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As I've picked up different albums I want to share my thoughts on them. I thought about commenting on posts where others commented on some of these albums but sometimes those posts are years old, so I figured a fresh post made sense.
"Bing Crosby Sings The Great Country Hits" - When Ken Barnes stated that the only two albums that Bing did in the 60's worth mentioning was the one with Rosemary Clooney and the one with Louis Armstrong, I think he was a bit harsh toward albums like "Bing Crosby Sings The Great Country Hits".
This is one of those albums that I would love to know what inspired the decision to do it in the first place? Did Bing want to do an album of Country songs? Did someone suggest that maybe this would be a genre he could be relevant in? Either way Bing is in great voice and sounds very comfortable taking on then recent hits many of which have become Country classics today.
The interesting thing is Bing sounds VERY contemporary (for the time the album was done). This has that "Countrypolitan" sound of so many great songs from the era. The sound could be heard in stuff done by Ray Charles, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, Burl Ives, etc. and Crosby really fits right in.
I would give this one a solid B+
I wonder how well this album did upon it's release and considering that a bunch of 50's Rock n' found a second career in Country music wonder if maybe a follow up album might not have been called for. (I was able to download the mp3 version of this album from Amazon here in the U.S. but it wasn't really straighforward, I was able to find the album by searching for the songs and not by the album itself)
Last edited by Ron1972 (06/7/2017 2:08 am)
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Archiefit wrote:
Some years back "Collectors Choice" released this album as part of a 2 Fer release, it was combined with That Travelin' 2 Beat, it's still available on Amazon:
I bought this CD when it first came out, I found it to be one of the more enjoyable Bing CD 2 Fer releases. I have it on my computer's Media Player so songs from it pop up occasionally as I listen to music. Here's how the CD looks:
I think it's a very solid album that was very contemporary for the time. I originally planned on buying the "2 Fer" CD you mention. It's only available used on Amazon and the MP3 link is ONLY for "That Travelin' Two Beat". I did end up purchasing "That Travelin' Two Beat" as an MP3 album but had to search Amazon a bit more to find the MP3 album for "Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits".
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I consider "Great Country Hits" to be one of Bing's best albums from the 1960s he really does have a good feel for the songs of course Bing himself recorded several Countery songs over the years a pity, however that this was to be his only Country album.
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STEPO wrote:
I consider "Great Country Hits" to be one of Bing's best albums from the 1960s he really does have a good feel for the songs of course Bing himself recorded several Countery songs over the years a pity, however that this was to be his only Country album.
I like the choice of songs, but Bing had a cold when he recorded it, and it could have been better.
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Well he sang the songs well for somebody who had a cold.