Tony Bennett:

I Left My Heart In San Francisco: (1962)

Of the crooners, I dig Tony's voice the most. He has that extra little something. It's a twinkle that's still there these days. But, all that said, this is the only album of his I own. I have a few singles on 78s, but this is the only album. And what an album it is, dreamy, and romantic. It the kind of album that makes you feel a little more cosmopolitan just for listening to it. Now, how many albums, performers can elevate the class of a room? In Sinatra I always heard more Earthly struggle, so much to the point that I could almost see his worldly tether. Tony Bennett has this free unencumbered spirit that effortlessly escapes his mouth every single time he opens it. The kind of voice that would make you feel something even if you were just a bellhop getting a call for room service, "Ah, yes, this is Tony Bennett, I'd like a cheeseburger and a bottle of Beaujolais." "My pleasure mr. Bennett." Of course this album contains a song that would become one of his signature tunes, I Left My Heart In San Francisco, so I don't need to list a key track, you've already got this one in your head.