The Essential Tony Bennett


The Essential Tony Bennett is a two-CD compilation album by Tony Bennett, released in 2002. The collection is part of a series of Essential sets released by Columbia Records and was created in collaboration with RPM Records and Legacy Recordings.
The compilation includes material from throughout Bennett's career with Columbia, with no recordings after 1970 and before 1986 as Bennett was with other labels or unsigned altogether during that fallow period of his career. The 12-page foldout CD insert contains songwriting, arranging, and producing credits for each track, as well as recording dates and chart positions attained if any. It also contains large photographs of Bennett in the recording studio from early and late periods in his career, as well as thumbnail-sized images of all the albums covers from Bennett's Columbia catalog, in chronological order.
AllMusic describes The Essential Tony Bennett as "an excellent, exhaustive retrospective of a lengthy, hit-filled career at Columbia.... Bennett surely recorded more great material than can fit on a two-disc, 40-track collection, but this contains the cream of the crop and it's hard to imagine a collection like this being executed better than this."
In 2008, a 3 disc version entitled The Essential Tony Bennett: Limited Edition 3.0 was released.

Track listing

Disc one

  1. "Because of You" - 2:56
  2. "Cold, Cold Heart" 2:37
  3. "Blue Velvet" with Percy Faith and His Orchestra - 2:59
  4. "Rags to Riches" - 2:48
  5. "Stranger in Paradise" with the Ray Charles Singers - 3:04
  6. "Sing, You Sinners" - 2:15
  7. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - 2:30
  8. "Just in Time" - 2:32
  9. "It Amazes Me" - 3:22
  10. "Love Look Away" - 2:45
  11. "Firefly" with Count Basie and His Orchestra - 1:37
  12. "Put on a Happy Face" - 2:37
  13. "The Best is Yet to Come" - 2:33
  14. "Tender Is the Night" - 2:40
  15. "Once Upon a Time" - 2:57
  16. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" - 2:50
  17. "I Wanna Be Around" - 2:10
  18. "The Good Life" - 2:14
  19. "This is All I Ask" - 3:14
  20. "When Joanna Loved Me" - 3:05
  21. "The Rules of the Road" 2:20

    Disc two

  22. "Who Can I Turn To? " - 2:54
  23. "If I Ruled the World" - 3:00
  24. "Fly Me to the Moon " - 4:11
  25. "The Shadow of Your Smile" - 3:37
  26. "Smile" - 3:32
  27. "The Very Thought of You" - 4:30
  28. "For Once in My Life" - 3:22
  29. "Yesterday I Heard the Rain " - 3:40
  30. "My Favorite Things" - 3:17
  31. "I Do Not Know a Day I Did Not Love You" 3:27
  32. "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" - 4:20
  33. "When Do the Bells Ring for Me?" - 2:57
  34. "Night and Day" - 3:34
  35. "Last Night When We Were Young" - 2:26
  36. "Steppin' Out With My Baby" - 2:52
  37. "It Don't Mean a Thing " - 3:05
  38. "Mood Indigo" - 4:33
  39. "Keep the Faith, Baby" - 3:50
From track 19 of Disc One on, most selections are credited with the Ralph Sharon Trio.

Disc three (Limited Edition 3.0)

  1. "Lazy Afternoon" - 2:21
  2. "Penthouse Serenade " - 6:17
  3. "Lost in the Stars" - 4:30
  4. "My Funny Valentine" - 2:35
  5. "Danny Boy" - 4:57
  6. "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars " - 3:17
  7. "Country Girl" - 3:38