So this is what I am hearing: Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday celebrations will be fitting for a legend of his stature and fame. And boy, they should be.

First up, sources say, is an invite only black tie party at the Rainbow Room on August 3rd, Tony’s actual birthday. Will he sing? Is the Pope– you know? Expect people to come back from summer vacations just to be there. Nothing more swell than Tony Bennett at the Rainbow Room, right? And think of that guest list.

Then, you’ll recall that Tony told me a while back he wanted to play Central Park. Well, it’s too complicated, even for a 70 year old. You can’t control the weather, the whole thing could be a bust. Soooo…

The new plan is Radio City Music Hall on September 15th. A lot of Tony’s famed duet partners will show up, it should be something else. Lady Gaga, I’m guessing Aretha, and who knows. All the big guns will be out. Tony’s 85th at the Metropolitan Opera is still being talked about. So you know this will be the all-timer.

That’s the Thursday night before the Emmys out in Los Angeles. Expect to see a lot of tired faces landing at LAX on the morning of the 16th!

Nothing’s been announced but it should be shortly. I don’t know what we can do with Tony. We’re going to have Saran Wrap him or something, put him in a Zip loc bag. There’s no New York without Mr. Benedetto!

Paul Simon’s new single “Wristband” recalls his wittiest, jazziest songs like “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” and “Cecilia.” The (truly) legendary singer songwriter’s new album, “Stranger to Stranger,” is out on June 3rd from Concord.

Simon produced the album with his long time collaborator Roy Halee (who goes way back with him four decades).

Here’s the info I got this morning from Concord:

“It’s about getting you to actually hear something in a new way. It’s about making music that sounds old and new at the same time; music with a sense of mystery,” Simon explains of his and Halee’s experimentation on the album.

The first song written for the album, “Insomniac’s Lullaby,” led Simon to the musical possibilities first suggested by Harry Partch – the 20th century American composer and theorist who created custom-made instruments in microtonal tunings. To capture the sounds of Partch’s unusual instruments such as Cloud-Chamber Bowls and the Chromelodeon, Simon took his equipment to the laboratory at Montclair State University in New Jersey, where the original Harry Partch instrument collection was being curated.

An experimental session with the percussionist in Simon’s band and a group of Flamenco musicians provided the initial rhythmic premise for Stranger to Stranger and supplied the grooves that were the basis for four songs on the album – “The Riverbank,” “The Werewolf,” “Wristband” and “Stranger to Stranger.”

Stranger to Stranger’s collage of sound also includes the Italian electronic dance music artist Clap! Clap!, whose album Tayi Bebba, blending African field recordings and EDM, Simon admired. Clap! Clap!’s sound can be heard on three tracks: “The Werewolf,” “Wristband” and “Street Angel.”

“Sound is the theme of this album as much as it’s about the subjects of the individual songs. If people get that, I’ll be pleased,” explains Simon. “The right song at the right time can live for generations. A beautiful sound, well that’s forever.”

Stranger to Stranger – Track List:

1. The Werewolf
2. Wristband
3. The Clock
4. Street Angel
5. Stranger to Stranger
6. In a Parade
7. Proof of Love
8. In the Garden of Edie
9. The Riverbank
10. Cool Papa Bell
11. Insomniac’s Lullaby

Clive Davis started Arista Records in 1974. He built it on the bones of Bell Records and turned it into a powerhouse for 25 years.

Now I’m told next Saturday Arista will be celebrated in an invite-only reunion gala at the Cutting Room. The party’s been in the works for five months, says Ken Levy, former Arista VP of creative services. “Two hundred people are coming, we’ve had to turn people away, and there are no plus 1s,” Ken tells me.

Clive is coming, so is Dionne Warwick, Alan Parsons, and some members of Crash Test Dummies. (They had a huge one off hit called “Mmmmmm.”) There’s a rumor Aretha Franklin may stop by.

There’s also an Arista Museum being assembled in a separate room. “People are sending in all kinds of artifacts,” Ken told me. “The Whitney Houston estate is bringing some things for display. Eric Carmen is sending things, too.” Carmen had a major solo career on Arista beginning with “All By Myself.” At one time, Arista was home to the Kinks, the Grateful Dead, Carly Simon, Graham Parker, a raft of people from Stiff Records, Lou Reed, Dave Edmunds, and Gil Scott-Heron.

Arista was one of the great sorta indie labels, like A&M and Sire, run by a real music man (Davis) and responsible for launching dozens of famous artists and sending executives out into the record biz. It would have continued past 2000 with Davis except for the shortsightedness of people who came in to run BMG, the larger company. They wrecked it. Davis, however, started J Records, had hits with Alicia Keys, Santana, Rod Stewart, and Jennifer Hudson. The rest is history.

The first Arista hit:

The great country singer songwriter Merle Haggard has died at age 79.

Between 1966 and 1987, Haggard and his band had 38 number 1 songs on the Billboard country charts thirty three more hit the top 10.My favorite of his songs, “Today I Started Loving You Again,” has been covered by 400 different performers including the Everly Brothers and Rufus Thomas.

Here’s a great obit from the Bakersfield, California newspaper.