Hear Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s Latest ‘Cheek to Cheek’ Love Song
“Gee, I’d like to say you’re looking swell, Tony,” Lady Gaga sings midway through her swinging duet, “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” with easy-listening luminary Tony Bennett. “Diamond bracelets won’t work, doesn’t sell, Gaga,” Bennett later rejoins.
The song is a particularly jazzy standard, originally written with a few less “Gagas” in 1928 by lyricist Dorothy Fields and composer Jimmy McHugh, and will appear on the pop singers’ duets album Cheek to Cheek. The album is due out in standard and deluxe editions on September 23rd, with an official video for the song set for release later this week. Previously, the vocalists released their recording of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” which will also appear on Cheek to Cheek.
The collaborative album has been long in the works. Bennett first heard Gaga sing a jazz song, Nat King Cole’s “Orange Colored Sky,” in 2011, after which he asked her to appear on a recording of “The Lady Is a Tramp” on his Duets II album, which came out later that year.
Now the group has prepared Cheek to Cheek, which compiles songs from the great American songbook, including tunes written or co-written by Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Van Heusen, among others. Among them is Bennett’s favorite Gaga performance, “Lush Life,” which she performs solo on the album. “It’s pretty special,” Bennett said of the performance in July.
“It’s all the great songs of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, all the greatest composers,” Bennett told Rolling Stone. “No other country has ever given the rest of the world so many magnificent songs, and they’re going to live forever. Wait ’til you find out when she sings those songs.”
The singers also filmed a PBS special, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek Live!, which will air on Great Performances on October 24th at 9 p.m. EST. It features the vocalists’ performances at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City at a concert that took place at the end of July.
TV channel HSN will also broadcast another special, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek To Cheek, on September 13th. It will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album.
Here are the track lists for Cheek to Cheek in its many configurations:
Standard Edition:
1. “Anything Goes”
2. “Cheek to Cheek”
3. “Nature Boy”
4. “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love”
5. “I Won’t Dance”
6. “Firefly”
7. “Lush Life” (Lady Gaga solo)
8. “Sophisticated Lady” (Tony Bennett solo)
9. “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”
10. “But Beautiful”
11. “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
Deluxe Version:
1. “Anything Goes”
2. “Cheek to Cheek”
3. “Don’t Wait Too Long” (Tony Bennett solo)
4. “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love”
5. “Nature Boy”
6. “Goody Goody”
7. “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (Lady Gaga Solo)
8. “Firefly”
9. “I Won’t Dance”
10. “They All Laughed”
11. “Lush Life” (Lady Gaga solo)
12. “Sophisticated Lady” (Tony Bennett solo)
13. “Let’s Face the Music And Dance”
14. “But Beautiful”
15. “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
iTunes Bonus Track:
“Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” (Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center) (Lady Gaga solo)
Target Deluxe Bonus Tracks:
“On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)” (Tony Bennett solo)
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (Lady Gaga solo)
HSN Deluxe Bonus Tracks:
“The Lady’s in Love With You (Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center)” (Tony Bennett solo)
“The Lady Is a Tramp” (from Tony Bennett’s Duets II)