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Fascinating Rhythm

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For the song by Bass-O-Matic, see Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass.
"Fascinating Rhythm"
Original record label
Song by Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire with George Gershwin
PublishedDecember 12, 1924 (1924-12-12) Harms, Inc.[1]
ReleasedJune 1926
RecordedApril 19, 1926
StudioLondon, UK
LabelColumbia DB 3968
Composer(s)George Gershwin
Lyricist(s)Ira Gershwin

"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.[2] The Astaires also recorded the song on April 19, 1926, in London with George Gershwin on the piano (English Columbia 3968 or 8969).[2]

The song provided the music for a famous dance sequence by Eleanor Powell in the movie Lady Be Good.

Many recorded versions exist. One of the rarest recordings is 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. Having rerecorded it as a duet with Diana Krall in 2018 for their duet album Love Is Here to Stay, he currently holds the Guinness World Record for the "longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist".[3][4]

"Fascinating Rhythm" inspired the riff to the 1974 Deep Purple song "Burn".[5]

The 1926 Astaire/Gershwin version and a 1938 version by Hawaiian steel guitarist Sol Hoʻopiʻi have both been added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings.[6]

Recorded versions

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References

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  1. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1924). Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1924 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 19 Part 3. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. ^ a b Billman, Larry (1997). Fred Astaire - A Bio-bibliography. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 57, 235. ISBN 0-313-29010-5.
  3. ^ "Tony Bennett Just Locked Down a Very Obscure Guinness Record". 13 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Finding Tony Bennett's First Recording". JazzDiscography.com. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  5. ^ Moskowitz, David, ed. (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC_CLIO. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-440-80340-6.
  6. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Hart, Ron. "Tony Bennett & Diana Krall on Gershwin Duets Album 'Love Is Here to Stay' & Their Mutual Admiration". Billboard. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Cover versions of Fascinating Rhythm written by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
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