Tony Bennett: Grandfather Christmas

Dec 22 2008 By Andy Welch

Tony Bennett talks about his new festive album, Swingin' Christmas, and reveals what it was like recording it in the height of summer in LA. The crooning legend also explains why swing music will never die out, and why he's optimistic about America's future.

"We're going into winter now, the trees are the most beautiful colour, reds, yellows, oranges and browns," he says, describing the scene for those of us stuck in a grey office with no view.

Unfortunately, Tony hasn't been over to the UK this year - though he plans to tour next year - hence our chat over the phone.

The phone rings, a little earlier than our allotted time, and a distant voice on the other end says, in thick 'Noo York' brogue: "Hey, how you doin'? It's Tony Bennett. Let's talk."

As greetings go, it's not bad. More surprising than his premature call is the personal touch.

Most artists, particularly those of much lesser status than the iconic crooner, wouldn't countenance calling a journalist themselves - they'd be 'patched through' by a minion at their record label. But Tony simply asked his manager, his son Danny, for a list of numbers to ring, and set aside a morning to chat away.

He's like a kindly granddad - keen to offer advice and blessed with the wisdom you can only acquire after reaching 82 years of age.

A contemporary of swing legends Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, Tony has been performing and recording for nearly 75 years.

The son of an Italian immigrant and a New York seamstress, Tony - born Anthony Bennedetto - and his two siblings grew up in poverty, partly due to his dad's ailing health.

His dad died when Tony was 10, by which time he'd already begun singing alongside his uncle, who was a vaudeville tap-dancer.

From there, he enrolled at the High School Of Industrial Art to study art and music, but dropped out when he was 16 to support his family.

During the Second World War, Tony was an infantry rifleman, and was drafted in towards the end of the fighting in November 1944.

By January the year after, he was involved in dangerous conflicts in Germany, flushing out enemy soldiers from small towns, and also the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp near Landsberg.

"Anyone who thinks war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one," he says, before moving on to the plus sides of being in the army.

"Under the GI Bill Of Rights [in place after the war in America to offer education to returning servicemen] we had schools to go to," he explains.

"I joined the American theatre wing, where we had the very best teachers. That's where I learned to look after my voice, and why it's still in good shape now.

"I exercise three times a week, I paint every day, so I stay very busy. I enjoy whatever I do and I never feel like retiring. I don't consider work difficult," he continues.

"As far as I'm concerned, I've never worked a day in my life."

His latest project is A Swingin' Christmas, recorded earlier this year with the world-famous Count Basie Big Band.

"I worked with them years ago, when the Count was still alive. I was the first white singer to ever sing with them," he says proudly.

"It was strange singing holiday songs in the middle of very warm summer days, but the songs on the album are all happy songs. It's very easy to be happy in the summer.

"And White Christmas by Bing Crosby was recorded in the summer in Beverly Hills, California.

"That song sold 15 million singles, which is unheard of, beyond The Beatles or Elvis, so if recording in the summer is good enough for Bing, it's good enough for me," he adds, laughing.

There's also a strong family theme running through A Swingin' Christmas, which adds to the festive feel.

Tony's son Danny also produced the album, while his other son Dae engineered it. Daughter Antonia sings a duet with her old man, I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.

"She's got a great voice and a great heart, and I loved recording with her," Tony says of his daughter, one of two children he had with second wife Sandra Grant [they're now divorced]. Danny [D'Andrea] and Dae [Daegal] came during his first marriage.

The new album is a collection of Christmas classics from the Great American Songbook.

There's a version of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's evergreen Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Bernard and Smith's Winter Wonderland, and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, written by Coots and Gillespie in 1934.

"I love all of the songs on the album, you know," he says.

"There's a new one, All I Want For Christmas Is You [not the Mariah Carey song of the same name], which is among the best Christmas songs I've ever heard.

"Mainly, they're old songs, standards. I don't think of them as old songs, just great songs," he continues.

"In the United States, there was a great era in the 20s and 30s when George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlin and Jerome Kern and people were writing magnificent songs, and they've never been bettered.

"We have new artists singing swing too, Diana Krall, Michael Buble and Rod Stewart and other people, so these beautiful songs will never die, we'll just get new performers singing them."

Tony then moves on to talking about politics. He's particularly pleased with the result of the recent US election, and has high hopes for president-elect Barack Obama.

"Almost overnight, he's made the world say 'Yes' almost unanimously," he starts.

"It feels so great that America is accepted by other nations again, and that feeling had gone away for a while.

"It's going to be a difficult time for Obama to get things going again, but I think he's going to be a wonderful president.

"There's a feeling of hope here, which hasn't been around since Kennedy," he adds.

"The US isn't a country, it's an experiment - it's the first time every race, colour, religion and nationality has been put together.

"It's not perfect, we still have a long way to go before it's right, and it's still in question whether it's actually going to work, but I believe in Obama and America."

TONY BENNETT - EXTRA TIME

Tony is an accomplished painter and sculptor. His work is regularly shown in galleries, and commands a high price at auction. The United Nations commissioned him to mark their 50th anniversary.

He credits Bob Hope with discovering him. Hope saw Tony singing in a club in New York in 1949 and later received an invitation to sing on stage with the comedian.

Tony met Bing Crosby once.

"He said I was the best singer he'd ever heard," he says proudly.

Frank Sinatra also referred to Tony as "the best singer in the business".

He has won 13 Grammy awards, including the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

In honour of his best friend, he established the Frank Sinatra School Of The Arts in New York in 2001, a public high school which offers extensive music, dance, film, fine art and drama tuition.

A Swingin' Christmas by Tony Bennett - featuring The Count Basie Big Band - is out now.