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A beloved collaboration between Fred Astaire and a clutch of legendary jazz musicians, The Astaire Story, is being rediscovered on CD for its 65th anniversary.
"The history of dance on film begins and ends with Astaire," Gene Kelly once declared. The versatile performer, born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899, revolutionized the way footwork was shown on screen in more than two dozen films, with everyone from Rudolf Nuryev to Michael Jackson citing him as an influence. But Astaire was a capable performer in many ways, ably developing his acting chops apart from choreography throughout his career and a humble singer who introduced much of The Great American Songbook to American audiences.
It was in that spirit that Clef Records founder Norman Granz put Astaire together with a host of Jazz At The Philharmonic players for a spirited overview of Astaire's career to date in 1952. (At the time, Astaire was in the midst of a major revival: he retired in 1946 but returned to the screen two years later and was about to complete The Band Wagon (1953), one of his greatest works.) Astaire's all-star sextet--pianist Oscar Peterson, trumpeter Charlie Shavers, saxophonist Flip Phillips, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Alvin Stoller--backed him up through a spirited, 38-song revue of standards by the likes of Irving Berlin ("Puttin' On The Ritz," "Steppin' Out With My Baby"), George and Ira Gershwin ("Let's Call The Whole Thing Off," "They All Laughed," "They Can't Take That Away From Me"), Cole Porter ("Night and Day"), Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields ("The Way You Look Tonight") and many more. The session, reportedly one of Peterson's favorites, even included audio displays of Astaire's peerless tap dancing.
Released as a limited 4LP box set at the beginning of 1953 (limited to just 1,384 numbered copies and personally autographed by Astaire and cover artist David Stone Martin), the albums of The Astaire Story were later broken out individually, and a 1978 triple-disc reissue added two original blues compositions by Peterson. This special 2CD edition of The Astaire Story includes all that material, newly resequenced to serve as something of a soundtrack (with the Peterson originals serving as an intro and outro and dance breaks scattered throughout). It also includes one unreleased bonus track: a never-before-heard alternate version of the tune "I Won't Dance." This will mark The Astaire Story's second appearance on U.S. CD, following a 1988 issue which didn't include the two Peterson "Astaire Blues" tracks.
Look for the new pressing of The Astaire Story next Friday, October 20. Pre-order it at the links below!
The Astaire Story: 65th Anniversary Edition (Verve/UMe B0026605-02, 2017)
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Disc 1
- Overture: The Astaire Blues
- Isn't This a Lovely Day
- Puttin' On The Ritz
- I Used To Be Color Blind
- The Continental
- Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
- Change Partners
- 'S Wonderful
- Lovely To Look At
- They All Laughed
- Cheek To Cheek
- Steppin' Out With My Baby
- The Way You Look Tonight
- I've Got My Eyes On You
- Dancing In The Dark
- The Carioca
- Nice Work If You Can Get It
- New Sun In The Sky
- I Won't Dance
- Fast Dances (ad lib)
Disc 2
- Intermission: Jam Session For a Dancer
- Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
- No Strings, I'm Fancy Free
- I Concentrate On You
- I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
- A Fine Romance
- Night and Day
- Fascinating Rhythm
- I Love Louisa
- They Can't Take That Away From Me
- Medium Dances (ad lib)
- You're Easy To Dance With
- A Needle In A Haystack
- So Near and Yet So Far
- A Foggy Day (In London Town)
- Oh, Lady Be Good!
- Slow Dances (ad lib)
- I'm Building Up To An Awful Letdown
- Not My Girl
- I Won't Dance (Alternate) *
- Exit Music: The Second Astaire Blues
- Disc 1, Tracks 2-10 from Volume 1 (Mercury MGC 1001)
- Disc 1, Tracks 11-20 from Volume 2 (Mercury MGC 1002)
- Disc 2, Tracks 2-9, 11 and 17 from Volume 3 (Mercury MGC 1003)
- Disc 2, Tracks 1, 10, 12-16 and 18-19 from Volume 4 (Mercury MGC 1004)
Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2, Track 21 from box set reissue - Verve 70-5554, 1978
Disc 2, Track 20 previously unreleased
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What does the asterisk after disc 2, track 20, mean? Thanks.
This is a stunning album. Astaire isnt remembered as a singer but many of these songs were first written for him as Broadway musical numbers. And this whole album has a breathtaking intimate from the Oscar Peterson band to Fred's hushed singing. Have the original CD issue but will be taking a look at this again. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the Astaire musicals or Ella and Frank.
The Smithsonian Institution's "American Popular Song" box set in 1984 contained more performances by Astaire than any other singer.
Whatever instrumental jam session material may have been added to this edition, (and if you don't already own this classic album, you shouldn't hesitate to get it now), to my great disappointment it is still woefully incomplete. The first Verve CD release some years ago inexplicably deleted a lot of the tap-dancing tracks heard in the original LP collection. The dances which remain have been misleadingly -- dare I say, deceptively? -- labeled so that you wouldn't know what's missing if you'd never heard the LP's. As to that "previously unreleased" alternate take of "I Won't Dance," I believe it was included on "Mr. Top Hat," a single LP of highlights from "The Astaire Story," and if my sometimes faulty memory serves there was one other alternate song-take on "Mr. Top Hat," but I can't recall which tune it was. ("Mr. Top Hat" is available on CD in a Japanese pressing.) Did nobody at Verve know what they were doing this time? A golden opportunity has been sadly lost.
Thanks for your insights, Preston. Just out of curiosity, which dance music tracks (names/timings?) are missing from this edition that were present on the original LPs? It seems there's some confusion as to the tracks which remain ("Fast Dances," "Medium Dances," "Slow Dances"); what were they labeled on the original LP releases? I've noticed, too, that while the Japanese CD pressing of "Mr. Top Hat" commands top dollar, it's readily available in digital form for those who would like to compare.