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The Astaire Story
''The Astaire Story'' is a 1952 album by Fred Astaire. The album was conceived of and produced by Norman Granz, the founder of Clef Records (and later Verve Records), who was also responsible for the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, at which all of the musicians on the album had performed. Content and reception The album's song selection provides an overview of Astaire's singing career although Astaire also demonstrates his tap dancing on three tracks and there is one informal instrumental Jam session. Some later LP and CD re-issues add two versions of Oscar Peterson's instrumental "The Astaire Blues." Oscar Peterson spoke warmly of the sessions that produced ''The Astaire Story'' in his autobiography, noting that vocally, Astaire was naturally attuned to jazz phrasing, and that Astaire enjoyed playing the drums at home. Astaire gave each of the musicians on the album a gold identification bracelet, inscribed "With thanks, Fred A". Ray Brown lost his bracelet, Alvin Stoll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, he was known for his uncanny sense of rhythm, creativity, and tireless perfectionism. Astaire's most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, whom he co-starred with in 10 Hollywood musicals during the classic age of Hollywood cinema. Astaire and Rogers starred together in ''Top Hat'' (1935), '' Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). Astaire's fame grew in films like ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), '' Easter Parade'' (1948), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), '' Funny Face'' (1957), and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands with an extremely long and successful career often have anthology or "essential" collections of their boxes of music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks. Some box sets collect previously released boxes of singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist such as Pink Floyd's ''Oh, by the Way'' and ''Discovery'' sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums such as Pink Floyd's ''Immersion'' box set versions of their ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), ''Wish You Were Here'' (1975) and ''The Wall'' (1979) albums. Pink Floyd have also released ''The Early Years 1965–1972'' box set which features mostly unreleased mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 20th century. With George, he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as "I Got Rhythm", "Embraceable You", " The Man I Love" and " Someone to Watch Over Me". He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George's opera ''Porgy and Bess''. The success the Gershwin brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. His mastery of songwriting continued after George's early death in 1937. Ira wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Harry Warren and Harold Arlen. His critically acclaimed 1959 book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', an amalgam of autobiography and annotated anthology, is an important source for studying t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1924) and ''An American in Paris'' (1928), the songs " Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935), which included the hit " Summertime". Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva. He moved to Paris, intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him, afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style; Maurice Ravel voiced similar objections when Gershwin inq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film ''Shall We Dance'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as part of a celebrated dance duet on roller skates. The sheet music has the tempo marking of "Brightly". The song was ranked No. 34 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. Background The song is most famous for its "You like to-may-to / And I like to-mah-to " and other verses comparing British and American English pronunciations. The differences in pronunciation are not simply regional, however, but serve more specifically to identify class differences. At the time, typical American pronunciations were considered less "refined" by the upper-class, and there was a specific emphasis on the "broader" ''a'' sound. This class distinction with respect to pronunciation has been retained in caricatures, especially in the theater, where the longer ''a'' pronunciation is most strongly associated with the word ''d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Magidson
Herbert A. Magidson (January 7, 1906 – January 2, 1986) was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway revues. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934. Life and career Magidson was born and raised in Braddock, Pennsylvania. He had an early interest in the art of magic and was a member of the Pittsburgh Association of Magicians in his youth. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and then worked briefly for a music publisher in New York City.Layne, Joslyn. "Herbert Magidson. Allmusic. Retrieved on August 27, 2009. Magidson then moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1929 while under contract to Warner Bros. to write music for films. In 1934, he won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song along with Con Conrad for his lyrics to "The Continental", used in ''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934) starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Magidson also co-wrote the lyrics to the 1937 Allie Wrubel song "Gone with the Wind" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Con Conrad
Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer. Biography Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad produced the Broadway show ''The Honeymoon Express'', starring Al Jolson, in 1913. By 1918, Conrad was writing and publishing with Henry Waterson (1873–1933). He co-composed "Margie" in 1920 with J. Russel Robinson and lyricist Benny Davis, which became his first major hit. He went on to compose hits that became standards, including: * " Palesteena" with co-composer and co-lyricist J. Russel Robinson (1920) * "Singin' the Blues" with co-composer J. Russel Robinson and lyricists Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young (1920) * "You've Got to See Mama Ev'ry Night" with co-composer and co-lyricist Billy Rose (1923) * "Come on Spark Plug" with co-composer and co-lyricist Billy Rose (1923) * "Barney Google" with co-composer and co-lyricist Billy Rose ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Continental (song)
"The Continental" is a dance to a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in the 1934 film ''The Gay Divorcee''. "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was performed by Lillian Miles. Other recordings *Major record hits at the time of introduction included Lud Gluskin, Jolly Coburn, and Leo Reisman. *In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album ''Hollywood's Best'' ( Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. *A later version by Maureen McGovern reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1976. *Steve Howe recorded it as a duet with on ''The Steve Howe Album ''The Steve Howe Album'' is Yes guitarist Steve Howe's second solo album. It was released in 1979. The album features Yes band members Alan White, Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz. Also featured is Jethro Tull's former drummer Clive Bunker on pe ...'' in 1979. References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Used To Be Color Blind
"I Used to Be Color Blind" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1938 film '' Carefree'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. The Astaire recording was very popular in 1938. Notable recordings *Fred Astaire recorded the song again for his album ''The Astaire Story'' (1952) *Tony Bennett - ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1975) *Ella Fitzgerald - ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1958) *Anita O'Day - ''Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day ''Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day'' is an album by Anita O'Day that was released in 1957. O'Day sings with the Buddy Bregman orchestra and with Harry "Sweets" Edison. Track listing Personnel * Anita O'Day – vocals * Conte Candoli – trum ...'' (1957) References Songs written by Irving Berlin Fred Astaire songs Ella Fitzgerald songs 1937 songs Mildred Bailey songs {{Pop-standard-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights,Starr, Larry and Waterman, Christopher, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Oxford University Press, 2009, pg. 64 and had his first major international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", in 1911. He also was an owner of the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For much of his career Berlin could not read sheet music, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp; he used his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever when he needed to play in keys other than F-sharp. "Alexander's Ragtime Band" sparked an international dance craze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isn't This A Lovely Day?
"Isn't This a Lovely Day?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 film ''Top Hat'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire in the scene where his and Ginger Rogers' characters are caught in a gazebo during a rainstorm. The lyric is an example of a song which turns a bad situation into a love song, a common style for Irving Berlin, as in I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm and Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee. Notable recordings *Fred Astaire recorded the song on three occasions. His 1935 version was assessed as reaching the No. 3 spot in the charts of the day. In 1953, he included the song in his album ''The Astaire Story''. His final recording was in 1975 and the song was included in the album ''The Golden Age Of Fred Astaire''. *Tony Bennett - ''Bennett/Berlin'' (1987) *Petula Clark - (1961) *Bing Crosby on the 1965 album Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love *Ella Fitzgerald - ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1958) *Ella Fitzgerald and Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
