02/05/14 Roseanna Vitro interview titled ÒTony Bennett: His Life in Art & SongÓ What inspired you to become a singer? Did anyone in your family sing?
Tony Bennett: I grew up in a very poor time in America during the Great Depression. It was a struggle, and my mom had to work for Ôa penny a dressÕ to put food on the table. My father had a great reputation. The family story was that he used to sing on the top of a mountain in Calabria, Italy and the whole valley would hear him. My fatherÕs talent inspired my older brother to study opera. At age fourteen he was singing solo spots at the Metropolitan Opera. They called him ÒThe Little CarusoÓ back in the days before television. He was on the Eddie Cantor Radio Show and sang beautifully. I was always influenced by him. Later on, he got tired of studying and started going down to the Village where he fell in love with all the jazz artists. Right away I just fell in love with jazz. He was about four years older than me. His name was John Benedetto...