Customer Reviews

Fred Astaire's Finest Hour

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These recordings are not the show tunes. As the reviewer noted most of the songs are from a 1952 session with more jazz than big band sound. While Fred's voice has always had a sincerity about the lyrics he sang, I always picture Ginger staring into his eyes. These arrangments lose that particular magic, however the tunes still hold up very well.

While I am an easy jazz fan there is so much plunking on an open body guitar that one can take and this album reaches my limit. Yes, I would buy this CD - just know that Ginger might not approve.

I have always enjoyed Fred Astaire movies, but I never really considered purchasing one of his CDs until recently. I also purchased "Steppin Out" (which I also recommend).

What struck me from the first track is the underrated quality of Astaire's voice. Renowned for his dancing, his voice seemed a secondary quality to his athleticism. This CD is a prime example of what a good jazz singer Astaire was. His voice isn't the loudest or strongest, but there is a soothing, unstressed quality that, like his dancing, is highly enjoyable.

The CD is arranged almost by fame of song - we all recognize the melodies of "Stepping Out with my Baby","They Can't Take that Away from Me", and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", but even songs like "Lady be Good" or "Dancing in the Dark" have a timeless sound to them. The whole CD has a smooth jazz, or at times a big band, sound to it, and I listen to it in the car or when I'm housecleaning (though I don't try to dance with any of my appliances). Astaire's voice is very appealing, and I could imagine using this CD in almost any social situation as a soft background sound.

"Fred Astaire's Finest Hour" is a gem of a CD, to be appreciated because as one of the great gentleman actors, Fred Astaire could charm us with his feet, and (however surprisingly), it turns out he could sing too.

Astaire's vocal abilities are nowhere near the level on which he used to glide across the screen, with or without partners. Uncapable for either jazz phrasing or bellcanto, Astaire was also nowhere near the best of the American popular singers of the era - Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire could lick him any time, Sammy Davis Jr. and Billy Eckstine could outdo him in any aspect of pop singing.
However, this is still very enjoyable CD, most of it made out of sessions with Oscar Peterson's jazz combo, with the glorious trumpet of Charlie Shavers, swinging guitar of Barney Kessel, virtuoso bass of Ray Brown, "driving" and reliable drumms of Alvin Stoller and, on most songs, Flip Philips' expressive tenor sax (yes, and on few occasions Peterson engages in the heavenly sounds of the celeste)...

Astaire is not without charm (particularly if you already like him from his films), and the charm is augmented by such illustrious company; at moments he even completely manages to avoid corny effects of blindly following the melody and rhythm.

It would be too much to say that he actually swings, but this is still good popular American singing, with a jazzy tinge.

The songs, as anyone can see from this site are mostly excellent, so this fact must have helped making this CD so surprisingly enjoyable.

I always admired Fred Astaire for his exceptional dancing like all his other fans and accepted his singing as just a normal accompaniment. But this CD proves, too, that he is a master with the tune. No wonder Irving Berlin said: "I'd rather have Fred Astaire introduce one of my songs than any other singer I know."
All of his standards are in this treasure from Amazon including "Cheek to Cheek", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "Steppin' Out with My Baby" and "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" the latter aptly describing his dancing style and appearance. There's even one of which he wrote the music - "The Afterbeat" which is a real swinger, the last song in this prized collection.

I hate to disagree with the other reviewers who found this CD enjoyable but I found this CD to be very disappointing. I actually like Astaire's singing voice in the old movies and find his voice on this CD to be pleasant and unassuming however it lacks polish. This CD sounds like Astaire needed to spend a week or two getting his singing talent back up to speed. He sounds like a pleasant amateur who is struggling with the songs. The Amazon samples played on a notebook computer sound excellent. However, playing the CD on a decent player shows all Astaire's weakness as a singer. It is just painful. The songs are excellent and Oscar Peterson's combo is outstanding. It is disappointing that the producers didn't give Astaire an adequate number of takes to get it right. They almost had something wonderful here.