Steppin' Out with My Baby
{{Short description|Song written by Irving Berlin}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Steppin' Out with My Baby
| cover =
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| type = song
| artist = Fred Astaire
| album = Easter Parade
| language = English
| released =
| written = Irving Berlin
| published =
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"Steppin' Out with My Baby" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin and introduced in the 1948 musical film Easter Parade. There it was sung by Fred Astaire as part of a dance number involving Astaire on stairs and three different dance partners.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKlYCYqR7CcC&pg=PA249 | page=249 | first=Todd | last=Decker | title=Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz | publisher=University of California Press | year=2011| isbn=9780520950061 }}
Tony Bennett recordings
Since "Easter Parade", the song has been recorded and performed by several artists, most notably Tony Bennett, in whose treatment it has become a jazz standard.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxfYd8l2nWkC&pg=PT163 | first=Max | last=Morath | title=The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards | publisher=Penguin | year=2002| isbn= 9781101203118}} Introduced as the title song on his 1993 Astaire-themed album Steppin' Out, a stylish music video for it garnered some MTV airplay and was part of Bennett's commercial resurgence at the time.{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38 | page=40 | first=David | last=Blum | title=The Cooling of Tony Bennett | magazine=New York | date=August 22, 1994}} One such performance was included on his high-selling 1994 MTV Unplugged album.{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mtv-unplugged-mw0000115947 | title=Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged | first=William | last=Ruhlmann | publisher=Allmusic | access-date=November 24, 2014}} Later Bennett recorded it as bonus tracks duets with Michael Bublé and Delta Goodrem for his 2006 Duets: An American Classic album; performed it three times with Christina Aguilera on his NBC special An American Classic, Saturday Night Live, and the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007; and in 2011 with Haley Reinhart in the finale show of American Idol season 10. Aguilera and Bennett's version was nominated in 2008 50th Annual Grammy Awards in the category Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Bennett continued to perform the song until his retirement in 2021, at the age of 95.
Other recordings
- Fred Astaire included the song on his album The Astaire Story (1952){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-astaire-story-vol1-2-mw0000202081|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 23, 2024}}
- Doris Day recorded the song for her "Cuttin' Capers" album (1959).{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cuttin-capers-mw0000845890|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}
- Curtis Stigers, alongside the John Wilson Orchestra performed the song as the opening song for the film Ted 2 (2015).{{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/8437636-Walter-Murphy-Ted-2-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack|website=discogs.com|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}
- Banu Gibson and Bucky Pizzarelli recorded the song for their album "Steppin' Out" (2002){{Citation |title=Steppin' Out - Banu Gibson {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/steppin-out-mw0000226295 |access-date=2025-05-01 |language=en}}
- American swing revivalists the Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded a version of the song on their 2016 cover album The Boop-A-Doo, alongside several other songs originally composed by Berlin.{{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10650570-Cherry-Poppin-Daddies-The-Boop-A-Doo|website=discogs.com|accessdate=April 23, 2024}}
Popular culture
- It was also used as the ending song for the film She's Funny That Way (with footage "Easter Parade").
- The song was performed by the cast of the BBC's, Are You Being Served? on the 1978 episode, "Happy Returns".{{cite web|title=www.imdb.com|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0514506/|website=imdb.com|accessdate=April 24, 2024}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Irving Berlin songs}}
{{Fred Astaire}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steppin' Out With My Baby}}
Category:Songs written by Irving Berlin
Category:Christina Aguilera songs
{{1940s-jazz-composition-stub}}