Arrivederci to Legendary Singer and Humanitarian Tony Bennett

A Brief Tribute from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Posted July 21^st, 2023

“Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just
Smile”

• From the song ‘Smile’, written by the late legendary silent film actor Charlie Chaplin and performed best, in Chaplin’s view, by Tony Bennett

On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, there is an entertainment venue called The Melody Tent where, much like the old and now long gone Melody Fair venue it resembled in Niagara County, New York, continues to feature some of the best-known music makers in the business.

Way back in August of 1981, while my wife Mary and I were vacationing on Cape Cod, we opened up a pamphlet for The Melody Tent and discovered that Tony Bennett, backed up by jazz giant Woody Herman and his big band, were performing there two nights in a row.

I grew up listening mostly to rock, blues and soul music, but Tony Bennett, who hardly fell into any of those musical genres and who died this July 21^s ,2023 at age 96, will always be one of the greatest.

He was not only a great singer and painter, he was a civil rights activist who, among other things, marched with Martin Luther King. A Second World War veteran, he also spent the rest of his life speaking out against war and fascism.

We went the first night and the show was so great, we went the second night too. And along with the music, Mary received an autograph and a kiss on the cheek from Tony, and I received a wave and one of his big warm smiles.

And he was beloved by many other singers he did duets with including, up to just a few years ago, Elton John, Paul McCartney, k.d. lang, Bono, Stevie Wonder and perhaps most notably, Lady Gaga, who he sang with on stage for the last time on his 96^th birthday, in August of last year.

Here is Tony Bennett at home, just a couple of years ago, singing ‘Smile’, a song written by the legendary silent film star Charlie Chaplin, who like Bennett’s version so much when he first heard it on his ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’ album in the early 1960s that Chaplin gave Bennett an original copy of one of his films.

To hear and watch Bennett that song at his home at age 94, click on the screen below –

Finally, here is a performance, filmed not that long ago with Lady Gaga –

RIP Tony Bennett

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