Duets: An American Classic

Tony Bennett | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000H0MKGU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (271 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Traditional Pop
  • #1 in Music > Pop > Easy Listening > General
  • #1 in Music > Pop > Easy Listening > General AAS

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At this point, who else but Tony Bennett would have the clout to round up stars on the scale of Elton John, Paul McCartney, Bono, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand for some duets? (Note also that unlike some similar projects, all the parties involved on this CD were alive when it was recorded!) The material consists of relatively obvious classics in standard big-band arrangements, and Bennett himself is in top form at age 80, so much so that he doesn't need anybody else to handle "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." But the fun comes from checking out how his collaborators fare. The Dixie Chicks provide wonderful Andrews Sisters–type harmonies on the percolating version of "Lullaby of Broadway" that opens the festivities. The best songs tend to be the ones where Bennett's slightly craggy voice is juxtaposed to smooth female ones, like Diana Krall on "The Best Is Yet to Come," familiar accomplice k.d. lang on the sultry "Because of You" and Streisand—-perhaps Bennett's only equal in stature at this point—on "Smile." Among the less expected guests, soulman John Legend is a revelation on the hard-swinging "Sing, You Sinners," while George Michael confirms he’s quite the crooner on "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" Elvis Costello, Celine Dion or Juanes don't sound as comfortable, and sometimes it feels as if they overdo it to compensate, but overall this collection is among the best of its kind, with most guests rising to the occasion. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

Perfecting the art of excellence for over six decades, with 105 albums selling over 50 million copies, Tony Bennett has come to represent the essence of elegance, tradition and artistic accomplishments. Tony celebrates his 80th birthday recording Duets of his greatest hits with today's greatest artists: Bono, Michael Bublé, Elvis Costello, Celine Dion, Dixie Chicks, Billy Joel, Elton John, Juanes, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, John Legend, Paul McCartney, Tim McGraw, George Michael, Sting, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder.

More from Tony Bennett

The Art of Romance	A Wonderful World (with k. d. lang)	Perfectly Frank: An American Classic Celebrates 80
Basie Swings, Bennett Sings (DVD)	The Movie Song Album	The Classic Collection (Box Set)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar Duet Partners Offer Vocal Diversity As Bennett Stays True to His Classic Erudite Self, September 26, 2006

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Duets: An American Classic (Audio CD)

There are several top-selling singers who mine the Great American Songbook without having an innate understanding of its musical context. The results can consequently amount to contrived posturing as much as singing. Tony Bennett is not one of them as he so completely understands what music works with his sturdy, mellifluous voice that he makes almost everyone else featured on this disc sound vocally compatible even if several are out of their comfort zones. What makes this a better listen than Frank Sinatra's similar efforts in the early nineties is that Bennett recorded all the duets in person with his partners and has figured out how to retro-fit their musical sensibilities with his own. Intriguingly, industry veteran Phil Ramone produced both the Sinatra and Bennett projects.

Things start energetically with a big-band arrangement of "Lullaby of Broadway". The Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines sings with surprising aplomb but only on the first verse, and as a group, they spend the rest of the track mimicking the Andrews Sisters with their WWII-era girl-group background vocals. The cheery "Put on a Happy Face" from "Bye, Bye Birdie" has the normally taciturn James Taylor sounding very Gene Kelly-like and bantering quite easily with Bennett. A melancholy tone seeps into "Because of You", Bennett's first major hit in 1951, with Chris Botti's sad-eyed trumpet and a sonorous K.D. Lang sounding most assured given her previous experience as his partner.

A surprisingly confident Bono extracts the usual gruffness from his arena-rock voice and dexterously matches with Bennett on a sauntering version of "I Wanna Be Around". Elton John provides an unforced swing on the brief "Rags to Riches", while Elvis Costello loosens up considerably with the jazzy arrangement and Hope-Crosby-style bantering of "Are You Havin' Fun Yet?". A smoky-voiced Billy Joel is the ideal partner for the reflective "The Good Life" which soars with their intertwining voices, just as Sting is for a highly dramatic, Weill-style rendition of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" featuring some nice guitar work. As Bennett's youngest partner, John Legend provides energy to spare on an Ella-style "Sing You Sinners", though I wish there was more scatting during the interlude.

The comparatively weaker tracks just miss the mark by mere inches, not miles. As expected, Celine Dion overdoes her part on "If I Ruled the World", and a slightly Latin-tinged "The Shadow of Your Smile" has a lush sound save for Columbian rock singer Juanes' somewhat tinny tone. Stevie Wonder sounds a tad resistant to Bennett's nightclub-style arrangement of his own composition, "For Once In My Life" since he still applies his familiar melisma. Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" looks to drop its country roots for a more generic treatment until Tim McGraw starts to dip his notes like Williams. And one of the most beautiful love songs on the disc, Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You", has Bennett sounding velvety smooth in a swooning arrangement but Paul McCartney comparatively stiff with his phrasing a bit off.

The best tracks produce the magic you expect from Bennett when coupled with partners with perfectly complementary styles. Crooner Michael Bublé shows a great affinity for "Just in Time", while the jazzy sass of "The Best Is Yet to Come" benefits considerably from Diana Krall's dusky voice. George Michael makes a welcome return to the pop mainstream on the silky smooth "How Do You Keep the Music From Playing?". Not too surprisingly, the best duet is the lushly orchestrated "Smile" with Bennett and Barbra Streisand alternating verses as if on gossamer wings. Along with Pinchas Zukerman's masterful violin, they make stunning magic together, and the praise they sing to each other at the end seems most justified. Bennett includes a valedictory "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" by himself, beautiful as always and a subtly ironic choice for a duets album.

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I'm sure it looked good on paper, October 2, 2006

By 

Rich Given "richgiven" (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Duets: An American Classic (Audio CD)

Tony Bennett's 80th birthday deserves commemoration by something better than this collection of his signature tunes recorded with duet partners obviously chosen more for their value as marketing hooks than than their interpretive skills with the great american songbook.

The pairing of Bennett with Barbra Streiand on Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" yields a surprisingly uninspired collaboration. James Taylor, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and The Dixie Chicks are so far out of their depths with this material and in Bennett's company that the results are borderline painful.

You have to get half way through the collection before one of these recordings truly hits the bullseye, with Diana Krall joining Bennett brilliantly on Cy Coleman's classic "The Best is Yet to Come." Along the way, Tim McGraw is a worthy complement to Hank William's "Cold, Cold Heart" and k.d. Lang and Michael Buble provide competent support on "Because of You" and "Just in Time" respectively.

But the majority of this album's 19 tracks constitute little more than a poorly executed marketing gimmick with artists who do not belong on the same record as Mr. Bennett, or for that matter anywhere in the vicinity of these great songs.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars TONY-YES / GUEST STARS-NO, March 9, 2007

By 

S. D. (Omaha, Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duets: An American Classic (Audio CD)

There's no doubt that Tony knows his business and the types of songs that fit him best. And while this CD is filled with many "superstar" guests singing duets with him, it just seemed lackluster overall.
Practically every song had Tony singing the first verse with the guest artist coming in on the second verse. Both usually wrapped up the song together; but not before verbal praise was dished out from Tony to his co-artist (come on...Stevie Wonder...full???) or vice-versa SOMEplace in the song. Come on...cut the yapping and sing the song already!
This SHOULD have been a much more entertaining CD. Unfortunately, it drags along from start to finish.