27/12/2018 1:51 pm  #1


Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019


  • An entertaining musical journey of 26 captivating Bing Crosby vocals from 1953-1961, including the complete stereo album 'Holiday in Europe'.Also included are some performances taped for his General Electric radio shows and new to CD, delightful collaborations about other locales with Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney, and Bob Hope, and, as a final bonus, an endearing recording session rehearsal for the song C'est Si Bon (It's So Good).
  •  
  • Label: Sepia


1. April in Portugal  
2. C'est Si Bon (It's So Good)  
3. Never On Sunday  
4. More And More Amor  
5. Moment In Madrid  
6. Morgen (One More Sunrise)  
7. Two Shadows on the Sand  
8. Under Paris Skies (Sous Le Ciel De Paris)  
9. Domenica  
10. Pigalle  
11. My Heart Still Hears the Music (A Letter to Pinocchio)  
12. Melancholie  
13. Hawaiian Paradise  
14. The Belle of Barcelona  
15. Tobermory Bay  
16. Along The Way To Waikiki  
17. Down Among the Sheltering Palms  
18. Road to Hong Kong  
19. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans  
20. Let's Sing Like a Dixieland Band  
21. Paris Holiday  
22. Medley: Pagan Love Song/Cuban Love Song  
23. Medley: Down Argentina Way/What a Diff'rence a Day Made  
24. Calcutta  
25. Around the World  
26. C'est Si Bon (It's So Good) (Rehearsal Track)

 

28/12/2018 7:17 pm  #2


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

I'm looking forward to seeing this come out and hope it's a sign of maybe more of Bing's 60's output finding their way to re-release! Sadly, I had hoped it would include the 4 tracks that Crosby recorded in London and then opted not to use, that doesn't appear to be the case. 

 

03/1/2019 3:25 pm  #3


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Yes, we may look forward to this new issue next month.



In looking  forward to 2019, now that the Christmas and New Year festivities are just a memory, we might possibly also look into the rear view mirror.. Some might have indulged in a little – or a lot – of “toddy for the body” and possibly tucked into helpings of turkey/goose/ or other fowl and indulged in such items as cake and mince pies, stollen and all the other goodies that come out at Christmas. It might have resulted in some of us putting on some pounds and perhaps we are now beginning to face up to resolutions to shed said pounds over the coming weeks – or months, or however long those resolutions might last and I’m sure all are looking forward to fulfil various ambitions over the coming year.

I would hope that some of those who issue Bing Crosby material through whatever medium might be making their resolutions to offer us something more for 2019 than was managed in 2018, (and possibly our own resolutions might include spending bit more on any new worthwhile products in order to encourage such a course) for I fear that 2018 did not set very good omens for the future. In fact things were really pretty bleak, so I'll kick off with some 2017 issues from December 2017 and which might not have seeped into public notice until 2018. Besides, if I ignore them, there will be very little to report!

Though we had very few worthwhile CDs, two among the late 2017 issues did rank pretty high in terms of quality, at least in my view.
 
First off was from Universal/ BCE we had “New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Edition” with 12 tracks from the LP and 12 “bonus” tracks which originate from the same source – the songs recorded for radio in the ‘50s with the small Buddy Cole group. The sound is good and clean. Whilst there are comprehensive and informative notes, the track listing unfortunately contain two mis-attributions as to song writers, caused by confusion between different songs of the same name. This version of “My How Time Goes By” was written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh and  “More Than You Know” by Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, and not as shown. 



Then, from the same source there was “Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures from the Crosby Archive”, a two CD set with a total of 34 tracks of mostly rarely heard and previously totally unknown material, spanning a wide time period and many sources, whether promo disc, radio, TV, private recordings, rejected takes and live performances. Any collector with an interest that stretches beyond the mainstream studio issues should have this one, as also I would say of it’s predecessor, “”So Rare- Treasures From the Crosby Archive”. Unfortunately one track appears to play slow.
Neither this CD nor “New Tricks” are listed any longer on the bingcrosby.com website. I have no inside knowledge as to the reasons for this. By the way there are some very odd prices shown on that site, e.g. $59:95 for “Bing In Dixieland”.



Back to the “mainstream” studio recordings we then had “Thoroughly Modern Bing” from P.I.P., a Pickwick associate. 
The songs have never been among my favoured play lists and I have always felt that this was one of Bing’s mistakes, though the sound quality on the CD is very good.



Then there was another item that could be counted as unusual – “High Tor”, from Stage Door Records drawn from the original 1956 TV soundtrack. In the production there was Bing, Everett Sloane  and a very young Julie Andrews, with Bing covering seven songs plus narrative and Julie singing three, but never together.  The songs are not memorable but the production has a degree of historical significance as “the first musical play made for CBS Television”, and the very early appearance of Julie Andrews (though not her first recording).



This was the first time on CD of the original LP, with two extra tracks of “When You’re In Love” performed by “outsiders”.




There was of course the usual plethora of discs or virtual discs from suspect sources which usually share the same features – tracks drawn from Bing’s big sellers/audio quality which can be poor/ absence of informative notes (and sometimes incorrect identification of songs and poor spelling – and even in two cases known to me, misspelling of Bing’s very name). Most are best ignored. I remain puzzled why large market outlets should stock such junk whether as physical discs or for streaming or downloads.

Further (and faster) falls in the sale of CDs were recorded in the UK, the British Phonographic Industry reporting a drop of 23%, following drops of 12% in each of 2016 and 2017. DVD sales are also falling fast and video games now outsell CDs and DVDs combined. Vinyl sales continue to grow but remain small and oddly there has been a considerable growth in sales of cassettes, which I for one had thought to have been buried long ago, though the growth is of course from a very small base. Should we look forward to a revival of 78s (or even cylinders)?.

I have no comparable information for other countries. Our members in the US, Canada, Australia, Holland, Germany and Brazil might have data? The beneficiaries have of course been the streaming and downloading services. Retail shops have felt the effect, with the largest chain of UK music outlets, HMV, passing into administration. It remains to be seen whether the administrators will be able to save it or simply close all the doors.
(Some readers might not realise that HMV, once a major part of the EMI Record group, was spun off as a pure retail independent operation some years ago, though they did produce some CDs of their own under licence but without the "dog" trademark).

On DVD and Blu-Ray the highlight was undoubtedly the restored version of “King of Jazz” from The Criterion Collection. Visually this is arguably presented in better quality than would have been seen by audiences in cinemas all those years ago in 1930. The audio is pretty good too. 



For me the biggest disappointment of the year was “The Best Of The Bing Crosby Specials” from Time – Life. 11 discs including a “bonus”. It is neither the best, because whilst much of the material is drawn from the best shows, the best pieces of those shows have been edited out, nor are all the discs even of the Bing Crosby Specials at all. The selection, quality of editing, and fragmentary versions offered make the set very unsatisfactory from every angle.   

On the future horizon we are promised several Road films in Blu-Ray by Kino Lorber. They are Singapore, Zanzibar, Morocco, and Utopia.

And that I’m afraid is the sum total of what we had before us in 2018 that is in any way worth mentioning (the Time – Life set more by way of warning).

 

03/1/2019 4:20 pm  #4


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Thank you for your interesting look-back to 2018, Richard.
I thought the four Road films are already out on Bluray - region 1/A, unfortunately. I wasn't aware that there are plans to release them as region 2/B as well - although that would be very welcome of course.

 

03/1/2019 4:37 pm  #5


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

frans wrote:

Thank you for your interesting look-back to 2018, Richard.
I thought the four Road films are already out on Bluray - region 1/A, unfortunately. I wasn't aware that there are plans to release them as region 2/B as well - although that would be very welcome of course.

Frans, You are correct and I should have amplified.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced the release of Blu Ray versions of the films. It is part of a statement the earlier part of which relates to 12th April 2019 though it is unclear whether the date also relates to the Road films.
 
The announcement reads "Kino Lorber Studio Classics has announced the 12/4 Blu-ray and DVD release of Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) and The Revolt of the Slaves (1960). Also coming on 12/4 is The Black Windmill (1974) starring Michael Caine and Stuart Orme’s The Puppet Masters (1994). Kino is also going to be releasing four classic starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, including Road to Singapore (1940), Road to Zanzibar (1941), Road to Morocco (1942), and Road to Utopia (1945)." 

I cannot as yet say what regional coding might apply, nor can I say for certain what if any differences might exist compared to earlier issues, but Kino Lorber do seem to specialise in "restorations" in generally cleaning up the audio and video quality. 

A later announcement described them as "Special Editions".


 

Last edited by Richard Baker (03/1/2019 4:46 pm)

 

04/1/2019 7:31 am  #6


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Archiefit wrote:

- - - - I was also not aware till now that a new CD of the original High Tor album is available (I knew about the TV soundtrack CD).  In fact a search on Amazon doesn't bring up any new High Tor album soundtrack CD at all, just the TV soundtrack new version.   I don't know where you find this. 

By the way, it's 2019, or 2018 when this was released, but why in the world would you release just a soundtrack of the actual TV broadcast, anyone ever hear of DVDs or Blurays?   Surely this should have been released as a DVD in this day and age, it's not 1970 when all you could be satisfied with was an audio soundtrack of a TV show.   This could have sold more (I for one would have bought Hi Tor on DVD, in a minute, I didn't even bother getting the CD sound version).   Kind of ridiculous, if you ask me. 
 

The High Tor CD was issued by Stage Door Records. Here is a link 
It's also listed by Amazon here

Whilst I sympathise with the point you make about DVD I think that you must look at the history. An LP was issued by Decca at the time: it has not been available since: hence there is a gap in the market looking to be filled (and it is quite easy to fill it!)
I also suspect that access to clean video copies could be problematic.
 

Last edited by Richard Baker (04/1/2019 7:51 am)

 

04/1/2019 10:59 pm  #7


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

The audio content of the CD is identical to the LP, with the addition of two tracks with versions of "When You're In Love" by The Lancers and Leroy Holmes & his Orchestra. The sound is very clean.

 

07/1/2019 12:50 am  #8


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

I have been patiently waiting for this one to be (re) released for years. I can't state how many times I went back and forth about bidding on eBay or buying directly via other third party sellers the expensive Japanese pressing. I was VERY close last fall, when I was alerted that this was going to happen. Thankfully, I held back. I'm sending my check to Perry tomorrow.

I'm very much looking forward to hearing this one. Once again a huge thank you to Sepia and (I assume) the ICC for making this happen.


Zane Johnson
 

08/1/2019 12:37 am  #9


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Great news about the Sepia release of “Holiday in Europe”.

I’ve had the Japanese pressing for some years, but it’s good to have a domestic release with bonus tracks. I see from the  listing that there is a rehearsal track for “C’est si bon” from the original sessions. A previous Redmond Nostalgia release contains a very entertaining selection of rehearsal tracks for this album.

We’re getting tantalisingly close to completion of “official” releases of Bing’s LP albums. Fingers crossed for “Bing ‘n’ Basie”, “Hey Jude, Hey Bing” and “Bingo Viejo”!!

 

12/1/2019 7:17 pm  #10


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Sepia's official announcement relating to Holiday In Europe (and Beyond) is now here.

http://www.sepiarecords.com/sepia1334.html

 

12/1/2019 8:48 pm  #11


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

And Amazon has it available for pre-order as well! I was looking to pick up a few things from Sepia, this looks like a good excuse to pull the trigger!

 

22/1/2019 9:29 pm  #12


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

And my goodness! Guess what I just got in the mail! 

 

23/1/2019 10:18 pm  #13


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Same here - what a wonderful surprise to receive in the mail yesterday!


Zane Johnson
 

24/1/2019 1:48 am  #14


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

zanereed wrote:

Same here - what a wonderful surprise to receive in the mail yesterday!

Yes, I was very surprised to receive it early! Made my day and finally getting to listen to it now!

 

21/2/2019 1:21 pm  #15


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Last night I relaxed in a dark music room and listened to the Holiday In Europe CD. It is truly a great issue, and Sepia never disappoints. (They have issued some excellent non Bing CDs too). Listening to Bing in absolute quietness without any interruptions or doing anything is better therapy than any meditation. (The only problem is finding the time to do this).

I truly recommend this CD if you have not picked it up yet.

 

22/2/2019 1:21 pm  #16


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

Yes, I have joined the Holiday In Europe fan club. I wish Bing did more concept albums like this!

I master how to put music on You Tube with photos but not an actual movie. My brain has learned almost all it can hold at this point. I am passing the torch to my 9 year old son who can do anything already on the computer!

 

06/3/2019 9:51 am  #17


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

I finally got my copy; a wonderful album! :-)

Yes, David, I wish Bing did more concept albums. Fortunately we have Arne Fogel's 'The Bing Shift'; the first half of which mostly contains such a "concept album".

 

06/3/2019 3:59 pm  #18


Re: Holidays In Europe (And Beyond!) - 8th February 2019

frans wrote:

I finally got my copy; a wonderful album! :-)

Yes, David, I wish Bing did more concept albums. Fortunately we have Arne Fogel's 'The Bing Shift'; the first half of which mostly contains such a "concept album".

I don't get a chance to listen to Arne Fogel's radio show, but I do concept albums myself. I have made numerous CDs with Bing "themes" the topics are endless!
 

 

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