Negative Quiddity: Never Sin Against Your Talent

"Tony Bennett"

--Frank Sinatra in his prime, asked to name the greatest living male singer
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Tony Bennett Reveals What He Wanted

To Tell Amy Winehouse

• Posted Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:55am PDT by Billy Johnson, Jr. in That's Really Week

Entertainment legend Tony Bennett has spoken a lot about working with the late Amy Winehouse during the promotion of his forthcoming jazz album, "Duets II," which includes collaborations with contemporary artists Lady Gaga, Sheryl Crow, Queen Latifah, and Winehouse, among others.

But the interviews have mainly focused on Winehouse's talent and how she impressed Bennett with her knowledge of music. In an interview with ABC's "20/20" that aired Friday, Bennett discussed his concerns for the singer, who appears with him on the "Duets II" song "Body And Soul."

"She sang beautifully and then I just regretted that I wasn't able to tell her to slow down," Bennett told "20/20."

Bennett said he could relate to Winehouse's bout with drugs. "Many years ago, I had a touch of the drugs and was playing to full houses, and people were kinda putting up with me," Bennett revealed.

Bennett said learning about another artist's challenges with drugs helped him change his own self-destructive behavior. The other troubled artist was said to have "sinned against his talent." That description put things into perspective for Bennett. "Boy, that one sentence changed my life. It meant I stopped all drugs completely," Bennett said.

"I said, 'I don't want to die. I love life.' Life is a gift," Bennett continued. "I wanted to tell her, 'You gotta stop, 'cause if you don't, you're going to die.' And then she died. Twenty-seven-years-old. She died. So the whole secret is to live long and enjoy life."

Winehouse was ecstatic to work with Bennett. In behind-the-scenes footage from the making of "Duets II," Winehouse recalled meeting Bennett at the 2008 Grammys, when Bennett presented her with the Record Of The Year award.

"I was in shock, not because I won the Grammy, but because Tony Bennett said my name," Winehouse said. "Standing shoulder to shoulder was amazing. It was a dream come true for me."

Bennett said he and Winehouse bonded when he told her that she reminded him of a celebrated jazz singer. "I said to her, 'I may be wrong, but I think you were influenced by Dinah Washington.' That did it. She said, 'How did you know that? That's my goddess. I love her more than anybody.' That changed the whole record date."

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/thatsreallyweek/134455/september-5-11-tony-bennett-reveals-what-he-wanted-to-tell-amy-winehouse/ (this link contains the text above as well as an internal video link to the ABC 20/20 television segment in which Tony Bennett talks about his duet with Amy Winehouse).

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The artist who sinned against his talent that Tony Bennett refers to is the brilliant shock humor comedian of the early 1960s, Lenny Bruce. A sermon about sinning against talent has been posted on line at:

http://thelearningpastor.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/he-sinned-against-his-talent/

A good short biography of Tony Bennett is available at:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tony-bennett/biography