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Duets: An American Classic
Tony Bennett
Duets: An American Classic
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (19) - Disc #1

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...  more »

     
   

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CD Details

All Artists: Tony Bennett
Title: Duets: An American Classic
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 13
Label: Sony
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 9/26/2006
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Traditional Jazz & Ragtime, Vocal Jazz, Easy Listening, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 828768097922

Synopsis

Amazon.com
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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Member CD Reviews

Tony H. from CAMPBELLSVLLE, KY
Reviewed on 4/19/2018...
Great CD. So is volume two. I am so used to hearing these tracks in Tony Bennett's original version that some of these are noticeably different. But Bennett's singing is still superb after all these years. Interestingly in the time since this CD was made some of these duet partners' stars have faded but Tony Bennett is still going strong add age 91.

CD Reviews

I expected more
S. Costantino | Here, There, and Everywhere~~~ | 10/01/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)

"To me, a duet album should technically, at least some of the time, consist of the singers singing together, not just exchanging verses. That is technically all this cd is. The cd as a whole is somewhat of a disappoint ment. In my opinion, it is so mediocre, that it also seems too long. I won't say which songs I think it could do without, but at 18 songs, and nothing truly breathtaking, it really could have been made into a 12 to 14 song disc, and possibly not seemed so....tedious for lack of a better word.

There are some highlights, and to me, some embarassing moments. The first 4 tracks are a trainwreck in my opinion. The James Taylor track, seems so forced, its almost comical. The 5th track, with Juanes, was an improvement. I was going to actually turn the cd off. SHADOW, to me is not a stellar song, but for some reason, this relative newbie, with Bennett, worked really well. So I was expecting more good things to come. Sir Elton. What can one say. He is an icon. I didn't expect alot from this, so I wasn't disappointed. Its not awful, its not great, it just is. Billy Joel. Let me state, I am NOT a Joel fan, at all. I was extremely surprised to find myself actually like this one. They seemed to have a bit more stylishness going on. This was the first track I didn't find forced , at all. McGraw. This to me was an odd one. I am a fan of his, so expected to like it. To me, it almost sounded like they were singing 2 different arrangements. Celine. I expected Grandstanding,

and I got it. It explains why after her debut cd, I lost interest. Krall. Not a fan, but this arrangement, and their deliveries worked rather well together. This one could really grow on me, im sure. Stevie W. I always like Tony singing this song. I expected a different arrangement, and was initially disappointed. I was floored at the end Stevie still has amazing range. This is the 2nd highpoint to the cd, Elvis C. Why is he even here? I mean, vocally, he is not a great singer. I almost felt like this was karaoke. KD. The Duet CD was far superior to this track. Buble. Vocally, these 2 match better than any of the other

teamings. I am not too thrilled with the song choice, almost wish they did a smokier ballad. Sting can sing, really well. Its just not apparent here. This song is really messy sounding. The arrangement is kind of muddy, and slow. Bono. Its amazing to me how well Bono can actually sing. I mean, he spends alot of u2 time yelling lyrics, allbeit well. Here he actually croons. Another high point for me. Legend. I went into this one not wanting to like it. I never cared for the song. the arrangement ws ok, but vocally, unspectacular. A missmatch really. San Francisco. Its a great song. Bennetts own, and a different interpretation, by the man himself, was welcomed. Not as good as the original, but still incredible. George M. First of all, I have always thought this song was boring, and overrated. George Michael to me, di his best work, when he still called himself Wham. I didn't expect to like it.

I did, alot. Vocally, they are on different keys, but together, they work so well. GM still has a really rich voice, which surprised me. This may actually be my favorite.

My suggestion is listen to the clips, and buy the individual tracks that interest you. To be honest, I will probably sell, or give mine away, once I put them in my system. Not enough here for me, to listen to the whole cd repeatedly."
I really loved him.
Marie deVarenne | Boston, MA and Leeds, UK | 04/24/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's little more dispiriting than the sound of ageing stars frantically chasing after their lost youth. Last autumn we've seen the release of Tony Bennett's "Duets: An American Classic", in which the octogenarian crooner revisits his signature hits alongside a raft of younger artists, from Bono ("I Wanna Be Around") and Sting ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams") to John Legend ("Sing You Sinners") and the Dixie Chicks ("Lullaby of Broadway").

There's no disputing that Bennett, whose career spans five decades, boasts a fine body of work. It's also fair to say that his golden years are now behind him, which makes it all the more distressing that, to mark his 80th birthday, he should see fit to pair up with a series of young pups and bask in their leather-clad glory. Surely a party and a birthday cake would have been more than adequate.

This isn't the first time that Bennett has played the duets card. His last release, "A Wonderful World", a collection of songs associated with Louis Armstrong, was recorded with kd lang. Given that lang and Bennett are both gifted interpreters with pseudo-operatic voices, it made perfect sense and was widely praised.

By contrast, "Duets: An American Classic" smacks of an artist who longs to stay musically relevant. On paper, at least, it's an album that belongs to that dubious Grammy-grabbing genre in which pop and rock royalty put on a glitzy show of mateyness while conspicuously failing to push the envelope.

At 80, Bennett justly qualifies as "An American Classic." And he sounds like one on this starry duets set on which he's teamed with the so called SERIAL COLLABORATORS... a new generation of musicians, who have all but abandoned their own musical endeavours in favour of hitching a ride on those of older musicians..from Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall and Celine Dion to Bono, Chris Botti,Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Elton John and Sting...Actually, no "tribute" album, no duets album is complete these days without appearances from them...

It's not just the poor quality of these duets that is depressing for listeners. In many cases you suspect that they are simply a gimmick cooked up by record companies at a loss with what to do with their ageing stars.

Stuck with a crumbling icon too old and out of touch to scale the charts by themselves and there can be only one solution: squeeze them into a shell-suit, bring in a hip-hop producer and force them to hang with the kids.

I really loved Tony Bennett. This album looks good on the paper, it sounds good as a background music, but I just do not feel it."