Cocktail Hour: Fred Astaire

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This entry in the budget-priced Cocktail Hour series captures the quintessential dancer, Fred Astaire, in his other element--the Great American Songbook. Classic tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Jerome Kern fill this 80-minute collection of standards drawn chiefly from the 1930s films Astaire made with Ginger Rogers (who doesn't appear here). Most of the tracks were recorded in the '30s for Brunswick with various studio orchestras (not the film soundtracks). A few of the highlights are "Puttin' On the Ritz," "Cheek to Cheek," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "Night and Day," and "The Way You Look Tonight." Sound quality is uneven (not surprisingly for recordings of this vintage), and no liner notes or recording information is included. Still, this is a worthwhile introduction to a great artist. --David Horiuchi

Tracks:

A Fine Romance
Puttin' On The Ritz
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
Dearly Beloved
Nice Work If You Can Get It
They All Laughed
Top Hat, White Tie And Tails
Cheek To Cheek
The Gold Digger's Song
I Can't Be Bothered Now
Pick Yourself Up
Crazy Feet
Let Yourself Go
Slap That Bass

Tracks:

Flying Down To Rio
They Can't Take That Away From Me
A Foggy Day
Isn't This A Lovely Day
Change Partners
Night And Day
Let's Face The Music And Dance
Things Are Looking Up
No Strings
Bojangles Of Harlem
Never Gonna Dance
We Saw The Sea
I'm Old Fashioned
The Way You Look Tonight

Amazon.com

This entry in the budget-priced Cocktail Hour series captures the quintessential dancer, Fred Astaire, in his other element--the Great American Songbook. Classic tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Jerome Kern fill this 80-minute collection of standards drawn chiefly from the 1930s films Astaire made with Ginger Rogers (who doesn't appear here). Most of the tracks were recorded in the '30s for Brunswick with various studio orchestras (not the film soundtracks). A few of the highlights are "Puttin' On the Ritz," "Cheek to Cheek," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "Night and Day," and "The Way You Look Tonight." Sound quality is uneven (not surprisingly for recordings of this vintage), and no liner notes or recording information is included. Still, this is a worthwhile introduction to a great artist. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

You'll dance!.......2003-05-29

I LOVE Fred Astaire's simple delivery and sweet voice. If you do, too, this is a nice compilation that will make you want to go take some dance lessons and transport you to Fred and Ginger's "simpler times".

Ballroom Dance Instructor Review.......2001-02-28

I am a professional Ballroom Dance Instructor and this CD is a favorite among my classes. Each song is a classic masterpiece by the master himself. With songs like "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Let's call the Whole Thing Off," and "Cheek to Cheek," you will enjoy every moment of it. Buy it!

Shut Up and Dance.......2000-11-05

"I'm old fashioned, but I don't mind it. That's how I want to be as long as you agree to stay old fashioned with me", he sings. I agree, Mr. Astaire. As good as music is today, it's always nice to take a trip back in time and hear these songs. From the dreamy "Flying Down to Rio" to the sublime "Cheek to Cheek", this is a regular guy (i.e. this could be you or me singing these songs) breaking out into the music of Porter, Berlin and Gershwin - the Holy Trinity of early American Composers.

I used to watch the old Fred Astaire movies (Gene Kelly, as well) and wish that I'd find myself on a night where the moon was full and the stars were bright and... I'd turn to the girl I love, smile and start singing something like ... "The way your smile just beams. The way you sing off key. The way you haunt my dreams - no, no... they can't take that away from me". I'm sure I'd probably end up falling into the river, but this music makes you dream like that - of breaking out into song, of jumping up onto a table and dancing your way around the room.

It's a tonic. It makes you feel happy to be alive...

A True Song-and-Dance Man.......2000-10-12

Fred Astaire is simply the greatest song-and-dance man the world has ever known. Why? Because he could do both very, very well. Fred is, of course, known primarily as a dancer, and it's unfortunate that not enough is said about his singing. Cocktail Hour: Fred Astaire was the first Astaire CD I ever bought. Immediately, I fell in love with it. It contains many of the songs that we immediately associate with Fred Astaire, such as "Cheek to Cheek," "A Foggy Day," and "Change Partners" -- many songs he introduced in his musical films.

Now, Astaire is not Crosby, nor is he Sinatra, but one thing he has mastered that the other singers haven't is the way he "sold a song." There is such tender persuasiveness as he handles the lyrics some songwriters, such as Gershwin, Berlin, and Kern, wrote especially for him. Astaire sings directly to the listener's heart, another talent which made him the legend he know him as today. In a word, he is simply untouchable.

And he could sing, too.......2000-05-29

The 1930s Fred and Ginger movies would not have been the same without those lovely songs that Fred sang. Here they are, from Puttin' on the Ritz to Slap that Bass to Never Gonna Dance. Whether you dance or just like the old songs, this is a thoroughly enjoyable CD.

You might even find yourself dancing....

Music:

Music

Music