Fascinating Rhythm

For the song by Bass-O-Matic, see Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass.

"Fascinating Rhythm"
Song by Cliff Edwards Fred Astaire Adele Astaire
Published	1924
Composer(s)	George Gershwin
Lyricist(s)	Ira Gershwin
Language	English

"Fascinating Rhythm" is a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

It was first introduced by Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical Lady Be Good.^[1] The Astaires also recorded the song on April 19, 1926 in London with George Gershwin on the piano (English Columbia 3968 or 8969).^[1]

A large number of recorded versions exist. One of the rarest recordings is one by Joe Bari (a pseudonym of Anthony Dominick Benedetto, later better known as Tony Bennett) for Leslie Records in 1949 and issued as catalog number 919 with "Vieni Qui" as the flip side. In 2012 a version by Hawaiian steel guitarist Sol Hoʻopiʻi was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings.^[2]

"Fascinating Rhythm" inspired the 1974 Deep Purple song "Burn".

Recorded versions

Maxene Andrews
Victor Arden and Phil Ohman (piano roll duet)
Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire with George Gershwin on piano - rec. April 19, 1926 - released on Columbia 3969 (WA 3184-1)
Fred Astaire - rec. December 1952
Tony Bennett (1949, as Joe Bari)
Louis Bellson - rec. February 1954 - released on the LP The Amazing Artistry of Louis Bellson
Georgia Brown,
The Carpenters
Petula Clark
Rosemary Clooney
Zez Confrey (piano roll)
Come Shine
Xavier Cugat
Jamie Cullum
Vic Damone
Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra - rec. January 12, 1943 - from the movie "Girl Crazy" (1943)
Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards - rec. December 18, 1924 - released as Perfect 115690, matrix 105713-2
Les Elgart
Percy Faith
Michael Feinstein
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959)
Wayne Fontana
The Four Tops
Judy Garland
George Gershwin
Jack Gibbons
Benny Goodman
Stephane Grappelli
Dave Grusin
Vince Guaraldi Trio
Ted Heath
The Hi-Lo's
Earl Hines
Sol Hoʻopiʻi
Dick Hyman
Antonio Carlos Jobim - recorded on the LP Passarim in 1987
Salena Jones
Stan Kenton
Morgana King - rec. 1964 - released on the LP A Taste of Honey
Lee Konitz
André Kostelanetz
Cleo Laine
Enoch Light
Herbie Mann
Billy May
Susannah McCorkle
Maureen McGovern
Jane Monheit and Mark O'Connor
Mark Murphy
Red Norvo
Virginia O'Brien
Art Pepper
Oscar Peterson
Eleanor Powell - (1940's film Lady Be Good)
John Pizzarelli
André Previn
Buddy Rich
Freddie Rich (piano roll)
George Shearing
Stuff Smith
The Spinners
Tommy Steele
Claude Thornhill
Mel Tormé
Leslie Uggams
Caterina Valente
Sarah Vaughan - rec. August 15, 1964 and Gershwin Live!, 1982
Paul Whiteman
Guillermo Klein - Una Nave (2005)
Jacob Collier

References

1 2 Billman, Larry (1997). Fred Astaire - A Bio-bibliography. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 57,235. ISBN 0-313-29010-5.
↑ "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012.

External links

Newly discovered — Tony's first single under the name of Joe Bari!

George Gershwin

Albums	Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls

Ballets	An American in Paris Gershwin Piano Concerto Three Preludes Who Cares? List of stagings

Operas	Blue Monday (1922) Porgy and Bess (1935)

Orchestral works	Rhapsody in Blue (1924) Concerto in F (1925) An American in Paris (1928) Second Rhapsody (1931) Cuban Overture (1932) Strike Up the Band (1934) Hoctor's Ballet (1937)

Piano compositions	Three Preludes (1926) French Ballet Class (1937)

Songs	"Aren't You Kind Of Glad We Did?" "(I've Got) Beginner's Luck" "Bidin' My Time" "Blah Blah Blah" "Boy Wanted" "Boy! What Love Has Done To Me!" "But Not for Me" "By Strauss" "Clap Yo' Hands" "Do It Again" "Doin' Time" "Embraceable You" "Fascinating Rhythm" "A Foggy Day" "For You, For Me, For Evermore" "Funny Face" "'The Half of It, Dearie' Blues" "He Loves and She Loves" "How Long Has This Been Going On?" "I Can't Be Bothered Now" "I Got Rhythm" "I Was Doing All Right" "I've Got a Crush on You" "Isn't It a Pity?" "Just Another Rhumba" "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" "Let's Kiss and Make Up" "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" "Looking for a Boy" "Lorelei" "Love Is Here to Stay" "Love is Sweeping the Country" "Love Walked In" "The Man I Love" "My Cousin in Milwaukee" "My One and Only" "Nice Work If You Can Get It" "Of Thee I Sing" "Oh, Lady Be Good!" "Oh, So Nice!" "The Real American Folk Song (is a Rag)" "'S Wonderful" "Sam and Delilah" "Slap That Bass" "Somebody from Somewhere" "Somebody Loves Me" "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Soon" "Stairway to Paradise" "Stiff Upper Lip" "Strike Up the Band" "Summertime" "Swanee" "That Certain Feeling" "They All Laughed" "They Can't Take That Away from Me" "Things Are Looking Up" "Tra-la-la" "Treat Me Rough" "Walking the Dog" "Who Cares?" "You've Got What Gets Me"

Tribute albums	Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin By George Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book Ella Sings Gershwin Gershwin Live! Gershwin's World The Glory of Gershwin Ira, George and Joe Nice Work If You Can Get It Oscar Peterson Plays the George Gershwin Songbook Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove Rosemary Clooney Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin

Related articles	Gershwin Prize Arthur Gershwin Frances Gershwin Ira Gershwin Gershwin Theatre

List of compositions by George Gershwin Category:George Gershwin

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