This invaluable compilation collects all the recordings made by Fred Astaire, his sister and stage partner Adele Astaire, and his movie partner Ginger Rogers for RCA Victor Records, mostly in the '30s. Although the Astaires had been recording their stage songs in England since 1923, it took them until 1931 to get into an American recording studio, and they did then only because bandleader Leo Reisman was interested in recording numbers from the Broadway revue The Band Wagon , in which they were appearing, and he invited ...
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This invaluable compilation collects all the recordings made by Fred Astaire, his sister and stage partner Adele Astaire, and his movie partner Ginger Rogers for RCA Victor Records, mostly in the '30s. Although the Astaires had been recording their stage songs in England since 1923, it took them until 1931 to get into an American recording studio, and they did then only because bandleader Leo Reisman was interested in recording numbers from the Broadway revue The Band Wagon , in which they were appearing, and he invited them to perform as guest vocalists. With Fred, Reisman cut "I Love Louisa," "New Sun in the Sky" (heard here in the previously unreleased second take), and "White Heat," while both Astaires performed on "Hoops." Also, in an experimental process, the band and the singers recorded two medleys of songs from the show, each running about ten minutes, for release on a 10" 33-1/3 rpm record. "I Love Louisa" and "New Sun in the Sky" became Top Ten hits. By 1932, Adele had retired and Fred was appearing by himself in Gay Divorce . Reisman again brought him in to record songs from the show, cutting "Night and Day" and "I've Got You on My Mind." The latter charted, while the former became one of the longest-running number one hits of the year. In three sessions in 1933, Reisman used Astaire as the vocalist on four more songs, not ones he was singing on-stage: Irving Berlin's "Maybe I Love You Too Much," "My Temptation," "We're in the Money (The Gold Diggers' Song)," from the hit movie Gold Diggers of 1933, and "A Heart of Stone." Reisman continued working with Astaire, but since he moved to Brunswick Records (the catalog for which is controlled by Sony), those recordings were unavailable to RCA. In 1938, Ginger Rogers recorded two songs for RCA from the Astaire-Rogers film Carefree, Irving Berlin's "I Used to Be Color Blind" and "The Yam" (heard here in a previously unreleased alternate take). But despite the implication of the album's cover, these were solo performances; Astaire is not on them. Finally, in 1955, Astaire returned to RCA for a singles session of two songs from his film Daddy Long Legs, both written by Johnny Mercer: "Something's Gotta Give" and "Sluefoot." Put all this together, and you have more than an hour's worth of delightful performances on a well-annotated and presented album. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Add this copy of Rarities to cart. $3.00, like new condition, Sold by Archer's Used & Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Kent, OH, UNITED STATES, published by RCA.
Add this copy of Rarities to cart. $3.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by RCA.
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Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Rarities to cart. $3.99, very good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by RCA.
Add this copy of Rarities to cart. $4.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by RCA.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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