Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Fascinating Rhythm with Adele Astaire (Lady, Be Good!)
2. The Half Of It, Dearie, Blues (Lady, Be Good!)
3. Hang On To Me with Adele Astaire (Lady, Be Good!)
4. My One And Only (Funny Face)
5. Funny Face with Adele Astaire (Funny Face)
6. Puttin' On The Ritz (Puttin' On The Ritz)
7. Crazy Feet
8. We're In The Money (The Gold Diggers' Song) (Gold Diggers of 1933)
9. Flying Down To Rio (Flying Down To Rio)
10. Music Makes Me (Flying Down To Rio)
11. No Strings (Top Hat)
12. Isn't This A Lovely Day? (Top Hat)
13. Top Hat, White Tie And Tails (Top Hat)
14. Cheek To Cheek (Top Hat)
15. The Piccolino (Top Hat)
16. I'm Building Up To An Awful Let-Down
17. We Saw The Sea (Follow The Fleet)
18. Let Yourself Go (Follow The Fleet)
19. I'd Rather Lead A Band (Follow The Fleet)
20. I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket (Follow The Fleet)
21. Let's Face The Music And Dance (Follow The Fleet)
22. Pick Yourself Up (Swing Time)
23. The Way You Look Tonight (Swing Time)
24. A Fine Romance (Swing Time)
25. Bojangles Of Harlem (Swing Time)
26. Never Gonna Dance (Swing Time)
27. (I've Got) Beginner's Luck (Shall We Dance)

Disc 2:

1. Slap That Bass (Shall We Dance)
2. They All Laughed (Shall We Dance)
3. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (Shall We Dance)
4. They Can't Take That Away From Me (Shall We Dance)
5. Shall We Dance? (Shall We Dance)
6. I Can't Be Bothered Now (A Damsel In Distress)
7. Things Are Looking Up (A Damsel In Distress)
8. A Foggy Day (A Damsel In Distress)
9. Nice Work If You Can Get It (A Damsel In Distress)
10. I Used To Be Color Blind (Carefree)
11. Change Partners (Carefree)
12. Just Like Taking Candy From A Baby
13. The Love Of My Life (Second Chorus)
14. (I Ain't Hep To That Step But I'll) Dig It (Second Chorus)
15. Dream Dancing (You'll Never Get Rich)
16. Dearly Beloved (You Were Never Lovelier)
17. I'm Old Fashioned (You Were Never Lovelier)
18. You're Easy To Dance With (Holiday Inn)
19. A Couple Of Song And Dance Men with Bing Crosby (Blue Skies)
20. A Couple Of Swells with Judy Garland (Easter Parade)
21. Steppin' Out With My Baby (Easter Parade)
22. How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life? with Jane Powell (Wedding Bells/Royal Wedding)
23. You're All The World To Me (Wedding Bells/Royal Wedding)
24. The Thing (parody) with Bing Crosby (from Chesterfield Cigarettes radio show)
25. A Shine On Your Shoes (The Band Wagon)
26. By Myself (The Band Wagon)
27. Triplets with Nanette Fabray & Jack Buchanan (The Band Wagon)
28. Not My Girl

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26348 in Music
• Released on: 2006-09-18
• Number of discs: 2

Album Description
"Can’t sing, Can’t act .Balding. Can dance a little! So went the now legendary report following Fred Astaire’s screen test at RKO Studios in the early 30’s. Fortunately RKO still offered Fred fifth billing in a movie called Flying Down To Rio and the rest, as they say, is history. For a dancer Fred Astaire was one of the best singers and interpreters of a song in Hollywood! Irving Berlin himself said he would rather have Fred sing his songs than anyone else. In fact Fred Astaire was to introduce more classics from the Great American Songbook than any other performer. AVID’s latest release is truly an Essential Collection looking at the musical career of Fred Astaire and includes his many remarkable performances from classic movies such as Top Hat, Swing Time, Lady Be Good and Funny Face. Covering a twenty seven year period from 1927 to 1953 you can witness for yourself what Irving Berlin remarked as Fred’s conception of projecting a song. Enjoy!

Customer Reviews

Perfection in Music and Dance
This CD represents the summation of the Hollywood Musical genre, encapsulated in the person of its greatest star, Fred Astaire. It is a superb compilation and provides a wealth of standards, played by some of the best orchestras of the day, including that of Ray Noble, as well as three early recordings accompanied by George Gershwin at the piano. Sister Adele also features on three, and included on the second CD are duets with Crosby, Judy Garland, Jane Powell, and Nanette Fabray & Jack Buchanan.

Having given this five stars, I'm amazed to find that someone else has seen fit to award only one, on the grounds that "Night And Day" is omitted! Pursuing his argument, I assume that he'd have been more generous were the set not being marketed as "The Essential Collection". I hope he may adopt a more temperate stance when he learns that the track in question is included in Avid's Essential Collection "Gentlemen's Night Out" (AVC 879)

Serious omission
How can this set be called the essential Fred Astaire when it fails to include what is one of if not the greatest song that he recorded - Cole Porter's Night and Day

Good range, tempo not to taste
A very good range of songs, it seems silly to give the review any loss of stars because of a one track omission. Unfortunately songs are a bit too fast and much faster than any in the films. Added to that the small actual amount of song, rather more instrumental and this scores a three in my mind but may be higher for those people who think the film songs are too slow.