Easter Parade: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Good Condition (Includes Cd,original artwork inserts and jewel case. CD plays perfectly.)

This is the best soundtrack version to date of one of Irving Berlin's finest postwar musical showcases. The song "Easter Parade" went through several permutations before becoming its best-known version, appearing previously in the movie Holiday Inn long before it became the basis for Easter Parade, the MGM Technicolor musical starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Astaire, in a role originally intended for Gene Kelly, has a great showcase not only for his singing and dancing but also for playing the drums (his personal hobby) in the oft-overlooked number "Drum Crazy." And he and Garland make a fine duo, despite her burgeoning problems behind the scenes in the film -- her weight goes up and down alarmingly from one scene to another. The score is a celebration of old New York, incorporating a lot of Berlin's own history. "Shakin' the Blues Away" by Ann Miller, "A Couple of Swells" by Garland and Astaire, and "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" by Garland (a song that Berlin gave to Jessie Matthews to perform in the London production of his Music Box Review in 1925) are worth the price of this Rhino Records CD. The CD's fidelity and thorough annotation are superior to earlier soundtrack editions; anyone seriously interested in the score or the performers should opt for this. (The old MCA CD and LP releases and the MGM vinyl version are to be avoided except by completists.)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Main Title - M-G-M Studio Orchestra And Studio Chorus
2. Happy Easter - Fred Astaire And The Mel-Tones
3. Drum Crazy - Fred Astaire
4. It Only Happens When I Dance With You - Fred Astaire
5. Happy Easter - The Mel-Tones
6. Everybody's Doin' It Now - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
7. I Want To Go Back To Michigan (Down On The Farm) - Judy Garland
8. Happy Easter - M-G-M Studio Orchestra And Studio Chorus
9. Making Faces - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
10. Beautiful Faces Need Beautiful Clothes - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
11. This Is The Life (Dog Act) - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
12. Along Came Ruth - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
13. Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
14. A Fella With An Umbrella - Judy Garland And Peter Lawford
15. Vaudeville Montage: I Love A Piano - Judy Garland
16. Vaudeville Montage: Snookey Ookums - Judy Garland And Fred Astaire
17. Vaudeville Montage: The Ragtime Violin - Fred Astaire
18. Vaudeville Montage: When The Midnight Choo-Choo... - Judy Garland And Fred Astaire
19. Mixed Greens - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
20. That International Rag (Fanfare And Montage-Zieg.. - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
21. Shakin' The Blues Away - Ann Miller With The Mel-Tones And The Lyttle Sis..
22. It Only Happens When I Dance With You - Judy Garland
23. Fanfare And Montage - Globe Theatre - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
24. Steppin' Out With My Baby - Fred Astaire With The Mel-Tones And The Lyttle Sis
25. Mr. Monotony - Judy Garland
26. A Coulpe Of Swells - Judy Garland And Fred Astaire
27. Roof Garden (Drum Crazy - Reprise) - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
28. The Girl On The Magazine Cover - Dick Beavers And Chorus
29. New Amsterdam Roof (It Only Happens When I Dance.. - M-G-M Studio Orchestra
30. Better Luck Next Time - Judy Garland
31. Easter Parade (End Title) - Judy Garland And Chorus