874602-JK18) Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes