48blonde wrote:

I know I have some but how many were put on CD? And how many weren't? And can someone provide a list of each?

Carmela,

Roughly chronologically, starting from the point at which Bing recorded "albums" as such, therefore excluding all the albums that were compiled as collections of the earlier 78rpm recordings, we have - 

1 - Le Bing - Song Hits of Paris  - Just about to come out with extras (though the originals have been on CD in some form)
2 - Some Fine Old Chestnuts - Yes both as it was and as a twofer with New Tricks
3 - White Christmas Soundtrack - Yes
4 - A Musical Autobiography - Yes - in three forms
5 - New Trcks - Yes - and see above
6 - Songs I Wish I Had Sung - yes  (Japanese CD )
7 - Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings - Yes
8 - Bing With A Beat - Yes
9 - Three CDs from Bing's Hollywood - Holiday Inn - Swingin On A Star - Blue Skies
10 - Fancy Meeting You Here - Yes
11 - Say One For Me - Soundtrack - Yes
12 - How The West Was Won - Yes
13 - Join Bing And Sing Along - Yes
14 - El Senor Bing - Yes with extras
15 - Bing And Satchmo - Yes
16 - Join Bing And Sing Along - 101 Gang Songs (2 LPs) - Yes in part 
17 - Holiday In Europe - Yes 
18 - On The Happy Side - Not as originally issued (though on two unofficial versions in parts)
19 - On The Sentimental Side - (included for completeness - never issued as LP but now on CD)
20 -  I Wish You A Merry Christmas - Yes
21 - Return To Paradise Islands - Yes, with extras
22 - Bing Sings The Great Country Hits - Yes
23 - America, I Hear You Singing - Yes
24 - Robin and The Seven Hoods - Yes
25 - Twelve Songs Of Christmas - Yes
26 - That Travellin' Two Beat - Yes
27 - Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love - Yes
28 - Thoroughly Modern Bing - Yes
29 - Hey Jude, Hey Bing - Not as far as I am aware
30 - A Time To Be Jolly - Not as far as I am aware
31 - Bing 'n Basie - Yes
32 - A Southern Memoir - Yes - with extras
33 - That's What Life Is All About - Yes
34 - At My Time Of Life - Yes
35 - Bingo Viejo - Not as far as I am aware 
36 - A Couple Of Song And Dance Men - Yes
37 - Feels Good, Feels Right - Yes
38 - Beautiful Memories - Yes
39 - The Palladium Concert - Yes (with omissions from 2 LP set
40 - Seasons - Yes - with the Final Chapter
41 - The Final Chapter (not originally intended as an LP though issued as such)  - Yes, with Seasons plus extras.

There are all sorts of variations and changes in combinations of tracks.

Some items were issued in Japan. Many of the tracks were issued in various other compilations and not all carried the original album title.  This approach leaves off very many compilation albums issued as LPs for which there were no direct CD issues. There are many more CD compilations than the listing below, but I have attempted to keep to your question. 

Just realised I have left off a few obvious ones -
"Anything Goes" film soundtrack (yes),
"High Society" soundtrack (yes)
"A Christmas Sing With Bing Around The World" (Yes, albeit in very different form),
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (reading) (No)
"Pepe" film soundtrack (yes) 
"The Road To Hong Kong" - film soundtrack - (yes)

Then there is the children's story "Ali Baba and th 40 Thieves£ - (Yes with other non Bing items).

This is just quick round up and I'm sure I have committed a few errors. 

Some of the albums not specifically reissued as CDs are available as downloads in some countries (Hey Jude, for example).




 

Richard,

Thanks a lot for your outstanding work here! There are quite a few of these albums that I don't have on CD yet, and many of them are selling for way too much for me to be able to afford them. E.g., Holiday in Europe, which I am hoping will be re-released at some point in the near future!

Anyway, Hey Jude Hey Bing seems to be available on Amazon in CD-R format, but the reviews of that edition aren't positive at all:

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Jude-Bing-Crosby/dp/B004RCN8KQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1379291434&sr=1-2&keywords=hey+jude+hey+bing

One of them is by Malcolm, and since I take his opinions on all things Bing very seriously because he is really knowledgeable, I have never ordered that CD-R.

I did, however, order a copy of the two-fer that includes Chestnuts / Tricks just now. I was unaware of that edition, and even though I have the whole Mosaic 7-CD set, it will be nice to add this one to my collection.

Bing's Musical Autobiography is one of my favorite projects that he ever did, and I have part of it on a tape in my car and listen to it regularly. I just love hearing Bing reminisce about his career, and although I know his spoken parts are scripted, he does such a good job that they don't really feel scripted at all. I also have the 4-CD set of the Autobiography, and it is actually about it that I wrote one of my first reviews on Amazon back in 2006, which you can find here (you have to scroll down a bit):

http://www.amazon.com/Musical-Autobiography-Bing-Crosby/dp/B000BVKXBY/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1379291746&sr=1-6&keywords=bing+musical

Wow, that one is now selling for over $77!!! I am glad I bought it many years ago at the now-defunct Tower Records when I had the chance...

Richard, I am going to look through my Cd's today to see exactly how many of Bing's albums I have. Next issue of BING it would be nice to have a list of which albums are available on CD and which aren't and a list of movies that aren't on dvd yet. I have all the movies but the ones I have that weren't released yet, I copied off of tapes that a fan made me years back. The quality in some cases is fair. I know Malcolm, you and others have enough to do and do a Great job. But some of us younger fans here don't have as much Bing knowledge as you gentleman. Also, I wish they would release DVD's of Bing's 50 Anniversary Show and Bing on Joe Franklin. Again, I have them but they are poor copies that I have. Thanks!

About Bing's Musical Autobiography, I have often wondered if anyone has ever thought of transcribing his spoken parts and publishing them online. I have no doubt that they would make for some pretty interesting reading, as Bing reminisces about some milestones of his career and offers his own opinions on songs and songwriters such as Johnny Mercer, Lani McIntyre, 'Ragtime' Jimmy Monaco, Rodgers and Hart, &c.

It's nice to hear that "A Time To Be Jolly" did come out on CD.  Otherwise, it would have seemed like the most glaring omission on the lisl to me.

If anyone is curious about the "Bing Crosby Christmas Album", here's a link to it via Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Album-Bing-Crosby/dp/B0000047KL/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379612867&sr=8-2&keywords=bing+crosby+christmas+album

I didn't get one with the last few issues but I remember getting a list 2 years ago but can't find it. There have been a few releases since then and an updated list would be nice to have.