Tony Bennett Wows at 24th Ravinia Performance

is ageless. 

There is no other way to describe a musical career that spans from the days of Charlie Chaplin through Lady Gaga. Bennett gave his 24th  performance since 1984 last Friday. 

“He sang with all of them,” Bob Soudan of Winnetka said after the performance referring to Chaplin, Lady Gaga and a host of others. 

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Bennett’s voice was as ageless as his music. This writer was not there in 1984, but sat on the lawn for Bennett’s 1985 concert. His songs were as good as ever Friday. 

The sold-out Pavilion audience of 3,200 — 14,000 more were on the lawn — gave Bennett eight standing ovations ( got three earlier this summer). He received his first when he walked on the stage, one at the end and six more after songs like I Left My Heart In San Francisco, The Shadow of Your Smile and I Wanna Be Around. 

Starting with Sinatra

Bennett began his career in the late 1940s, when Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were the rage. He was just as popular in the 1950s as Elvis Presley. In the '60s, John Lennon and the Beatles were one of the top groups of the era, as was Jerry Garcia in the '70s. 

Based on Friday's crowd, it seemed apparent that Bennett remains vital today. 

“He’s had the last laugh on them all,” Connie Soudan of Winnetka said. “Of all his contemporaries he’s the one still here.” 

Before singing Smile, Bennett told the audience how reluctant he was to sing and record a song that was old 50 years ago. His head may have given him pause, but his voice excited those who heard it.

“It’s too old a song. Nobody wants to hear it,” he told his colleagues before making the recording. It was a hit. “I got a note from a man living in Switzerland saying ‘Thank you for making my song famous again,’ signed Charlie Chaplin.” 

Smile was the favorite song of the night for Sandy Crown of Winnetka. “I liked its message,” she said. The song was also the favorite of Mare Beal of Broadview. 

“It reminded me of our past when we used to sing it,” she said. 

Playing the Favorites

Another favorite that brought the crowd to its feet was Chicago. Bennett showed he could adapt to the ages when he changed the 11 words of the lyrics from, “The town that Billy Sunday could not shut down,” to “The town that Lady Gaga could not shut down.”

For Ann Roberts and Mel Campbell of Lake Forest, it was their favorite song of the night. “It feels like us,” Roberts said. “It was a shot in the arm to hear the old favorite.” 

Polly McKee of Chicago liked Chicago best, as well. Her reason was simpler. “It was so cool,” she said. 

Singing of cities was an important part of the evening for Bennett. Though a native of Queens, New York, one of his eight standing ovations came when he sang what many would call his signature song, I Left My Heart in San Francisco. 

You could close your eyes and actually see San Francisco as Bennett sang of cable cars, hills and the “blue enchanted sea” before he made it personal by singing how the California city’s “golden sun” would shine for him. 

Imagery was abundant when Bennett sang The Shadow of Your Smile from the movie The Sandpiper as well. As he began to croon about the bird in the title song, images of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who played the leads, and the Carmel, Calif., coast came to mind. 

When Bennett introduced Who Cares to the audience, he made a point to compare its context — the Great Depression — to today's economic woes.

“This was written in 1934 by George and Ira Gershwin," he said. "It has a lot of meaning today.”