A real treat for you tonight, something I'm pretty sure you've never seen before. If there's anyone who's every Christmas-related utterance has been re-issued to death, it would be Bing Crosby. You hear his voice every year at Christmas, even if you don't hear it at any other point the whole year 'round. But you've never heard this little record! I recorded this last year but never got the chance to share it, so I need to go back and refresh my memory a little bit... Ah, yes, this is actually a double album. Record one is a pair of radio shows featuring Bing in the studio, talking to you about the Army and Christmas between songs, most of which are pulled from his then-current Christmas album,
A Time To Be Jolly. That album has been unfairly overlooked by time, but like most of Crosby's Christmas cannon, it's available from
Amazon. But that's not why you want to hear this record, you want to hear Bing talk to you. The second record is the usual Army Chorus and Army Band stuff that you find on any number of records released by the US Army recruitment folks through the years. It's nice stuff, but nothing great. The Bing, on the other hand, is priceless. Grab this one while you can, I don't know if the RIAA will let me share it for long. This is
A Bing Crosby Christmas For Today's Army/The Sounds Of Christmas With The United States Army Band And Soldiers Chorus (US Army Recruiter 2xLP, Stereo, 1973).
1. Intro
2. And The Bells Rang
3. Segment 1
4. Christmas Is Here To Stay
5. Segment 2
6. Christmas Is
7. Segment 3
8. White Christmas
9. A Time To Be Jolly
10. Segment 4
11. I Sing Noel
12. Segment 5
13. Round And Round The Christmas Tree
14. Segment 6
15. The Song Of Christmas
16. Segment 7
17. White Christmas
18. Jingle Bells
19. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
20. Winter Wonderland
21. O Tannenbaum
22. The Three Holy Kings
23. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
24. Stable Down The Road
25. Medley: White Christmas; The Christmas Song
26. Some Children See Him
27. Medley: Noel
Tracks 1-17 by Bing Crosby, 18-27 by The United States Army Band & Chorus with various soloists. Full details in the track tags.
MediaFire
Is this the first double LP I've shared here at the blog? I've shared plenty of gatefolds, but never an actual double album, unless I'm forgetting about something.
Cierto, Bing es la voz de Navidad estadounidense.
ReplyDeleteDestaco los arreglos, son muy dulces como el turrón.
No me gusta el dibujo fomentando el fumar.
Me gusta su trabajo amigo Ernie.
Me gusta sus comentarios, son muy buenos para escucharlos.
Ok. This is awesome. Thanks for the share. I'm a huge Der Bingle fan and you've outdone yourself on this one!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
"A Time To Be Jolly" is my all time favorite Bing Crosby recording. I looked for that song for years, eventually finding the 45 and, a few years later, the album which had been budget reissued under a different title. There are few songs that make me feel more like Christmas than that one.
ReplyDeleteWow! This album is truly a find, incredible. Thank you so much for all the joy to bring to so many!!!
ReplyDeleteErnie, you've done it again! Thank you for so many amazing shares. This one is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThis is an especially nice share. "A Time To Be Jolly" is a super LP that is much underappreciated. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteErnie, you've outdone yourself. Excellent! Many, many thanks for this share.
ReplyDeleteThanks... this is fantastic stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ernie - wonderful stuff
ReplyDeleteErnie,
ReplyDeleteMediaFire message is:
"This file has been identified as a copyright protected work and cannot be distributed using MediaFire."
...Maybe because someone is selling it on Amazon???
If you ever upload it again, leave a message here and I'll get it.