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To be released October 8.
Last edited by Jon O. (07/9/2013 2:47 pm)
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Jon O. wrote:
To be released October 8.
- - -and in Britain
and
I like the re-creation of the original LP sleeve - mine is so worn!
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I am really looking forward to receiving these two CDs once they are released. They both look extremely interesting, even if most of the tracks are already available elsewhere. In my opinion, in this day and age of MP3s and music downloads, it is great when a label puts some time and thought into the packaging of a CD. As convenient as MP3s may seem because they don't take up any physical space, I still prefer to have the physical CD on my shelf, especially if the edition is attractive and well put together.
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By the way, I am very glad to see that finally someone has decided to release a CD of Bing doing songs by Johnny Mercer. In my opinion, Mercer is one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century, his song lyrics often reading like poems, but inextricably linked to their respective melodies, and Bing was one of the best interpreter of Mercer's songs.
And this reminds me of a wedding of some friends that my wife and I attended a few months ago. The theme of the wedding was literature because the bride is an English literature professor, like my wife. So during the banquet, guests were supposed to walk up to a microphone and read a love poem of their choice. So when it came my time, I recited the verse to "I Remember You," one of Mercer's best-crafted lyrics: "Was it in Tahiti? / Were we on the Nile? / Long, long ago / Say an hour or so / I recall that I saw you smile." And then, after that, I began to sing the rest of the song a cappella, to the delight of all the guests, who were all probably hard of hearing. Here's the whole lyric:
I remember you
You're the one who made
My dreams come true
A few
Kisses ago
I remember you
You're the one who said
"I love you too"
I do
Didn't you know?
I remember, too, a distant bell
And stars that fell
Like rain out of the blue
When my life is through
And the angels ask me
To recall
The thrill of it all
Then I shall tell them
I remember you.
Unfortunately, this song is not included in Bing's Mercer compilation, but two of my other all-time favorite Mercer songs, "I Thought about You" and "P.S. I Love You," are, and I can't wait to hear them in Bing's versions. Incidentally, the Beatles wrote a song entitled "P.S. I Love You," a rather simple though charming tune that they included in their first Parlophone album, Please Please Me. I have always wondered if they were inspired by Mercer's song to write theirs...
Last edited by Anton G.-F. (07/9/2013 10:01 pm)
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I pre-ordered from cduniverse.com.
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"I Remember You" - didn't Frank Ifield have a big hit with that one?
Never realised that Mercer wrote it.
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Interesting - USA is $12.27 and UK Pds.12.47. Quite a difference when the rate of exchange is about $1.53 to the Pound
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Amazon are now listing all the songs on these new CDs. Some interesting stuff.
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I'm anxiously awaiting them, and can't restrain my impatience to know where the "extras" are drawn from.
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I saw a Lawrence Welk tribute to Mercer on TV and was a bit surprised that there was no mention of how many of the songs they were performing were also hit recordings by Bing Crosby. Perhaps at the time the show was originally taped, they thought people would still realize that.
I am a bit more excited about the Le Bing release, since I only have those songs on the ancient 10" lp made at time when Decca wasn't using the best vinyl available. Since most of the Crosby versions of Mercer were hits, I must have multiple versions of most of them in better fidelity---though really good liner notes about them IS something especially attractive.
Last edited by Steve Fay (18/9/2013 3:14 pm)
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I agree with Richard - I am anxiously awaiting the both of these, but I am wondering what the sources are for the bonus tracks. Does anyone have any updated information to share?
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Just ordered "Le Bing" since it is stirring such a buzz within the Crosby world. Looking forward to it. I have a pretty decent LP copy of "Bing in Paris" and enjoy it. This will be a perfect companion-piece.
Last edited by paulmock (08/10/2013 10:53 pm)
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Greg Van Beek got his CDs yesterday and commented to a friend on his Facebook page that the 2 CDs "contain amazing Crosby rarities, many tracks new to me! Crisp, pristine radio performances with the full JST orchestra that sound as good as studio recordings. Highly recommended stuff!"
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I fully expect to see my copy of "Le Bing" on my desk at the office when I arrive this morning. Have any of you Bing experts actually listened to this CD yet? I am very anxious to hear what you all have to say about it since this was touted as such a rarity prior to it's release.
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I'm still waiting for mine.
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paulmock wrote:
I fully expect to see my copy of "Le Bing" on my desk at the office when I arrive this morning. Have any of you Bing experts actually listened to this CD yet? I am very anxious to hear what you all have to say about it since this was touted as such a rarity prior to it's release.
Yes, and "Bing Crosby Sings The Johnny Mercer Songbook" and "Bing Crosby Sings for the Armed Forces Radio Service"
- and I'm intoxicated with so much strong stuff all at once. On "Le Bing" we have some new material "off the studio floor" as it were, and lots of material from the GE shows with a French theme. All very entertaining even though there is a little duplication of titles.
The Johnny Mercer CD is more varied whilst the AFRS disc from Sepia recaptures something of the atmosphere of the war - Bing directly addressing servicemen, a degree of nostalgia (extraordinarily to the songs of WW1 in acouple of instances), in remarkable sound.
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I've got the Johnny Mercer CD. Excellent quality. Strongly recommended. Le Bing is in the post to me.
Last edited by Malcolm Macfarlane (16/10/2013 2:49 pm)
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Just received 'Collector's Choice' catalogue and they're selling 'Mercer' and 'Le Bing' at $9.98 each.
They also have listed the CD's that came out earlier - Southern Memoir etc all at $9.98.
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I am also awaiting the arrival of these two CDs, which I ordered from a third-party seller on Amazon at a very good price. I have already listened to both of them on Spotify, where they have been available for about a week or so, and they are both fantastic, in particular Le Bing, which has a wealth of material that I hadn't heard before. However, I will wait to have the actual CDs with me to write a more in-depth review about them. "Wait," I say—well, the truth is I can hardly wait!
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I purchase Le Bing, and it is terrific! Since I had all of the songs on the Mercer CD, I am holding off to get a cheaper copy.
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Thanks for the 'heads-up' on these releases, everyone. I've ordered my copies from Amazon today...
I'm a great admirer of the Great American Songbook and Johnny Mercer is up there with the very best of the lyricists from that era. Tony Bennett has a fine rendition of I Remember You on his album The Art of Romance:
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Lobosco wrote:
I purchase Le Bing, and it is terrific! Since I had all of the songs on the Mercer CD, I am holding off to get a cheaper copy.
David, You might have all the song titles on the CD but you are highly unlikely to have them in those versions. Many are radio alternatives - and I'd suggest that the treatment is sufficiently different to make the addition of the CD worthwhile.
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I treated myself to "Le Bing" last night. Just the original 8 tunes as I wanted to hear it as it originally was released. As a fan mostly of Latter Day Bing recordings, I must say that I am most impressed with this album. It can quite possibly be called "Bing for Those Who Don't Like Bing!" What I hear on these tunes is not the celebrity the world knew as Bing Crosby, but a beautiful voice singing French tunes to simple and lovely arrangements. For once I do not get the "feel" that it's Crosby singing. (No negativity meant there!) If I were a young man and had a date over over to my place, this would be the perfect album to play to set the mood for a lovely, quiet, romantic dinner.
As mentioned I have not played them yet, but I suspect the additional material (while well worth the listen and enjoyment) will take away from the cohesive sound and mood of the original 8 songs. I plan to burn a CDR of just the "Le Bing" tunes to play when I just wish to listen to those selections.
Kudos to all who had a hand in producing yet another gem from the vaults!
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Oh I will definitely eventually pick up the Johnny Mercer CD, but I have to wait until I get more approval from the lady of the house. It's getting close to holiday and birthday season!
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I would have received mine already but I was short on my postage. I mailed what I owed and now they have to wait for $3 check to clear. I'm being tortured!