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Cocktail Hour: Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Cocktail Hour: Fred Astaire
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #2

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...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Fred Astaire
Title: Cocktail Hour: Fred Astaire
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Columbia River Ent.
Original Release Date: 3/14/2000
Release Date: 3/14/2000
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Nostalgia, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Musicals, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 723723734921

Synopsis

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

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CD Reviews

Shut Up and Dance
thewritingbuddha | Chicago, IL | 11/04/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

""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..."
You'll dance!
Maria Mercado | Austin, TX USA | 05/29/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)

"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
Sally Anne Sherman | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States | 02/27/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"