TONY BENNETT

UNPLUGGED - THE VIDEO

VHS - PAL - NEW AND SEALED - NEVER PLAYED - G-rated - 72-minutes - Acoustic concert - Original Oz sell through release - Small box

This blue-toned, straightforward visit with a mellow Tony Bennett is a grown-up rock video complement to the CD release with a small, cabaret-style intimacy that gives the illusion that Tony's in the living room, singing only to us.

The casual, languid Bennett style is omnipresent as Bennett croons and skats his way through some of the greats, including "Body and Soul," "A Foggy Day," and of course that old standby, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Old and new styles collide in the second half when Bennett introduces his guest k.d. lang, whom he adds to his list of personal bests Billie Holliday, Edith Piaf, and Andy Williams.

They duet on an undistinguished version of "Moonglow" that makes us wonder if Tony might not be mistaking Lang for someone else. Fortunately Elvis Costello arrives to kick things into a higher gear and as the lights dim red, Costello and Bennett heat up the track with a nice, spirited rendering of "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Bennett then encores with "Autumn Leaves / Indian Summer" and dedicates the whole ball of wax to Duke Ellington. It's a smooth, practiced affair that has little sense of spontaneity, though Bennett tries hard to imbue it with his trademark throwaway ease. Of course, it helps immeasurably if you watch this entertaining VHS in stereo

1.    Old Devil Moon
 2.   Speak Low
 3.   It Had To Be You
 4.   I Love A Piano
 5.   It Amazes Me
 6.   The Girl I Love (aka The Man I Love)
 7.   Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)
 8.   You're All The World To Me
 9.   Rags To Riches
 10.   When Joanna Loved Me
 11.   The Good Life
 12.   I Wanna Be Around
 13.   I Left My Heart In San Francisco
 14.   Steppin' Out With My Baby
 15.   Moonglow
 16.   They Can't Take That Away From Me
 17.   A Foggy Day
 18.   All Of You
 19.   Body And Soul
 20.   It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
 21.   Autumn Leaves
 22.   Indian Summer
 PLUS - Steppin' Out With My Baby (Promo clip)

and various interview bytes

Tony Bennett has performed in every major city in every important country around the world, but there hasn't been a live documentation of his unique abilities until MTV:unplugged recorded him in 1994. I have the videotape and the laser disc of this same concert! The seperation, frequency response and front-to- back imaging are in a class by themselves; not to mention the performances from his 'sidemen' which are SOTA! But it is Tony Bennett who at his prime chose to do a concert that is in a class by itself. You owe it to yourselves if you think of yourself as a Tony Bennett fan already or you've had thoughts about getting into the 'standards' and who sings them best.

Tony Bennett often refers to Frank Sinatra as the king of the balladeers, but he is being respectful to a national legend; when it is he who has got the musicians, recording engineers, MTV together to combine forces in a once-in-a-lifetime chance at performing. Some people have said that his small inclusion of K.D. Lang & Elvis Costello was a form of selling out, but I say it's to let the "MTV crowd" know that his music cuts across all generations and will continue to grow in attecptance with young people. What are you waiting for? This is the BEST VHS recording you will ever own!