Of all the singers who emerged before the arrival of rock’n’roll and who continued beyond it, Bennett was least influenced by the shifts in popular music around him. The son of Italian immigrants, Bennett was drafted in 1944, and on his discharge turned professional singer after a two-year spell in Special Services, the army’s entertainment branch. After singing in various New York clubs he was signed to Columbia and had immediate success with ‘Because of You’ and a cover version of Hank Williams’ ‘Cold, Cold Heart’. ‘Because of You’, on  which Bennett’s Mario Lanza influenced singing was supported by swooping

strings, pointed the way forward to ‘Stranger in Paradise’, his most intense vocal performance, while his unhappiness with ‘Cold, Cold Heart’ was matched by his unease with the up-tempo ‘Rags to Riches’. Henceforth, virtually all his recordings would set his chesty voice against a tinkling piano and sweeping strings. The best example of this, and one of the few new songs he recorded, was ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’, the song with which he is most associated. Other recordings in this vein included ‘Firefly’, ‘I Wanna Be Around’, ‘Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)’ and ‘If I Ruled the World’. While other popular performers, such as Perry Como, went into television or, like Andy Willliams, accommodated themselves to the rock-associated sounds and writers, Bennett never expanded his activities beyond touring and recording.
   Throughout the sixties, though his concerts continued to be well attended, his record sales declined and after arguments with Columbia (who wanted him to record more contemporary material) he left the label in 1972 for a brief sojourn with MGM. He spent the next decade without a recording contract until in a surprise move in 1986, Bennett rejoined Columbia and recorded ‘The Art of Excellence', produced by his son (and manager) Danny Bennett and Ettore Stratta. The album utilized digital techniques to demonstrate Bennett’s still thrilling dynamic range.