He was a confirmed liberal. Got in trouble in the segregated Army for having a Black best friend. Marched with Dr King in the second Selma to Montgomery March. His driver was Viola Luizzo who got murdered by the Klan a few hours later...
TONY BENNETT, LEGENDARY CROONER & CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, PASSES AT 96
- Thread starter lightbright
- Start date
Rip
May this gentlemen rest well.
Joe Madison on SiriusXM Urban View played an excerpt of a Howard Stern interview where he discussed his Army service in Germany. His Sergeant hated the fact he had a close black friend, who he happened to know from back in NY. They were hanging together in the mess hall when the Sergeant told him he needed to cut it out. He ended up cursing the Sergeant out and the Seargeant cut his rank in half, spit on him, and he was placed on duty digging up dead bodies for relocation. As you may expect, this was a job normally reserved for black soldiers.
What a great pic. I see my man Nipsey Russell there too.
Was never crazy about his voice but his phrasing and attack were phenomenal.
@lightbright - you can find a better video to post than with that moderately talented, vulture gaga.
Here's one
@lightbright - you can find a better video to post than with that moderately talented, vulture gaga.
Here's one
This is what I wanted to see before I said RIP.
RIP.
Pearl Bailey discovered Bennett in Greenwich Village in 1949, changed Tony’s name, and took him on the road.
Tony Bennett - Mabee Center (Official)
mabeecenter.com
A true definition of class. One of the greatest. RiP Mr. Bennett. Job well done!
R.I.P., at 96 it's a rest well earned.
I found this to be really touching:
Just got finished watching and interview that Anderson Cooper had with him.... he talked about those performances..... dude didn't even know where he was at..... he was watching her do a set before him.... he suddenly started feeling the music.... she never even said her name while they were rehearsing.... yet then.... he suddenly knew it and said it to her.... she immediately went to tears..... that was about the power of music..... not your hate for her... that was why I posted that video.... cause I remembered all that was said about them teaming up and how it made him feel... for once can we just leave personal hate out of a R.I.P. thread of a really talented and nice man? This was about him... not what you feel....Jesus man...
sidebar: dude was an Italian..... that grew up in racist ass Eyetalian NY..... and walked with King for civil rights.... please my brother... save your personal hate for the thread with that racist country cracker Jason Aldean
.
Last edited:
My mother enjoyed his music also, and I remember my parents went to see Tony Bennett and Lena Horne in concert.
RIP.
Pearl Bailey discovered Bennett in Greenwich Village in 1949, changed Tony’s name, and took him on the road.
Tony Bennett - Mabee Center (Official)
RIP.
Pearl Bailey discovered Bennett in Greenwich Village in 1949, changed Tony’s name, and took him on the road.
Tony Bennett - Mabee Center (Official)
A lot of outlets have been telling the story of Tony Bennett marching with MLK.
But have you ever heard the story about how “wokeness,” DEI, Jesus, an actual anti-racist, 2 church choirs & 1 of the greatest dance moves of all time got Tony Bennett into show biz?
A thread
The story begins when Black soldiers returned from WWI & white folks went wild & just started killing Black veterans. The Klan’s numbers surged, sparking the “Red Summer of 1919”
[img]
https://assets.editorial.aetn...dreaderapp.com/images/sticky-note-regular.png
Bill partied HARD. He was always out wilding and having fun. He still danced & he still went to church because his sister was in NY
Anyway, one day, bailey was at choir rehearsal with his lil sister, who wanted to be famous too. He said she wasn’t talented enough & made her go home. She was like: “I’ll show him.”
Her choir director told her a talent show at an up & coming theater in Harlem
- The Apollo
She entered and WON IT.
And since she went to church and her brother hung out with the New Negroes she was welcomed in and became a big star too. Even bigger than her brother!
She was doing movies! She was on the road with Duke Ellington & Lena Horne. She even did movies
But because they were big individual stars, they never got together much. And after WWII, a lot of work dried up. MGM wasn’t making big musicals, so everyone basically hit the road.
Then they got the opportunity of a lifetime!
Someone wanted to put the old band back together.
In 1949, MGM announced they were going to make a Bojangles Robinson biopic! The old crew agreed to be in it. They canceled tours & got the NAACP’s approval for the script. It was a done deal.
Since Bojangles had died, there was only one person who could play him
Bill Bailey.
So they contacted Bill, who was in NY, and guess what Bill said?
“Nah, I got the Holy Ghost now.”
Ninja WHAT?
No one believed him. Ol hard-partying Bill? They literally just needed him to backslide one more time.
So they got his sister to come talk to him. & he made a deal
“Tell’em to come see me preach. They’ll believe me then.”
Bruh, that dude preached his ASS off.
MGM made “Bojangles” 50 later, with Gregory Hines.
Bill’s sister hadn’t canceled her shows in NY though. She knew her brother loved church.Image
So of course all the legends came by her gigs & hung out with Bill’s little sister Pearl Bailey while they were in town.
And of course, if all those Black musical legends were in town, you know all the white stars were gonna come through. It was kind of a thing
Now this was 1949 at a white club in Greenwich Village. Literally every famous Black musician was in town that week & could fall through on any given night. But Pearl wanted to make her show “diverse.”
So she hired a white opener, probably the least famous musician in the place
So when Bob Hope asked who her opening act was, bc he wanted someone to take on the road, Pearl Bailey was like
“Some local kid named Tony Bennett. You like him?”
The rest is history.
Now here is the moral of the story :
Just because Tony Bennett was a diversity hire who got his job through affirmative action…
It doesn’t mean he wasn’t qualified.
Last edited:
RIP
Just got finished watching and interview that Anderson Cooper had with him.... he talked about those performances..... dude didn't even know where he was at..... he was watching her do a set before him.... he suddenly started feeling the music.... she never even said her name while they were rehearsing.... yet then.... he suddenly knew it and said it to her.... she immediately went to tears..... that was about the power of music..... not your hate for her... that was why I posted that video.... cause I remembered all that was said about them teaming up and how it made him feel... for once can we just leave personal hate out of a R.I.P. thread of a really talented and nice man? This was about him... not what you feel....Jesus man...
sidebar: dude was an Italian..... that grew up in racist ass Eyetalian NY..... and walked with King for civil rights.... please my brother... save your personal hate for the thread with that racist country cracker Jason Aldean
.
Not hate. Facts. I'm well aware of how the recording went down. I'm also intimately acquainted with dementia/Alzheimers. I would never diminish the pain associated with those crippling, heartbreaking diseases.
You're reaching if you see hate. The FACTS are she is moderately talented and a vulture - as are the majority of white artists in Pop. And the FACTS are it could have been anybody, anywhere when he had his moment of clarity.
You. Are. Reaching. Bigtime, trying to attach hate to my statement. I'm saying there are much better performances of his to be remembered.
C'mon dude.... you came into an R,I,P, thread to make it a point.... to point that out...... and FYI.... those performances over two nights.... were his last.... very relevant in his passing
.
.
A great voice has been silenced.
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
RIP Mr. Bennett.
Tony Bennett remembering Lady Gaga's name
i liked a lot of tony bennet's music. always seemed like a cool cat to me. R.I.P.
Quite a legacy
RIP
RIP
This was a classic response after flaming your partner. RIP.
One well-publicized herpes suit has been filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by Linda Feldman, a 24-year-old cellist, against Singer Tony Bennett, 60. Feldman claims damages of $90 million, saying the singer infected her during an eight- month affair that began in 1985. Feldman says that after she discovered her infection, Bennett told her, "I've had it for years. You get used to it. It's God's way of giving your sex life a rest." Bennett, who has produced medical records claiming that he does not have the ailment, has filed a $100 million counterclaim for defamation.
One well-publicized herpes suit has been filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by Linda Feldman, a 24-year-old cellist, against Singer Tony Bennett, 60. Feldman claims damages of $90 million, saying the singer infected her during an eight- month affair that began in 1985. Feldman says that after she discovered her infection, Bennett told her, "I've had it for years. You get used to it. It's God's way of giving your sex life a rest." Bennett, who has produced medical records claiming that he does not have the ailment, has filed a $100 million counterclaim for defamation.
Track Search Results for "Tony Bennett" | WhoSampled
Search Results for 'Tony Bennett' on WhoSampled, the web's definitive database of sampled music, remixes and cover songs.
www.whosampled.com