I Wanna Be Around

"I Wanna Be Around" is a popular song. In the lyrics, the singer declares that he "wants to be around" when the woman who spurned him inevitably gets her heart broken. The song is credited to Sadie Vimmerstedt and Johnny Mercer.

"I Wanna Be Around"
Song
Published1962 by Commander Publications
Songwriter(s)Sadie Vimmerstedt and Johnny Mercer
"I Wanna Be Around"
Single by Tony Bennett
from the album I Wanna Be Around...[1]
B-side"I Will Live My Life for You"
ReleasedNovember 16, 1962
RecordedOctober 19, 1962
StudioColumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
GenreJazz, traditional pop
Length2:03
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Sadie Vimmerstedt, Johnny Mercer[2]
Producer(s)Ernest Altschuler
Tony Bennett singles chronology
"Candy Kisses"
(1962)		 "I Wanna Be Around"
(1962)		 "The Good Life"
(1963)

Origins

Vimmerstedt was a grandmother and housewife[3] (or a beautician)[4] in Youngstown, Ohio, who sent Mercer an idea for the song in 1957, as well as giving Mercer the opening line ("I want to be around to pick up the pieces, when somebody breaks your heart"). She was inspired by Frank Sinatra divorcing his first wife in order to marry Ava Gardner, only to then see Gardner leave Sinatra. Not knowing exactly where to send her letter to, Vimmerstedt simply addressed it to 'Johnny Mercer...Songwriter...New York, NY'. The post office forwarded it to ASCAP, who in turn passed it along to Mercer, who was a member of the organization. Mercer wrote the song and agreed to share 1/3 of the royalties and credits with Vimmerstedt.[5] The song was published in 1959.

Notable cover versions
  • Tony Bennett's 1963 recording was the first version of the song to reach the charts (number 14 pop during a 14-week stay in 1963,[6] number 5 easy listening in 1963). This was included on his 1963 album of that name and has appeared in several films, including The Freshman (1990). Bennett later recorded a new version of the song in a duet with Bono which was included on his album Duets: An American Classic (2006).

Many other singers have covered the song including:

References
  1. Tony Bennett.com
  2. I Wanna Be Around at AllMusic
  3. Details on the song
  4. Johnny Mercer story, including how he came to write the song
  5. "Story of the song's composition". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
  7. "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  8. "Allmusic.com". Allmusic.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  9. http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=I+Wanna+Be+Around+by+Terri+Gibbs&id=86921
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