''Today'' is the 29th studio album by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

. It was his final album for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and of his 55-year music career. This is also the penultimate recording ever made by Perry Como, the last being for a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

television special in 1994. This album is also significant in that it was the first and only album of Como's career to be released contemporaneously in both vinyl LP format and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

. The song "

Wind Beneath My Wings "Wind Beneath My Wings" (sometimes titled "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Hero") is a song written in 1982 by Americans Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. The song was first recorded by Australian singer Kamahl in 1982 for a country and western albu ...

" was recorded for the album in 1987, two years before it was a hit for

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

. It was meant to be somewhat autobiographical. Como also sang this song some 5 years earlier as a tribute to his idol,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

. Como wanted to release the song as a single, but RCA declined; Reportedly, Como was so upset that he vowed never to record for RCA again.

Track listing

Side One #"Making Love to You" (music by Nick Perito, lyrics by

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...

) #"Sing Along with Me" (music by Nick Perito and lyrics by Dee Williams) #"Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You" (music by

Michael Masser Michael William Masser (March 24, 1941 – July 9, 2015) was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music. Early life Born to a Jewish family in Chicago to Ester Huff and William Masser, he attended the University of Illinois ...

and lyrics by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

) #"Butterfly" (music by L. Russell Brown and lyrics by Irwin Levine) #" Bless the Beasts and the Children" (words and music by

Barry De Vorzon Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He worked as a pop musician during the 1960s and co-founded Valiant Records, before being known as a composer of film and television scores ...

and

Perry Botkin, Jr. Perry Botkin Jr. (April 16, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American composer, Record producer, producer, arranger, and musician. Life and career He was born in 1933 in New York City, the son of Perry Botkin Sr., who also was a successful ...

) #"

That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded by Rod Stewart in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is best known for the 1985 version by Dionne Warwic ...

" (music by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

and lyrics by

Carole Bayer Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1944) is an American lyricist, singer, songwriter, and painter. Early life and career Carole Bayer was born in New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She gradu ...

) Side Two #" The Wind Beneath My Wings" (words and music by

Larry Henley Larry Joel Henley (June 30, 1937 – December 18, 2014) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing (with Jeff Silbar) the 1989 hit record " Wind Beneath My Wings". Early life Henley was born to Carl Henley and Helen Quinn in ...

and

Jeff Silbar Jeff Silbar is a songwriter. Silbar, a native of Los Angeles, won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1990 for co-writing Bette Midler's " Wind Beneath My Wings" with Larry Henley. Notable compositions *" All My Life" (Kenny Rogers) *" He's a ...

) #"I'm Dreaming of Hawaii" (music by Nick Perito and lyrics by Jennifer L. Perito and Dick Williams) #"Do You Remember Me" (music by Nick Perito and lyrics by Richard B. Matheson) #"

My Heart Stood Still "My Heart Stood Still" is a 1927 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It was written for the Charles Cochran revue ''One Dam' Thing after Another'', which opened at the London Pavilion on May 19, 1927. The show ...

" (music by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

and lyrics by

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...

) #"

You're Nearer "You're Nearer" is an American popular song by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart (Rodgers and Hart) from the 1940 film version of the Broadway musical '' Too Many Girls''. It was not in the original Broadway show but was written esp ...

" (music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart) #"The Best of Times" (words and music by

Jerry Herman Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist ...

)

References

External links

Perry Como discography
{{Authority control Perry Como albums 1987 albums Albums produced by Mike Berniker RCA Records albums