Powell and Rich, that is. Two of the greatest percussionists in movie musicals. This number (with Red Skelton and Bert Lahr looking on) is from Ship Ahoy.
Thanks to YouTuber Richard Preston
Powell and Rich, that is. Two of the greatest percussionists in movie musicals. This number (with Red Skelton and Bert Lahr looking on) is from Ship Ahoy.
Thanks to YouTuber Richard Preston
And let’s end the year with this amazing clip of Eleanor Powell tap dancing. What she does, just from a percussion point of view, is incredible. I recently interviewed tap dancer Rusty Frank, a tap dance historian and preservationist, and a tap dancer herself, who maintains that it was the tap dancers who moved popular music forward with their taps. The innovative percussive rhythm steps of the tap dancers were picked up by the drummers, pianists and guitar players of the bands who in turn shaped the new ideas in music. Watch and listen to what Eleanor Powell does with this George Gershwin song from Lady Be Good. It’s a long way from “Tea for Two.”
Thanks to YouTuber Ms2doggies
Three minutes of heaven as Eleanor Powell, in heels, gives Fred Astaire a run for his money.
The clip above is from the film Broadway Melody of 1940. Powell was probably Astaire’s most accomplished tap partner. Astaire reportedly claimed he would never work with Powell again because Astaire (himself a notorious perfectionist) never wanted to work as hard again.
Thanks to YouTuber CatCORViN