Duets: An American Classic

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Duets: An American Classic
Duetsanamericanclassic.jpg
Studio album by Tony Bennett
Released September 26, 2006 (2006-09-26)[1]
Recorded 2006
Genre Jazz
Length 65:56
Label Columbia
Producer Phil Ramone
Tony Bennett chronology
The Art of Romance
(2004)The Art of Romance2004
Duets: An American Classic
(2006)
A Swingin' Christmas
(2008)A Swingin' Christmas2008
Singles from Duets: An American Classic
  1. "Just in Time"
    Released: 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[2]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[3]

Duets: An American Classic is an album by Tony Bennett, released in 2006.

The album was released in conjunction with Bennett's 80th birthday the previous month. The songs selected were mostly ones that Bennett had played a major role in introducing into the Great American Songbook.

Unlike some other celebrity duets efforts where performances were recorded separately and then combined by producers, such as Frank Sinatra's 1993 Duets, Bennett was physically present with each of his partners during recording. The vocals were performed live as the band was playing.

It debuted at #3 on The Billboard 200 selling around 202,000 copies in its first week. The album spent five consecutive weeks in the Top 10 – a great achievement considering that was released during the competitive Christmas season – and was certified Gold in less than four weeks of release. It also reached #1 in Canada. The sequel album, Duets II, was released in 2011 in conjunction with Bennett's 85th birthday.

Grammy Awards

The Album Won The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at 2007 Grammy Awards Beating Out "Timeless Love by Smokey Robinson.

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Duet partner Length
1. "Lullaby of Broadway"   Al Dubin, Harry Warren Dixie Chicks 3:03
2. "Smile"   Charles Chaplin, Geoff Parsons Barbra Streisand 4:41
3. "Put On a Happy Face"   Lee Adams, Charles Strouse James Taylor 3:15
4. "The Very Thought of You"   Ray Noble Paul McCartney 4:01
5. "The Shadow of Your Smile"   Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster Juanes 4:34
6. "Rags to Riches"   Richard Adler, Jerry Ross Elton John 2:40
7. "The Good Life"   Sacha Distel, Jack Reardon Billy Joel 3:20
8. "Cold, Cold Heart"   Hank Williams Tim McGraw 3:17
9. "If I Ruled the World"   Leslie Bricusse, Cyril Ornadel Celine Dion 2:56
10. "The Best Is Yet to Come"   Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh Diana Krall 3:39
11. "For Once in My Life"   Ron Miller, Orlando Murden Stevie Wonder 3:24
12. "Are You Havin' Any Fun?"   Sammy Fain, Jack Yellen Elvis Costello 2:45
13. "Because of You"   Arthur Hammerstein, Dudley Wilkinson k.d. lang 4:04
14. "Just in Time"   Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne Michael Bublé 2:17
15. "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"   Dubin, Warren Sting 3:23
16. "I Wanna Be Around"   Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstadt Bono 3:01
17. "Sing, You Sinners"   Sam Coslow, W. Franke Harling John Legend 2:18
18. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"   George Cory, Douglass Cross   3:55
19. "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"   Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand George Michael 5:23
Total length:
65:56

Personnel

Chart performance and certifications

Billboard 200
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 39
Position
3
4
5
9
8
16
25
32
16
15
18
12
22
190
Cumulative total sales
202,406
330,634
435,634
502,813
556,137
607,957
647,402
685,288
796,618
872,819
966,191
1,120,536
1,277,244
1,538,179
UK Albums Chart
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Position
15
21
35
48
60
58
Country Certification Sales/shipments
AUS Gold[4] 35,000
Canada 2x Platinum[5] 200,000
USA Platinum[6] 1,000,000

References