Hometown, My Town is an album by American singer Tony Bennett. It was originally recorded in 1958 and released in 1959 on Columbia as CL 1301.
On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the CD in a box set entitled The Complete Collection.
Reception
Nick Dedina of AllMusic described the album as "One of the best albums that Tony Bennett cut in the '50s" and noted "jazz arranger Ralph Burns is the perfect choice to flesh out and connect the numbers. He also gamely pens extended musical passages that evoke Manhattan even when the lyrics do not."
Billboard described the album as "a top level performance by Bennett" by giving it four stars to indicate "strong sales potential", and noted that "he solidly sings out a group of ballads".
Track listing "The Skyscraper Blues" (Jenkins, Adair) – 7:08 "Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone)" (Will Jason, Val Burton) – 6:17 "By Myself" (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) – 2:54 "I Cover the Waterfront" (Green, Heyman) – 4:58 "Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:21 "The Party's Over" (Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 3:35
Recorded on November 3 (#1, 3), November 4 (#4–6) and November 6 (#2), 1958.
Personnel Tony Bennett – vocals Ralph Burns – arranger & conductor Ralph Sharon – piano Ed Caine, Walt Levinsky (#1, 3), J. Palmer, Romeo Penque, A. Epstein (#2) – reeds Al Cohn – tenor saxophone (#4–6) Danny Bank – baritone saxophone Al De Risi, Bernie Glow (#1–3), James Maxwell (#2, 4–6), Marky Markowitz, Carl Poole (#4–6) – trumpet Billy Byers, Urbie Green (#1–3), William Elton (#2, 4–6), Chauncey Welsch (#1, 3–6) – trombone Toots Mondello – alto saxophone, clarinet (#2, 4–6) Al Caiola (#1, 3), Barry Galbraith (#2, 4–6)- guitar Janet Putman – harp Pat Merola (#1, 3), Milt Hinton (#2, 4–6) – bass guitar Eddie Costa – percussion (#2, 4–6) Terry Snyder – drums (#1, 3) Don Lamond – drums (#2, 4–6), percussion (#1, 3) Robert Abernathy (#2, 4–6), Ranier C. De Intinis (#4–6), Joseph Singer (#4–6), Ray Alonge (#2), Richard L. Berg (#2) – unspecified instruments
Strings Seymour Barab, Burt Fisch, Harold Colletta (#2, 4–6), Lucien Schmidt (#4–6), Howard Kay, Harvey Shapiro, Alan Shulman, Isadore Zirr – violoncello, viola Arnold Eidus, Julius Held, Max Hollander, Harry Lookofsky (#4–6), Harry Edison (#4–6, Leo Kruczek, Tosha Samoroff, H. Urbont, Maurice Wilk, Paul Winter, David Nadien (#2), Fred Buldrini (#2) – violin
References