He sang so close you could feel the warmth of his breath in your ear. He whispered the songs in the same living room of your house, there planted so calm. “I’ve been terribly aloooone and forgotten in Maaanhattan“. A familiar voice like that of a friend who was reminding you of old melodies. He sang only for you the eternal Tony Bennett, un crooner to scale human who had a superhuman career, more than 70 years of recordings and concerts, and whispers. This dear companion died this Friday at the age of 96: he had suffered from Alzheimer’s since 2016 and for this reason had been forced to retire in 2021.
In the field of crooners there is no debate. Frank Sinatra was the best. In fact, each day that passes is even better. We know that now, but it’s important to remember that when Tony Bennett came into the business, in 1950, with great success from his first recordings, Sinatra was already the best. With his white suit, with his blue eyes and with a voice that resounded like the echo of the mountains, that young Sinatra dominated the 40s until he became the Stradivarious of popular song in the USA in the 50s.
Eleven years younger than Sinatra, similarly born on the New York fringes, and exactly the same height and weight, Tony Bennett was his best pupil. A singer seeks, enemy of fuss and underlining. Neither he nor he was dramatic in the ballads, his specialty, nor did he go beyond euphoria in the fast and cheerful numbers like champagne bubbles. He glided his baritone along the melody with the movements of a tai chi master, that’s how graceful and effortless he was, and he exuded optimism and confidence. He was a friend, geez. He was always welcome.
A miserable childhood and a youth built on effort produced a humble and noble boy willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to get ahead. The nostalgic heart of him learned to love jazz in the age of swingthe 40s, but it was the crooner pop that his record company asked him to go and he did it with a smile under his hooked nose and without losing his dignity, and whenever he could he jumped into jazz, and between pop and jazz he spent his very long blue velvet career. His greatest hits records contain great examples of both styles, without one overshadowing the other.
his father was a italian grocer who died when the boy was 10 years old. Already then he should have stood out for his voice, because that same year, 1936, the talented boy sang before Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at the inauguration ceremonies of the Triborough Bridge, which connected Manhattan with his neighborhood in Queens, Astoria.