Search - Bing Crosby :: Bing Crosby Collection

A Lot of Bing for the Money

Mike | 10/14/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Though I have an extensive collection of Bing Crosby recordings, I couldn't resist trying out

a low-priced 10-CD set entitled "Bing Crosby." UPC 4011222325426,

released November 2008 according to the info at Amazon.com. Amazon lists the

title as "Bing Crosby Collection." (Amazon UK lists it as "Black Moonlight.")

The cover art is a photo of Bing in a suit. The 10 CDs contain recordings from

1928 - 1954.



The online listing at Amazon cites "Phantom Sound and Vision" as the label. The

packaging and CD labels, though, indicate Membran Music Ltd. (a German company)

as the manufacturer and distributor. Various other organization logos are MCPS

and Document are imprinted on the CD.



Packaging: The 10 CDs are enclosed in a cardboard box with a fold up top. Good

enough. Each CD is in a cardboard sleeve. The track lists include the song

titles, songwriting credits, accompaniment, the year originally issued, and the

timing for each track. A list of all tracks also is printed on the bottom of the

outer box.



Liner notes: none, apart from recording credits.



Sound quality: though this is not a deluxe set, I would rate the sound of the

early recordings as good. Not as quiet, transparent or dynamic as the best you

can find elsewhere, but more than acceptable overall. The later studio tracks

have very good sound considering these probably were transferred from commercial

78s and LPs. The audio quality of the radio tracks ranges from not so good to pretty good.



Contents:



The first three CDs are 3 volumes of "Early Bing." 1928 - 1934. The set gets off

to a shaky start as it places "Cabin in the Cotton" on CD1, track 1, and lists

the original issue year as 1925. (In fact it was 1932.) i didn't find other such

errors, but then I wasn't looking for them.



CD4 is titled "The King of Jazz (1930)." Even though the material ranges from

1930-1933. It may be that these are songs he sang in his films of that time.



CD5 is "The Dance Band Days," 1930 and 1931. The first 13 tracks are with

accompaniment by Gus Arnheim and the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra. Most of the rest

are with Victor Young and His Orchestra.



CD6 is 24 tracks of Hawaiian songs, probably the most ever assembled on one CD.

(The Decca reissue "My favorite Hawaiian Songs" has just 10 tracks.)



CD7 and CD8 contain a total of 50 tracks from The Bing Crosby Autobiography set

released by Decca in 1954. 49 of the 89 tracks of that Decca LP set were

re-recordings of his early hits, accompanied by the Buddy Cole Trio and a few

other studio groups. Most - if not all - of those are here, along with some of

the earlier originals. It's hard to tell, because 1954 is listed as the date

for all tracks. The two CDs contain 50 songs plus separate tracks for the

spoken introduction of each track - a nice feature for those who want to

create a playlist of just music.



CD9 is "Bing and the Dixieland Bands." Bob Haggart, Matty Matlock, Red Nichols,

Bob Crosby, and John Scott Trotter are leaders of the groups on this disc. The

majority of the tracks are somewhat-to-noticeably muffled (less high frequency

content) and compressed, probably taken from transcriptions of Bing's radio

show. With no liner notes, who knows? Still, all enjoyable.



CD10 wraps it up with "Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters," 1939 - 1952.

Considering that the 1996 2-CD Decca set "Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters:

Their Complete Recordings Together" is out of print and $$$$, these 24 tracks

are a pretty good consolation.



Conclusion:

A lot of Bing for the money, thoughtfully programmed, and with good sound

quality. Lack of liner notes a bummer, but I suppose that goes with the low

price. An excellent overview of Bing's career at a bargain price,

likely to appeal most to those just starting to build a Crosby collection.

"