Various Composers
"Fascinating Rhythm"
Fred Astaire complete recordings
Volume 1 - 1923-1930
Naxos Nostalgia
8.120501 * [51:20]
Crotchet
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The Whichness of What, Oh Gee, Oh Gosh!, Hang On to Me, Fascinating Rhythm,
The Half of it Dearie Blues, I'd Rather Charleston, Swiss Maid (Yodel Song),
So Am I, Funny Face, The Babbitt and the Bromide, 'S Wonderful, High Hat,
He Loves and She Loves, My One and Only, Not My Girl, Louisiana, Puttin'
on the Ritz, Crazy Feet
Here are 18 tracks from what is promised to be the complete recordings of
Fred Astaire, though whether this will encompass recordings made for film
soundtracks as well as 78s is not made clear. Everything on this release
bar the first two numbers originate from Columbia releases recorded April
1926 to March 1930. Those first two tracks 'The Whichness of Which' and 'Oh
Gee Oh Gosh!' date from an HMV recording (18th October 1923) from
the show Stop Flirting.
The booklet by David Lennick, also the producer of the album, gives some
brief but useful background. We all know Fred Astaire, but much less famous
is his older sister, Adele. Together the pair appeared in many musicals from
their first Broadway success in 1917 (in a show called Over the Top)
when Fred was just 18, though until their final appearance together in The
Bandwagon (1931). At this point Adele married Lord Cavendish and retired
from the stage, while Fred went onto international fame as one of Hollywood's
greatest stars. Lennick tells us that Adele was generally considered more
talented than Fred, and presumably this was as a dancer, for her singing
is enthusiastic but lacking the polish of a stage professional. Indeed, by
current standards she might uncharitably be characterised as 'squeaky', or
more kindly, as having a sort of kooky charm. That said, Fred gets better
as the album progresses, but has not yet reached the distinction of his Hollywood
years.
Where the original discs included several numbers from a show the current
album includes for the sake of continuity and completeness those songs featuring
Adele without Fred, though not those numbers on which neither of the Astaire's
feature. What makes the disc interesting even for those not beguiled by Fred
and Adele is that brother and sister had a life-long friendship with the
Gershwin brothers; 12 of the 18 numbers here are Gershwin tunes, six from
Lady Be Good, six from Funny Face, with four of the former
featuring George Gershwin at the piano. The album therefore makes a useful
companion for Gershwin aficionados to Gershwin Plays Gershwin (Naxos
Nostalgia 8.120510). We also hear Fred dancing on 'The Half of it Dearie
Blues' (Gershwin), 'Puttin' on the Ritz' (Berlin) and 'Crazy Feet' (Conrad
- Mitchell - Gottler).
The sound is of course rather restricted and in places distorted, but the
noise reduction has done a splendid job of cleaning up the snap, crackle
and pop. A treat for Astaire and Gershwin fans, and at a bargain price that
can't be argued with.
Gary S Dalkin
