Had he lived to Aug. 3, 2026, American pop legend Tony Bennett would have been 100 years old. Those who knew him and loved him believe if he were still around – he passed on July 21 of 2023 – he’d likely still be singing. Indeed, late in his career, he told Atlantic City radio host/columnist Harry Hurley, “I want to be able to sing as well or better at age 100 than I did when I was 40 years old.”
Like Frank Sinatra, Bennett had a lifelong professional love affair with Atlantic City. Through the years he appeared at the Steel Pier, Resorts International beginning in 1979, the Tropicana, Caesars, Harrah’s, the Borgata, Bally’s Grand and the 500 Club. In his last two decades of his life, he appeared in New Jersey 30 times, with most appearances being in Atlantic City casinos.
He first hit the national spotlight with a No. 1 record, “Because of You,” released in 1951. But Paul “Skinny” D’Amato, owner of Atlantic City’s 500 Club, wasn’t about to book anyone, no matter how great, who had just one hit. So he waited. When other Bennett hits followed, including the gigantic seller, “Rags to Riches,” recorded in 1953, the 500 Club welcomed him with open arms. After his first stint, he returned there frequently.
Presumably his loyalty to D’Amato meant some sort of exclusivity when it came to working venues in Atlantic City – Bennett wouldn’t appear at the Steel Pier until 1966, when the 500 Club was in decline – but that didn’t preclude his handlers from booking him in another Jersey Shore town during the season.
Though it’s been barely documented, it has been reported that Bennett appeared in Wildwood, at a club called Bolero on the weekend of Aug. 23, 1957. The Bolero was a popular seasonal venue which booked everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. in 1951, to Sam Cooke in 1958. Back then, it was a logical choice for a Tony Bennett appearance.
Bennett’s 1966 stint at the Steel Pier was his one and only reported appearance at the legendary venue. A Facebook poster named Sue Hagan was there. “Tony Bennett was performing at Steel Pier in Atlantic City in 1966,” she recalled. “My family went to see him and so did hundreds of others. Tony signed autographs, and sang for two hours.”
The mid-1960s through 1978, the latter being the year the first casino opened in Atlantic City, were lean and dark years in Atlantic City nightlife for performers like Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and other middle-of-the-road-type artists.
Sinatra’s final appearance at the 500 Club was in the summer of 1962, as a favor to D’Amato. Truth is the 500 Club could no longer afford to pay big names. The Steel Pier booked acts that appealed mainly to younger audiences. An exception was Sammy Davis Jr., who also worked Club Harlem several times during that period. Other than that, there was simply no place in the city for artists like Bennett and Sinatra to work.
The advent of legalized gambling changed all that, and Tony Bennett was booked at what was then called Resorts International beginning in 1979, a year after the hotel/casino opened its doors. He had a residency there for several seasons, but then bounced around to other venues that were able to outbid Resorts.
And they had to outbid because, beginning in the mid-1980s, Bennett’s prices were rising. The reason for the Bennett bidding wars, for lack of a better description, had to do with marketing. The mid-1960s through the latter 1970s weren’t exactly lean years for Bennett, as he continued working successfully in Las Vegas and overseas; but his records, like those of many middle-of-the-road artists, were no longer selling.
The Beatles, as we now know, changed everything in the entertainment business. Sadly, along with several others, Bennett lost his long-term contract with Columbia Records. He started his own label, Improv – noteworthy for two recordings with pianist Bill Evans that would become legendary – but distribution was spotty and it just didn’t work.
Enter Bennett’s son, Danny.
In 1979, Danny Bennett took over his father’s management and, in a stroke of genius, began to market his father to what was then called “The MTV Generation.” It took a few years with albums like “MTV Unplugged” and “The Art of Excellence,” yet slowly but surely, in the sure and knowledgeable hands of Danny Bennett, Tony Bennett became cool again.
Columbia Records rehired him – at rather extraordinary terms this time – and Bennett started teaming up with a number of contemporary artists, including Amy Winehouse (a tragic figure and one of Bennett’s favorites), Elton John, Bono, Carrie Underwood, k.d. lang and most notably, Lady Gaga.
I was doing a phone interview with Bennett in 2013 when his first recording date with Lady Gaga was confirmed. He was excited.
“I’m going into the recording studio to do a big jazz album with Lady Gaga,” he said, barely containing his enthusiasm. “She’s more than good – she’s actually a terrific singer – and the songs we’ve chosen are really beautiful examples that show how good she really sings. I think it’s going to surprise everybody that she’s just that good. She works hard and is so professional. She walks in and has everything memorized. She’s really a very educated artist. She knows what she’s doing.”
The rest is history. Bennett and Gaga appeared at the Borgata Event Center as part of their “Cheek to Cheek” tour in July of 2015. His final shows in Atlantic City were in May of 2017 at Caesars, and his last New Jersey appearance was at the Count Basie Center in Red Bank on March 11, 2020.
But Atlantic City loved him; and it’s clear from the dozens of appearances he made in the city over five decades, that Tony Bennett also loved Atlantic City.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
