STEPO wrote:

Bing's recording of "Deep Purple" is underrated it seemed to be left off most compilations i think because Artie Shaw actually had the biggest recording of it but a great record nevertheless.

Agreed! When I first started collecting Bing in the 1980s, this was one of the first records my Grandfather played for me. I love Bing's version!
 

When Frank Sinatra recorded  his 1954 version of "I Get A kick Out Of You" he took liberties with the lyric "It would bore me terrificly he rhymed the rrif part of the word to rhyme with the word sniff Cole Porter was not happy with it nevertheless i still think it's the best version of the song at least Sinatra did something new with it. not to go off the subject Bing's version  of "Deep Purple"  he brings something to the song by singing it well.

STEPO wrote:

When Frank Sinatra recorded  his 1954 version of "I Get A kick Out Of You" he took liberties with the lyric "It would bore me terrificly he rhymed the rrif part of the word to rhyme with the word sniff Cole Porter was not happy with it nevertheless i still think it's the best version of the song at least Sinatra did something new with it. not to go off the subject Bing's version  of "Deep Purple"  he brings something to the song by singing it well.

I agree that Sinatra overdid the emphasis on terriffic'ly too, but you can't deny Cole Porter's genius with those subtle triple-rhymes within the lyric. "I'm sure that if I took even one sniff, it would bore me terriffic'lly too..."

There's another one (of many...) in, 'I've Got You Under My Skin'. "...I'd sacrifice anything, come what might, for the sake of having you near, in spite of the warning voice that comes in the night and repeats and repeats in my ear..."

There are lots of examples of triple-rhymes (some admittedly quite laboured) in the lyrics of W S Gilbert for the Savoy Operas, and Porter often cited Gilbert as one of his favourite lyricists.

Incidentally, many thanks to STEPO for reviving some of these old posts..

 

Colin Bratkovich wrote:

The tech skill's of Pete Moore's musical backup for Bing's 'SEASONS" album at least found a good voice for a man in his 70s.The album is pleasant listening. A comparison with Bing's 1934 recording of JUNE IN JANUARY ,is stretching things a bit, however, More modern ears can identify Georgie Stoll's 1934 orchestra dated, (but still great),&  Bing's vocal DEFINED the song. His voice ,of a man in his 30s,was at it's peak, at this time. You can underrate  Crosby in 1934,I guess, but I cannot./

You are completely correct, Colin to cite Bing's voice when in his thirties, being at its peak. It truly was a wonder to behold. Both in its full throated glory and in the differing styles of songs he thankfully applied it to (although this could be argued that he did so pretty much throughout his career).

I'm also so grateful that throughout his thirties, this voice was also being fully applied to his film career. It was such a fortunate collision of popular culture that the peak of the Hollywood musical's output ran parallel to Bing's then sound, in such wonderful fusion.  

As we've discussed elsewhere, Bing's Seasons album is certainly pleasant listening, to say the least. I also agree that the album's production showcased Bing's seventy-four year old voice as well as it could. I think the use of an slight echo sounding effect, complemented his vocals perfectly and was particularly effective on the original pure analogue mixes, as heard on its vinyl release. 

Colin, I remember Donny Osmond singing a version of Deep Purple. I think it was a hit for him in the early 70's.

Bing’s 1952 record Keep It A Secret is almost totally forgotten and at the time of its release went totally unnoticed. I read somewhere that Bing himself had high hopes for the song and he sung it 6 times in the next few months on his radio show, that’s more than any other song of the same period, Bilboard name the song his best effort in some time but the song reached only no 28 at the charts. Its interesting to notice that some of you have mentioned the same period -early 50s as his most underestimated and that’s right, also Ol Spring Fever that was mentioned above was recorded in 1952. So that seems to bee the period of his career that he was most underestimated and that’s strange because he was still at his prime and he was still working very hard making movies, records, radio shows etc

Stepo, good point! Pantelis, I always felt Bing was still great in the 50' s in a different way. Always evolving. I think the the 50' s experienced many changes in music and movies which affected the singer/actors of yesteryear. I was born in 1964 so I did not experience that decade but know all that was going on.

Agreed that "The Ol' Spring Fever" is a great, underrated recording. I also really love his version of "The Loneliness of Evening," a Rodgers/Hammerstein song dropped from South Pacific.

This entire thread makes me wish Universal and Bing Crosby Enterprises would do some sort of methodical posting of ALL Bing recordings on Spotify and the other streaming services. Even if they don't do any new remastering, wouldn't it be great for a new generation to have his more obscure tunes available with just a few keystrokes? And a little royalties for the company and the family. Long past time!

I would rate Jo Stafford's "Keep It A Secret" as the best vocal of another excellent ditty

Here is another underrated one I love from 1950. Marrying for Love. I love how Bing sings this one. https://youtu.be/jb3VZUDMqH8?si=UCoaesU9zb80NouZ

Alan, Great choices!

Thanks, Alan...

It's always a pleasure to read your musically erudite and informed analyses of Bing's work. It certainly encourages me to spend a few listening sessions going - as you say - 'behind the vocal'.

Thanks Alan - another fascinating example of listening 'behind the vocal'...

'It's The Natural Thing To Do' comes from Bing's very first studio session with John Scott Trotter on 12th July 1937.

At the risk of straying off the topic of the thread, it was great to be able to read along with the score on the YouTube version of 'La Mer'. I wonder if Trotter's charts survive in an archive somewhere? What fascinating reading THEY would make..!