Swinging On A Star: November Is Bing Crosby Month With Deluxe CD, DVD, BD Releases Coming

It can be fairly said that any singer today owes a debt to Bing Crosby. The late vocalist was among the first performers to conversationally and intimately sing as an extension of speech; he also pioneered the technique of the microphone so a singer wouldn’t have to belt to the rafters. In his lifetime, Crosby was at the vanguard of recording techniques.  He left behind over 2,000 commercial recordings, and introduced countless standards including the yearly radio perennial “White Christmas,” still the best-selling single of all time. Arguably the most influential of all popular singers, Crosby is being fêted in the coming months with four new compact disc releases – two deluxe reissues of original albums and two new compilations, all with previously unissued material – coming on November 25 from Bing Crosby Enterprises and Universal Music (UMe), plus choice DVD and BD releases, as well.

The Bing banquet arrives one week before the airing of PBS’ American Masters special Bing Crosby: Rediscovered. The film by director Robert Trachtenberg (American Masters’ Mel Brooks: Make a Noise) is narrated by Stanley Tucci, and features material from the Crosby family archives as well as interviews with the crooner’s wife Kathryn, daughter Mary, and sons Harry and Nathaniel, along with Tony Bennett and Michael Feinstein, record producer Ken Barnes, biographer Gary Giddins and writers Buz Kohan and Larry Grossman. Accordingly, the first release in the Crosby CD series is a soundtrack to accompany Rediscovered. The 22-track soundtrack features duets with Judy Garland (Irving Berlin’s “You’re Just in Love”), Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (Guys and Dolls’ “The Oldest Established”), Les Paul (“It’s Been a Long, Long Time”), Maurice Chevalier (“I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore/I Wish I Were in Love Again”), Louis Armstrong (Cole Porter’s “Now You Has Jazz”) and Crosby’s Road co-star, Bob Hope (“Put It There, Pal”). It also promises to premiere previously unissued recordings.

Rediscovered is joined by a new anthology, Bing Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook. This compilation follows past releases dedicated to The Great American Songbook as a whole, the songs of Johnny Mercer, and songs associated with Frank Sinatra, and is drawn from familiar classics recorded by Crosby at Decca alongside rare and previously unissued recordings. This album features the first ever CD release of the posthumous 2012 Crosby duet with Michael Bublé on “White Christmas” as well as other duets with Les Paul, Connee Boswell, Eugenie Baird, Dick Powell, Trudy Erwin and Gary Crosby.

Two deluxe, newly-remastered reissues of vintage Decca albums round out the series as part of the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. Some Fine Old Chestnuts was Crosby’s second album for Decca, released in 1954 as a 10-inch LP with eight songs; the label later expanded the title to twelve songs for a 12-inch reissue.   This 60th Anniversary Edition adds eleven previously unreleased songs for a total of 23 tracks; to the original group of chestnuts including “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “After You’ve Gone” and “Somebody Loves Me,” this edition adds never-before-released Crosby versions of “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine,” “Bright Eyes” and “Sometimes I’m Happy” with Helen O’Connell plus alternates of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “After You’ve Gone.”

Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around was Crosby’s fourth album for Decca. The 1956 collection featured twelve standards such as “My Blue Heaven,” “April Showers,” “Memories are Made of This” and “Thanks for the Memory.” This reissue is bolstered with ten bonus tracks, nine of which are previously unreleased including never-before-released Crosby versions of “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” “You’ll Never Know,” “’Deed I Do,” “A Kiss to Build a Dream On,” and a duet of “Heart of My Heart” with The Four Aces.

That’s not all coming up from Bing!  Hit the jump for much more, including track listings and pre-order links!