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" When you hear a great two-track of a performance in Carnegie Hall, let's say, it sounds like you're right there at that moment. It's true to reality. And the closer it gets, once it gets too technical, it becomes very tinny to hear notes. It doesn't sound right. It has to be natural. "

Tony Bennett

Reality

Great

Moment

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" Every day feels like just starting out because I still have so much more to learn. "

Tony Bennett

Every Day

Learn

" I lived for 15 years in Los Angeles, and I still can't believe that the handsomest man in the world, Cary Grant, and the greatest performer in the world, Fred Astaire, and Johnny Carson, one after another - they were all in my home at different times. I celebrated my 50th birthday with them. Unforgettable. "

" For many years, I've always been attached to what they call the Great American Songbook, and Kern was a great leader of that because he had the classical training of Europe. He impressed all the greatest composers, like Cole Porter and Gershwin. They couldn't believe he was writing the songs he was writing. "

" The whole music world is based on the young, the very young people. "

" The singers who are the most honest are the ones who become immortalized. "

" Gaga is a gorgeous singer, and when she sings a great ballad, I get goose bumps. "

" Performers should really go to the best schools, like Lady Gaga, you know, she went to NYU and had great teachers... It's best to really study your technique as much as you possibly can so you can have a long career instead of a quick one that's a failure. "

" My whole premise has been, right from the beginning, that it would take me a lifetime to learn to explain myself as an artist. As you grow older, you learn what to do and what to leave out. You kind of simplify your work and get the same thing done with fewer strokes. It's pretty interesting to me. "

Tony Bennett

Work

Myself

" Johnny Mercer started Capitol Records, and he brought in Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. He just let them sing whatever they wanted, and it became the best record company in America. "

" I know the history of the record business so well because I followed Billie Holiday into the record studios. It was so primitive compared to the sophisticated business today. "

" Fame comes and goes. Longevity is the thing to aim for. "

" I was taught never to compromise: to never sing a cheap song. I never look down at the audience and think that they are ignorant or think that I'm more intelligent than they are. To think otherwise is totally incorrect and runs contrary to everything I was raised to believe. "

" Singing intimately is almost like thinking into a microphone, so it helps to have the song buried inside you. "

" I don't sing operatically, and I sing very intimately, but I still do the scales, and I think in terms of intonation and making sure that I'm hitting the notes right on the head... and having it appear quite effortless. "

" When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art. "

" The high point for me in my career was when Sinatra called me his favourite performer in the Fifties. And I've been sold out ever since. "

Tony Bennett

Out

Point

" Singing is a gift. "

Tony Bennett

Gift

Singing

" The young people look great on television. They're youthful and have a lot of zip and energy, but when you see them live, they can only do about 20 minutes because they haven't got the training to hold an audience for an hour and a half or so. "

" Presley is country music, white music. Jazz is black music - it was invented by the blacks in New Orleans. And I'm really a jazz singer. I was impressed with Elvis - he was the handsomest guy I ever met in my life, and a very nice person, too. But the music doesn't impress me. "

Tony Bennett

Life

My Life

" More than anybody else I'd like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform. "

Tony Bennett

Than

" When Sinatra said, 'For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer I've ever heard,' it changed my career completely. He was my best friend, and I was his best friend... but I was never part of the Rat Pack. "

" I grew up in an era where the record companies just sold records to everybody, and the whole family bought songs. Today, record companies are failing because they are putting their accent just on the young, and I think that's rather silly. "

Tony Bennett

Today

Young

" I've never worked a day in my life. "

" My whole life has been singing and painting. I just do those two things. "

" I loved Art Tatum! And, through him, and other different jazz musicians, I actually found my technique. "

" I get up, and boy, I can't wait to paint and study music and keep learning. I just love it. "

" As a young boy, I did a lot of foolish things. I made a lot of mistakes. And you live and learn. "

" I have grown to appreciate the power of believing in myself and of always having faith in myself. I rarely look back; instead, I always look forward. There is so much of life that we miss when we wallow in regret. "

" I've been very fortunate. I'm doing what I love, and I'm getting away with it, you know? "

" I'll never retire. "

Tony Bennett

Retire

Never