Simply put, one of the best duet albums of all time!
Greg Van Beek | West Bend, Wisconsin | 03/14/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There's no doubt about it, to borrow Crosby's famous Minute Maid tag line, that when 72 year-old Bing Crosby and 76 year-old Fred Astaire were reunited in a British recording studio in July, 1975, after having not performed together in twenty five years, something magic was bound to happen.
And it did.
Crosby, who arguably had sung more duets in his career than any other performer, blended beautifully with Astaire's elegant and highly under-rated voice. Each of these living legends were clearly inspired to be working together. Their comedic timing, honed decades ago on the vaudeville stage, were put to good use in clever ad lib fashion laced throughout each of the duets.
And what great duets they are, from an obscure 1915 Cole Porter ditty "I've Got A Shooting Box in Scotland", which Fred had performed with sister Adele in vaudeville, to a 1951 Oscar winner for Bing, redone here with Astaire, "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening", this album covers a lot of ground. In fact, among the newer songs featured was "Roxie", written by Kander & Ebb for their forthcoming musical Chicago. The version heard on this album by Crosby & Astaire marked the very first commercial recording of the song! The pair also tackle another Kander & Ebb gem from Funny Lady, "How Lucky Can You Get", in addition to a rare vocal version of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" (titled Mr. Keyboard Man, with lyrics written by the album's producer, Ken Barnes), and manage along the way to revisit Irving Berlin's "A Couple of Song & Dance Men", which the duo had performed 30 years prior on film in Paramount's Blue Skies. The latter features actual recorded tap dancing from the master, proving that even in his seventies, those famous Astaire feet could still soar with ease.
This album is not limited to just duets, however. There are tempting solos from each artist, with Bing recording an Irving Berlin song introduced by Fred in the 1938 film Carefree, "Change Partners", featuring music director Pete Moore's gorgeous string section, and Fred tackling a Rodgers & Hart song introduced by Bing in the 1935 film Mississippi, "It's Easy To Remember".
The original producer of the 1975 LP, Ken Barnes, augmented this new CD release with several other solos from the albums he had recorded previously that year with Crosby & Astaire. These include Bing's sprightly ode to dancing from the Broadway show Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (which was later done as a made-for-tv movie in 1975 starring the recently departed Maureen Stapleton) "I Love To Dance Like They Used To Dance", to Fred's take of the Charles Aznavour hit "Dance In The Old Fashioned Way", this album is an absolute joy from start to finish.
If that weren't enough, Ken also included some tasty session sound bites & bloopers, making the listener feel like a fly on the wall for these once in a lifetime sessions.
Without question, this project with Fred Astaire ranks among Bing's best albums and one that's well worth revisiting. If you're discovering it for the first time, be prepared for a pleasantly enjoyable surprise!
As a sidenote, this album was promoted by Crosby on his 1975 TV Christmas special with Fred Astaire guesting, making it quite possibly the first new music "infomercial" that ever aired!"
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1