 An Essential Christmas Album From The Voice Of Christmas! |
| Review Date: October 7, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Greg Van Beek, West Bend, Wisconsin |
Capitol Records has given us an early Christmas present by reissuing and expanding it's 1999 Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics CD compilation. This new version, now titled Bing Crosby Christmas Classics, was released Tuesday September 26th.
Gone is the dark cover photo of a piece of sheet music on a piano with a small b/w photo of Bing circa 1963 (which was first used when Capitol hastily reissued an abridged version of Bing's 1962 Warner Bros. Christmas album I Wish You A Merry Christmas in 1977 following Bing's passing). In it's place on this new CD is the original painting that was used on that 1962 Warner Bros. LP! Many people have asked me over the years if that album has ever been reissued on CD with the original artwork. Apart from a late 1980's Australian Axis label CD release of the album that's now virtually impossible to find, 2006's Capitol compilation marks that well-remembered cover painting's first widespread use in over 40 years!
Inside the booklet are full page photos of Bing, including a 1965 Hollywood Palace publicity photo in color, and a b/w photo of Bing & David Bowie. On the backside of the case is a nice photo in silhouette of Bing in tux and tails standing behind a mike onstage at the Academy Awards in 1955.
The CD contains all of the tracks issued on the 1999 release, with a new opening track...White Christmas from the 1957 Frank Sinatra Christmas TV show. It credits this cut as being a "Nelson Riddle Arrangement", when in reality, this is the arrangement Paul Weston wrote for Bing's A Christmas Sing With Bing annual radio show in 1955. Now Reprise released the full length version of this song, complete with Frank taking the last chorus as a duet with Bing, as part of it's 2004 Frank Sinatra: The Christmas Collection CD compilation, but here Capitol re-edited the track to omit Frank's vocal! It makes for an oddly short track with a chopped ending, clocking at 1:34.
The other new track is a stunningly crisp 24-bit remastered version of Bing's 1950 Decca recording of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, an obvious choice to follow the '62 album cut of Frosty The Snowman with on the disc.
Do You Hear What I Hear and Christmas Dinner, Country Style are also here rounding out the disc with the full length dialogue version of Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth with David Bowie (recorded 9/11/77). Once again, however, as on it's 1999 release Capitol didn't create a separate cue point to the beginning of the music portion of the duet with Bowie. This would've been beneficial, giving the listener the option of cueing past the dialogue portion if they wished.
However, it's nice to see Capitol keeping this album in print and taking the time and effort to improve upon it. |
Bing's Christmas from the 60s and 70s like we remember him
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| Review Date: November 10, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Dr. Johnny Fever, Home Of the MudHens |
| A very nice collection, with almost all the songs in stereo, less the two TV soundtrack selections and Rudolph. To me, the most amazing track is the heartwarming (some call it syrupy) track "The Littlest Angel" - in this song Bing is in fine voice and the recording is crystal clear without a lot of audio processing like you get nowadays. Do You Hear What I Hear? is one of the greatest songs of the 20th century, and Bing had the first and by far the best version of this song, here in all it's glory. Some of the two song carols are poorly arranged and feature too much choir and not enough Bing, but his solo tracks are quite good, in stereo and sound wonderful for a guy in his sixties and seventies. I'm still amazed that no other performer, David Bowie included, has ever recorded the duet "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy" other than Bing & Bowie. It breaks my heart that Bing passed-away shortly after recording this great song, before he and David Bowie could go into a recording studio with an orchestra and make a high-quality stereo recording; but, for a 1977 TV soundtrack, the audio is quite good and captures the moment forever. Bing's baritone - a great part of Christmas. I enjoy this "album" and a release by Polydor/Polygram of Bing's 70's Christmas songs, as my two Crosby Christmas favorites. The only song missing here is a song Bing recorded for United Artists records, "When A Child Is Born". I highly suggest Bing's Christmas Classics if you were a fan of Bing's TV Christmas specials - I think that you'll enjoy it. Merry Christmas everyone. |
Favorite Bing Crosby carols
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| Review Date: January 9, 2007 |
| Reviewer: MEB, McLean, Virginia USA |
| I searched all over for a recording of Bing and David Bowie's Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth. Not only does this recording have it, it's also packed with lots of other wonderful traditional carols. |
Terrific old-fashioned Christmas tunes
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| Review Date: December 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Toni Mack, United States |
One of the all-time great pop-music voices, robust arrangements, and a surprising little gem at the end: patter and a lovely duet with David Bowie, of all people. Who'da thunk?
This will be one of my favorite Christmas albums for years to come. |
Christmas just ain't Christmas without Bing Crosby
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| Review Date: December 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Jolley, Shelby, North Carolina USA |
With its mix of popular and religious songs, all emanating from the dulcet baritone voice of the forever-uber-cool Bing Crosby, this album is almost the penultimate Christmas album. The number one honors actually go to Bing's White Christmas album, but Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics is quite an acceptable substitute (or, better yet, complement) to that ultimate collection of Bing Christmas classics. Ironically, this album's biggest weakness is its inclusion of an inferior and much too short version (only 1 minute and 34 seconds) of White Christmas, the most commercially successful Christmas song of them all. Helping balance this inferior version of his defining song, though, you have Bing's duet with David Bowie taken from the soundtrack of a 1977 television special.
As far as I know, Bing Crosby's recording of White Christmas remains the best-selling single of all time, having sold over 50 million copies since its initial release in 1942. Penned by in the incomparable Irving Berlin, this ultimate Christmas classic is a perennial favorite that has made a number of runs on the charts over the years. Unfortunately, the version included here is an edited, much-too-short version of the song from 1957. At barely a minute and a half long, it had me doing a double-take as soon as it ended. Who are they trying to kid here? Like we're not going to notice that half of the most successful Christmas song ever recorded seems to be missing. Apparently, this cut was taken from the 1957 Frank Sinatra Christmas Special, and someone decided to simply cut out Sinatra's duet portion of the final chorus with Bing. I'm not a huge fan of Old Blue Eyes, but the hack job done to this song is just wrong on a number of levels. Even the Grinch knows better than to mess with White Christmas.
The real standouts on the album are - well, pretty much every song. I'm especially fond of the Christian hymns, and I don't think anyone really matches Bing on such songs as Do You Hear What I Hear?, Oh Holy Night, What Child Is This?, and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. His version of The Little Drummer Boy is masterful, and the solemnity he brings to The Littlest Angel is palpable. At the same time, Bing brings a sense of buoyant, childlike joy to the likes of Frosty the Snowman, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! and I Wish You a Merry Christmas.
The "that's a little different" portion of the album also comes out "just fine," as Bing might say. The aforementioned duet with David Bowie starts out with a significant amount of dialogue, but that helps preserve the spirit of the song that exists only in the form of this one recording. Christmas Dinner, Country Style is lots of fun (only Bing can make square-dancing music cool), but it's best to prepare yourself in advance for the unexpected solo parts performed by the most famous reindeer of all in Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (clearly, Rudolph needs to stick with his day - er, night - job).
This is just a fantastic album, one that really deserves a better and more complete version of White Christmas. It's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser at Christmas parties and family get-togethers, but it is perhaps best enjoyed in quiet contemplation. If Bing Crosby can't awaken the Christmas spirit in you, you're going the way of Jacob Marley, my friend.
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Wonderful Christmas Album
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| Review Date: December 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lynn Ellingwood, Webster, NY United States |
| The second Bing Crosby album I have for Christmas. This one has a duet with David Bowie which is great. A running joke is that David likes artists from way back .... like John Lennon and Harry Nielsen! lol Everything on this album is terrific. I think it was from one of his TV specials. |
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