Search - Bing Crosby :: Christmas Classics

An Essential Christmas Album From The Voice Of Christmas!

Greg Van Beek | West Bend, Wisconsin | 10/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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

Dr. Johnny Fever | Home Of the MudHens | 11/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Bing's second-best Christmas album

Jimmy L. | USA | 11/24/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nobody can quite get you into the holiday spirit like Bing Crosby. His classic renditions of holiday standards never go out of style. This collection features many great Bing Crosby Christmas songs, and is an ideal companion to Bing's truly classic White Christmas album.



"White Christmas" (originally released as "Merry Christmas" in 1945) is one of the all-time best-selling Christmas albums, featuring classic after classic. That album mixes upbeat holiday tunes (with some help from the Andrews Sisters) with traditional Christmas carols. It is the essential Bing Crosby holiday album, and is offered at generally affordable prices.



If "White Christmas" rates 5 stars, this album, "Bing Crosby - Christmas Classics", is more like a 3.5 or 4. It's still full of very nice Bing Crosby holiday music, but it is a step below his earlier album.



As noted elsewhere, this collection is mainly Bing's 1962 "I Wish You A Merry Christmas" album, with a few added tracks. This version of the song "White Christmas" was taken from a 1957 Frank Sinatra special. The popular duet with David Bowie, "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy", from a 1977 TV special is included. (It starts with a lengthy section of dialogue from the show.)



By 1962 Bing Crosby was getting older. This collection is mostly a late-career Christmas album. Some of the songs are of the more deeply religious variety (Nativity-themed), but there's still "Frosty The Snowman" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", as well as more secular tunes like "Winter Wonderland", "Let It Snow!", and the square dance jig "Christmas Dinner, Country Style".



You may prefer this album if you want some solemn Noel music or are sick of commercial X-Mas jingles. Overall the album feels more solemn than "White Christmas", with Bing singing with choirs instead of the Andrews Sisters.



The songs are all pretty good. "Rudolph" features a solo by the titular reindeer that I wasn't really ready for, but it's okay. The highlights for me are the excellent "Do You Hear What I Hear?", the Bing & Bowie duet, and "Pat-A-Pan/While Shepherds Watched Their Flock". But, as I said, you can't really go wrong with Bing Crosby Christmas music.



"Bing Crosby - Christmas Classics" is a nice album that could complement "White Christmas" in a holiday music collection, but I'd advise getting the latter album first. This one could make a nice follow-up, though. Every holiday collection should have some Bing Crosby in it (and some Frank Sinatra, maybe a little Nat King Cole). Compared with everything else, this is a fine holiday playlist. It's a great Christmas album, just not the most essential from Bing."