Tony Bennett, What Was The First Record You Ever Bought?

“You see, I grew up during the depression, and we had strict orders that if you bought a record, make sure the whole family likes it or else don’t bring it into this house. Don’t waste money by buying a record just for yourself.

So what I bought was Caruso. He was the first one to make records commercial, funny enough, because if you went to an opera, it would cost a hundred dollars to get in, but here you had Caruso for 25 cents on Victor. God, what a buy.”

Veteran jazz-pop singer Tony Bennett steps into the spotlight at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. on Tuesday, July 21.