18/5/2014 10:00 am  #1


"American Masters" to feature Bing in December

 

24/7/2014 7:35 am  #2


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

     Thread Starter
 

24/7/2014 6:23 pm  #3


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

All these years later and they're saying Bing was 73 and not 74.

 

25/7/2014 4:35 pm  #4


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

I look forward to this. Poor Mary does not look good after all of her..."work"!

BTW, is Bing considered most-recorded due to the countless volumes of radio air-checks or does he actually have more studio, movie and "live" professional recordings in his discography?


All the best,
Paul M. Mock
 

25/7/2014 5:56 pm  #5


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

I have heard that Australian Peter Dawson recorded more songs than Bing but Bing sang over 6000 titles.

 

25/7/2014 6:03 pm  #6


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

Ron Field wrote:

I have heard that Australian Peter Dawson recorded more songs than Bing but Bing sang over 6000 titles.

"Sang" is much different than "recorded".  No doubt there wasn't a thing Bing didn't sing about...but whether he actually recorded more songs professionally than anyone else is the question here.  I wouldn't be surprised if it were true but I am just trying to verify it.  
 


All the best,
Paul M. Mock
 

25/7/2014 6:15 pm  #7


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

paulmock wrote:

 is Bing considered most-recorded due to the countless volumes of radio air-checks or does he actually have more studio, movie and "live" professional recordings in his discography?

Paul, I think it would take a brave person to give a straight answer. 

It is claimed on behalf of Peter Dawson, the Australian bass-baritone,  that he recorded over 3500 titles using his own name and something like 12 aliases. The recording artists in the early 1900s had to record the same song over and over again into banks of acoustic cylinder recorders because they had not then figured out how to make multiple copies of a single recording. How do you count them? I have nowhere seen any attempt at any definitive listing of Dawson's recordings - and it is claimed that no one is certain of all the names he used. His first recording was in 1904 and his last in 1955. 51 years - the same as Bing (1926 - 1977). 

Fred Reynolds, in his fairly definitive listing of Bing's official studio recordings, gets to 1864, so if there is any truth in the claims made for Dawson he exceeds Bing's total by some margin. - however I have my doubts about the Dawson claims. Dawson did not broadcast to any great degree: Bing most certainly did.
 
Firstly we have a goodly number of "studio recordings for radio" that have had official release on CD, on Mosaic and elsewhere. I suppose they might be counted as "proper" recordings? See ### 

Then there are the radio shows proper. Few of the earlier ones survive, so presumably we don't count them. On a very rough count there are possibly  600 which survive at least in part with possibly an average of five songs in which Bing participates. So it is reasonable to conclude that Bing sang for many more songs on radio than for record, and in combination they reach a total more than anything that might be proven for Dawson.

But I'd hesitate to try to count the radio songs that have been issued in some form whether CD or old black discs. There are many, certainly, but just what the numbers are - - ?
The shows that survive have been circulated "through channels" and exist in archives, radio studios and with collectors in some form, often on the discs sent out to radio stations for broadcast.

But then the same song reappears quite frequently on those radio shows, and many (but far from all) were the same titles as appeared on record,  and in the later shows the same recording was actually used on several occasions.

### I do not include in my rough count of 600 the studio recordings for radio with Buddy Cole and Rosemary Clooney (complete listing here) http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/final2.htm#buddy

Then there is TV, the audio of which has also been raided for some LP and CD releases  - - - - - 

Personally I have no knowledge of any other claims for vocalists that come anywhere close in the numbers game. But instrumentailsts with a long recording life are another matter  - - - 

I'd be interested in any other contributions and thoughts on this.

How long would you like to devote to a count, Paul?
 

 

25/7/2014 6:25 pm  #8


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

Richard Baker wrote:

paulmock wrote:

 is Bing considered most-recorded due to the countless volumes of radio air-checks or does he actually have more studio, movie and "live" professional recordings in his discography?

Paul, I think it would take a brave person to give a straight answer. 

It is claimed on behalf of Peter Dawson, the Australian bass-baritone,  that he recorded over 3500 titles using his own name and something like 12 aliases. The recording artists in the early 1900s had to record the same song over and over again into banks of acoustic cylinder recorders because they had not then figured out how to make multiple copies of a single recording. How do you count them? I have nowhere seen any attempt at any definitive listing of Dawson's recordings - and it is claimed that no one is certain of all the names he used. His first recording was in 1904 and his last in 1955. 51 years - the same as Bing (1926 - 1977). 

Fred Reynolds, in his fairly definitive listing of Bing's official studio recordings, gets to 1864, so if there is any truth in the claims made for Dawson he exceeds Bing's total by some margin. - however I have my doubts about the Dawson claims. Dawson did not broadcast to any great degree: Bing most certainly did.
 
Firstly we have a goodly number of "studio recordings for radio" that have had official release on CD, on Mosaic and elsewhere. I suppose they might be counted as "proper" recordings? See ### 

Then there are the radio shows proper. Few of the earlier ones survive, so presumably we don't count them. On a very rough count there are possibly  600 which survive at least in part with possibly an average of five songs in which Bing participates. So it is reasonable to conclude that Bing sang for many more songs on radio than for record, and in combination they reach a total more than anything that might be proven for Dawson.

But I'd hesitate to try to count the radio songs that have been issued in some form whether CD or old black discs. The shows that survive have been circulated "through channels" and exist in archives, radio studios and with collectors in some form.

But then the same song reappears quite frequently on those radio shows, and many (but far from all) were the same titles as appeared on record,  and in the later shows the same recording was actually used on several occasions.

### I do not include in my rough count of 600 the studio recordings for radio with Buddy Cole and Rosemary Clooney (complete listing here) http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/final2.htm#buddy

Then there is TV, the audio of which has also been raided for some LP and CD releases  - - - - - 

Personally I have no knowledge of any other claims for vocalists that come anywhere close in the numbers game. But instrumentailsts with a long recording life are another matter  - - - 

I'd be interested in any other contributions and thoughts on this.

How long would you like to devote to a count, Paul?
 

Hi Richard,
Great response and many thanks for it. I see where the area "grays" somewhat with the recordings made in studio strictly for radio broadcast at a later date. He became The King of doing that! But it would be best (and perhaps most honest) to level the playing field and only count the songs Bing professionally recorded for release on records. Those he recorded more than one version of should be counted as additional individual recordings. Anyone else care to chime in?
 


All the best,
Paul M. Mock
 

26/7/2014 6:18 pm  #9


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

We have a number of visitors to this board who from time to time send me emails on topics that have been aired but who regrettably seem not to wish to join in themselves.

I have had one on this topic, essentially making a case for a number of dance band vocalists, and listing, among others, Al Bowlly and Sam Browne. The email is from a British devotee of dance bands, but I suspect that similar ideas might arise about vocalists in American dance bands. 

Well, I happen to know a little of Al Bowlly, who in fact had a fairly short recording career and according to an authoritive discography he recorded 1089 titles, admittedly with a very high work rate, because they were all packed in to the years from April 1926 to April 1941 when he was killed.
Some of those records were not vocal but of him playing the guitar or ukelele.

Then there is Sam Browne, for whom it is said that he recorded over 2000 songs. I do not have access to any discography but I see there is a reference about this on Wikipedia. Many of these would have been labelled "vocal refrain". I don't want to be too dismissive of the hard working band vocalists (Bing was himself one for a period), but I believe that Bing, with records and radio and considering that for the the vast majority of his recordings he was the named star, outranks such individuals in any rational count.

But please, if you have anything to contribute, do so - be brave and come forward with facts! 
 

 

28/7/2014 6:17 pm  #10


Re: "American Masters" to feature Bing in December

Thanks for the info Malcolm--I'm looking forward to it. Pity they decided to air it on "Boxing Day"--when family and social activities create a "full schedule" for so many, but that's what DVR's are for!

 

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