Everyday Creation
This show has to do with different kinds of creation: human, divine, and a third kind that connects the two. Our human creativity is easy to talk about because clearly we're prolific creators. We make music, we write, we cook; we establish businesses, we design gardens, we invent things. The list goes on and on. Another kind of creation is divine. We feel its presence when, for example, we contemplate birth, death, our life purpose, or have a quiet realization that there's something bigger than us. The third kind is perhaps a little more difficult to grasp and yet, with a little practice, it's easy to put into action. This is the personal power each of us has to direct our thoughts, words and actions every day toward what we want in our life and world, rather than what we don't want.
This sounds heavier than it is. For me, this show is an acknowledgment that while we're all here to learn and grow and do our best, there's still plenty of opportunity to relax, laugh, love, and enjoy this playground we call life. So my hope is that you'll get some enjoyment and illumination out of these episodes. Here you'll find interviews with delightfully creative individuals; short stories about some who have passed away; and essays about personal power.
I'm Kate Jones, host and creator of Everyday Creation. Thank you for following my show.
Everyday Creation
Tribute to Tony Bennett, featuring Sheldon Zoldan
Tony Bennett overcame a lot to become the national treasure he was at the time of his death last July. This tribute is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.
The image in the thumbnail for this episode and in the chapters is the cover of the CD "Tony Bennett All Time Greatest Hits." I like how the picture captures Bennett's classic performing style.
Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.
To hear Bennett sing his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” you can go to this video from MTV Unplugged. Or, if you want to go way back in time, here's a link to him singing the song on "The Judy Garland Show."
My guest Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime writer and newspaper editor, wrote these tributes and recorded them. You can hear him tell Bennett's story on WGCU.org, where he posts once a week.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Kate:
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Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation. This is
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your host, Kate Jones, with one of 44
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tributes
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to significant figures in the music industry
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who passed away in 2023.
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My guest Sheldon Zoldan,
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a longtime writer and newspaper editor,
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wrote these short biographies
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and recorded them.
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Each one is an intriguing
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glimpse into the life and impact of someone
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who contributed
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to the soundtracks of our lives. Here's what
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Sheldon has to say in this tribute.
Sheldon:
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Tony Bennett was an American icon for so
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long
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that it gets lost in the fog of
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history that his birth name was Anthony Dominick
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Benedetto.
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It's also forgotten that Bennett rebuilt his career
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after he crashed and burned,
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unable to compete against the psychedelic
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1960s,
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and overcame a drug habit.
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Bennett died July 21st in New York City.
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He openly shared his seven-year battle with
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Alzheimer's disease.
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He was
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96.
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Bennett started his career as Joe Barl,
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but Bob Hope, who asked him to be
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his opening act, changed it to Tony Bennett.
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He became a star in the 1950s.
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"Because of You," in 1951,
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reached number 1 on the pop charts and
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stayed there for 10 weeks.
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His star faded by 1965.
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He found cocaine
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and the IRS found him.
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A cocaine overdose and near-death experience
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sobered him up.
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His son took over as manager in 1979
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and directed him back to the Great American
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Songbook.
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It worked.
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He became a national treasure.
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The Song of the Day, "I Left My
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Heart in San Francisco,"
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was Bennett's signature song.
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He recorded it in 1962.
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George C. Cory Jr.
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wrote the music and Douglass Cross wrote the
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lyrics in 1954.
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They wrote it for opera singer Claramae
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Turner, but she never recorded it.
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Bennett's pianist
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Ralph Sharon rediscovered the song several years later
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after stuffing it in his shirt drawer.
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When he showed it to Bennett, they thought
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it would be the perfect song to sing
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at their next stop,
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the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
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It was a hit,
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and he never stopped singing it.
Sheldon:
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This is Kate again. Please go to the
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description for more information and to hear the
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song that Sheldon referenced.
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If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out
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the rest of them. Although some of the
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names are not as familiar as others, the
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biographies
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are equally intriguing.
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Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.
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Please share this episode with anyone who might
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enjoy it.
