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A nice budget collection of "lesser" Crosby Christmas tunes

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 12/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Christmas with Bing Crosby" is a budget collection of holiday songs from Bing Crosby put together by CEMA. This means you only get 10 tracks by der Bingle, which is not much, and "White Christmas" is not one of them. But then you should already have that holidy classic in your movie collection. Once you get past the number of tracks and remember that this is a budget collection, then you can appreciate the nice selection of songs we have here, starting with "Do You Hear What I Hear?" I do not know what there is about Crosby's phrasing of that opening line, but to me it is the definitive version; there is just something about the way he croons that opening "Do" that seems perfect to me. There are also very good versions of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Little Drummer Boy," "I Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "O Holy Night." There are also a trio of nice medleys, including "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Obviously there is not quantity here, but it is hard to complain about the quality, especially at this price. There are bigger and better Bing Crosby Christmas albums out there for his die-hard fans, but this one is excellent for a budget album aimed at der Bingle's more casual fans."