Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows | ||||
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Compilation album by Bing Crosby, Trudy Erwin | ||||
Released | 1948 | |||
Recorded | 1943–1946 | |||
Genre | Popular | |||
Length | 23:53 | |||
Label | Decca Records | |||
Bing Crosby chronology | ||||
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Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows is a Decca Records compilation 78rpm album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby featuring some of the hits from Broadway musicals.
Background
Bing Crosby had enjoyed unprecedented success during the 1940s with his discography showing six No. 1 hits in 1944 alone. His films such as Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's were huge successes as were the Road films he made with Bob Hope. On radio, his Kraft Music Hall and Philco Radio Time shows were very popular. Decca Records built on this by issuing a number of 78rpm album sets, some featuring freshly recorded material and others utilizing Crosby's back catalogue. Ten of these sets were released in 1946, nine in 1947 and eleven more in 1948.
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows includes several songs which had already enjoyed chart success. The duets with Trudy Erwin, which were recorded during the musicians’ strike, were huge hits in 1943 and “If I Loved You”, "Evelina" and “They Say It’s Wonderful” enjoyed chart success too.[1]
Reception
Billboard reviewed some of the songs when they were first issued as singles.
People Will Say We’re in Love—Oh! What a Beautiful Morning
For sheer vocal beauty and charm, the blended talents of Bing Crosby, Trudy Erwin and the Sportsmen Glee Club make for a real pleasantry on the platters. With the added comfort of two of the top tunes from the smash Oklahoma! musical hit as the vehicle, it adds up to the most ear-caressing of all-vocal recordings to come forth this year. Crosby, sharing the lyrical expressions with Miss Erwin, and with the Glee Club weaving a rhythmic and harmonic background, the interpretation approximates downright purring, it being that purty. Taken at a moderate tempo, and with sustained harmonies of the glee club setting the stage, the boy-belle team of romancing singers split the opening chorus. The glee club gets a second stanza underway and then Crosby jumps to the words of the bridge with Miss Erwin joining him in duet to complete the chorus and carry out the side with an ear-tingling vocal reprise. Unquestionably one of the more beautiful waltz melodies of this day is the lilting 16-bar lullaby for Oh! What a Beautiful Morning. Taking it at a bright and breezy three-quarter tempo, Crosby and company make the morning sound all the more beautiful in song. Sharing wordage with Miss Erwin, whose vocal talents are in high order, the boy-belle team start right off with verse and chorus, followed by a second set of verse lyrics and chorus. The glee club carries a chorus on their own and the two lead voices return for a third verse and chorus. Already going strong in the music boxes with “People Will Say We’re in Love”, it’s a certainty that the disk is going to serve double duty for the operators, with “Oh! What a Beautiful Morning” proving just as strong.[2]
Evelina – The Eagle and Me
In his most persuasive style, Bing Crosby sells it like a million for these two hit ballads from the “Bloomer Girl” stage smash. Spinning drips with magnolias and honeysuckle juice as Crosby chants the “Evelina” love ballad, with pizzicato fiddles creating the flavor of a banjo to accompany the singer. For “The Eagle and Me,” Crosby starts off with the verse, taking liberty with the tempo and then hits into a moderate rhythm tempo for the chorus. A mixed choir breaks in on the second stanza to add vocal force to his singing. Crosby brings out all the emotional appeal of this freedom song, and for both sides, gets excellent musical support from the large studio band directed by Toots Camarata. Both of these show tunes are bound to skyrocket on the strength of Bing Crosby’s song selling, and both sides should bring in a bumper crop of coins for the music ops.[3]
Track listing
These songs were featured on a four-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-648.[4]
Side / Title | Broadway Show | Writer(s) | Recording date | Performed with | Time |
Disc 1 (18364): | |||||
A. "People Will Say We're in Love" | Oklahoma! | Rodgers and Hammerstein | August 23, 1943 | Trudy Erwin and The Sportsmen Glee Club | 2:55 |
B. "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" | Oklahoma! | Rodgers and Hammerstein | August 23, 1943 | Trudy Erwin and The Sportsmen Glee Club | 2:46 |
Disc 2 (18686): | |||||
A. "If I Loved You" | Carousel | Rodgers and Hammerstein | April 18, 1945 | John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra | 2:56 |
B. "Close As Pages in a Book" | Up in Central Park | Romberg, Fields | April 18, 1945 | John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra. | 3:06 |
Disc 3 (18846): | |||||
A. "They Say It's Wonderful" | Annie Get Your Gun | Berlin | January 22, 1946 | Jay Blackton and His Orchestra | 3:00 |
B. "I Love You" | Song of Norway | Forrest, Wright | December 15, 1944 | John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra | 3:00 |
Disc 4 (18635): | |||||
A. "Evelina" | Bloomer Girl | Arlen, Harburg | October 13, 1944 | Camarata and His Orchestra | 2:58 |
B. "The Eagle and Me" | Bloomer Girl | Arlen, Harburg | October 13, 1944 | Camarata and His Orchestra | 3:12 |
[5]
LP release
The album was also issued by Decca as a 10" vinyl long-playing record in 1949 with catalog number DL 5000.[6]
45rpm release
A 4-disc 45rpm album was also released with the catalog number 9-117.
References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. pp. 109–110. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ "Billboard". Billboard. October 30, 1943.
- ^ "Billboard". Billboard. January 6, 1945.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
- ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
- v
- t
- e
- Music of Hawaii (1939)
- Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. One (1939)
- Patriotic Songs for Children (1939)
- Cowboy Songs (Bing Crosby's first solo album) (1939)
- Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. Two (1939)
- George Gershwin Songs, Vol. One (1939)
- Ballad for Americans (Bing Crosby's first solo studio album)(1940)
- Favorite Hawaiian Songs (1940)
- Christmas Music (1940)
- Star Dust (1940)
- Hawaii Calls (1941)
- Small Fry (1941)
- Crosbyana (1941)
- Under Western Skies (1941)
- Song Hits from Holiday Inn (w/ Fred Astaire) (1942)
- Merry Christmas (1945)
- Selections from Going My Way (1945)
- Selections from The Bells of St. Mary's (1946)
- Don't Fence Me In (w/ The Andrews Sisters) (1946)
- The Happy Prince (1946)
- Selections from Road to Utopia (1946)
- Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster (1946)
- What We So Proudly Hail (1946)
- Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. One (1946)
- Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. Two (1946)
- Blue Skies (w/ Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin) (1946)
- Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern (1946)
- St. Patrick's Day (1947)
- Bing Crosby – Victor Herbert (1947)
- Cowboy Songs, Vol. One (1947)
- Selections from Welcome Stranger (1947)
- Our Common Heritage (1947)
- El Bingo (1947)
- The Small One (1947)
- The Man Without a Country (1947)
- Drifting and Dreaming (1947)
- Blue of the Night (1948)
- Selections from Showboat (1948)
- The Emperor Waltz (1948)
- St. Valentine's Day (1948)
- Bing Crosby Sings with Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters (1948)
- Selections from Road to Rio (1948)
- Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer (1948)
- Bing Crosby Sings with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Heywood, Louis Jordan (1948)
- Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows (1948)
- Cowboy Songs, Vol. Two (1948)
- Auld Lang Syne (1948)
- Bing Crosby Sings Cole Porter Songs (1949)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
- Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin (1949)
- South Pacific (1949)
- Christmas Greetings (1949)
- Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
- Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz (1950)
- Songs from Mr. Music (w/ Dorothy Kirsten and The Andrews Sisters) (1950)
- Go West Young Man (w/ The Andrews Sisters) (1950)
- Collectors' Classics, Vols. 1–8 (1951)
- Way Back Home (1951)
- Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from... (1951)
- Bing and the Dixieland Bands (1951)
- Yours Is My Heart Alone (1951)
- Country Style (1951)
- Beloved Hymns (1951)
- Bing and Connee (w/ Connee Boswell) (1952)
- When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1952)
- Themes and Songs from The Quiet Man (w/ Victor Young) (1952)
- Selections from the Paramount Picture "Just for You" (w/ Jane Wyman and The Andrews Sisters) (1952)
- Road to Bali (w/ Bob Hope and Peggy Lee) (1952)
- Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris (1953)
- Some Fine Old Chestnuts (1954)
- Bing Sings the Hits (1954)
- Selections from White Christmas (w/ Peggy Lee and Danny Kaye) (1954)
- Bing: A Musical Autobiography (1954)
- The Country Girl / Little Boy Lost (1955)
- Merry Christmas (later version of 1945 78rpm album) (1955)
- Shillelaghs and Shamrocks (1956)
- Home on the Range (1956)
- Blue Hawaii (1956)
- High Tor (w/ Julie Andrews and Everett Sloane) (1956)
- A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World (1956)
- Anything Goes (w/ Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmaire) (1956)
- High Society (w/ Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Louis Armstrong) (1956)
- Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around (1956)
- Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (1956)
- Bing with a Beat (1957)
- A Christmas Story (1957)
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1957)
- New Tricks (1957)
- The Bible Story of Christmas (1957)
- Never Be Afraid (1958)
- Jack B. Nimble – A Mother Goose Fantasy (1958)
- Fancy Meeting You Here ( w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1958)
- Around the World with Bing! (1958)
- Bing in Paris (1958)
- That Christmas Feeling (1958)
- In a Little Spanish Town (1958)
- Bing’s Buddies and Beaus (1959)
- Say One for Me (w/ Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner) (1959)
- How the West Was Won (w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1960)
- Join Bing and Sing Along (1960)
- Bing & Satchmo (w/ Louis Armstrong) (1960)
- Songs of Christmas (1960)
- 101 Gang Songs (1961)
- El Señor Bing (1961)
- My Golden Favorites (1961)
- The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
- Bing's Hollywood (set of 15 albums) (1962)
- On the Happy Side (1962)
- I Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962)
- Holiday in Europe (1962)
- Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (1963)
- Return to Paradise Islands (1964)
- America, I Hear You Singing (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring) (1964)
- Robin and the 7 Hoods (w/ Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.) (1964)
- 12 Songs of Christmas (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring) (1964)
- Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits (1965)
- That Travelin' Two-Beat (w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1965)
- The Summit (w/ Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.) (1966)
- Bing Crosby's Treasury – The Songs I Love (1966)
- Bing Crosby and The Columbus Boychoir Sing Family Christmas Favorites (w/ The Columbus Boychoir) (1967)
- Thoroughly Modern Bing (1968)
- Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love (1968 version) (1968)
- Hey Jude/Hey Bing! (1969)
- Goldilocks (1970)
- A Time to Be Jolly (1971)
- Bing 'n' Basie (w/ Count Basie) (1972)
- Rhythm on the Range (1972)
- I’ll Sing You a Song of the Islands (1972)
- A Southern Memoir (1975)
- That's What Life Is All About (1975)
- A Couple of Song and Dance Men (w/ Fred Astaire) (1975)
- Tom Sawyer (1976)
- At My Time of Life (1976)
- Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium (1976)
- Feels Good, Feels Right (1976)
- Beautiful Memories (1977)
- Bingo Viejo (1977)
- Seasons (Bing Crosby's last studio album released during his lifetime) (1977)
- A Little Bit of Irish (posthumous edition, recorded in 1966) (1993)
- Bing Crosby: The Voice of Christmas (1998)
- On the Sentimental Side (posthumous edition, recorded in 1962; Bing Crosby's latest studio album) (2010)
- Dixie Lee (first wife)
- Gary Crosby (son)
- Dennis Crosby (son)
- Phillip Crosby (son)
- Lindsay Crosby (son)
- Kathryn Crosby (second wife)
- Harry Crosby (son)
- Mary Crosby (daughter)
- Nathaniel Crosby (son)
- Denise Crosby (granddaughter)
- Larry Crosby (brother)
- Bob Crosby (brother)
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