Fred Astaire: The Early Years at RKO features 31 songs that showcase Astaire’s vocal performances from such classic films as Top Hat, Swing Time and Shall We Dance. In these and other films, Astaire introduced songs by the greatest “American Songbook” composers, including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and George and Ira Gershwin. The songs on the 2-CD set have long since become standards and include 'Night And Day', 'Cheek To Cheek', 'The Way You Look Tonight'; 'They All Laughed', 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' and 'Nice Work If You Can Get It'.

For Fred Astaire fans this is a loving collection of some of his most memorable moments from his early years at RKO. It'll be a trip down memory lane for some and an interesting discovery for others. There isn't a bad track here, although obviously some of the more talky tracks, like 'The Yam Steps (As explained by Fred Astaire)' seem incredibly dated.

Track listing:

CD 1

01 - 'Music Makes Me'
02 - 'Flying Down to Rio'
03 - 'Night and Day' - Leo Reisman and His Orchestra
04 - 'No Strings' - Leo Reisman and His Orchestra
05 - 'Isn't This a Lovely Day'
06 - 'Top Hat, White Tie and Tails'
07 - 'Cheek to Cheek' - Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
08 - 'The Piccolino' - Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
09 - 'We Saw the Sea'
10 - 'Let Yourself Go'
11 - 'I'd Rather Lead a Band'
12 - 'I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket'
13 - 'Let's Face the Music and Dance'
14 - 'Pick Yourself Up'
15 - 'The Way You Look Tonight'
16 - 'A Fine Romance'
17 - 'Bojangles of Harlem'
18 - 'Never Gonna Dance'
19 - 'A Fine Romance'
20 - 'Waltz in Swing Time'

CD 2

01 - '(I've Got) Beginner's Luck'
02 - 'Slap That Bass'
03 - 'They All Laughed'
04 - 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off'
05 - 'They Can't Take That Away from Me'
06 - 'Shall We Dance'
07 - 'I Can't Be Bothered Now' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
08 - 'Things Are Looking Up'
09 - 'A Foggy Day'
10 - 'Nice Work If You Can Get It' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
11 - 'I Used to Be Color Blind' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
12 - 'The Yam' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
13 - 'Change Partners' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
14 - 'They Can't Take That Away from Me'
15 - 'The Yam Steps (As explained by Fred Astaire)' - Ray Noble & His Orchestra
16 - 'The Yam' - Hal Borne and His Orchestra
17 - 'I Used to Be Color Blind' - Hal Borne and His Orchestra

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Darren Rea