The clips from Bing's 50th Anniversary were nice and clear, I do hope they release the whole show one day.

Some people I know watched the docu[not Bing fans but people who liked him], but not all of them understood what was being said. One person felt Bing was always an alcoholic and was mean and cold. It was a good docu for us fans because we listen to all being said and know more about the situations. I think for the people outside of Bingdom more had to be said and explained.

My local station showed the documentary for the 5th time tonight!

nicoley13 wrote:

In case you've missed it or want to pass the link along, the full documentary is now available on the PBS website-
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/bing-crosby/full-film-bing-crosby-rediscovered/3605/
I couldn't say for certain but unfortunately I think the video is likely not playable outside of the United States.

Correct - it is certainly inaccessible from UK, with a message ​ "We're sorry, but this video is not available in your region due to right restrictions."


 

Just sat and watched it again! The contributions from Michael Feinstein, Gary Giddins and Ken Barnes are excellent as are those of the family. It should help to put Bing's image back to where it used to be.

Malcolm Macfarlane wrote:

Just sat and watched it again! The contributions from Michael Feinstein, Gary Giddins and Ken Barnes are excellent as are those of the family. It should help to put Bing's image back to where it used to be.

I think I have watched all or much of it 4 or 5 times between the rebroadcasts on TV and reviewing how my VHS tape of the broadcast came out. Despite wishing some things might have been included or expanded, I am more and more impressed by the program and more and more hopeful about its potential impact.  I hope for one thing that it will help make it possible for Giddins's second volume of the biography to finally come out.  However, one oversight still seems unfortunate and baffling to me: no mention of what I see as a renewal, a refreshing of Bing's recording career in those late LPs produced by Ken Barnes, not even a mention of "Seasons"--which I regard as one of Bing's finest albums and a powerful indicator of what Bing's talent and heart still had to offer, had Providence permitted him to stay with us on earth a few years longer.  Any one of several tracks from that album might have brought that understanding home to the viewer.  With Ken and his personal knowledge of Bing and his artistry already taking part in the documentary, what a wonderful chance was missed.  There just have to be MORE documentaries about Crosby's talent!  I hope this one opens, rather than closes the door.
 

While I am concerned that what you say about the increased level of scandall obscession today.  Another current societal failing might help Bing.  Our culture today is extremely forgetful and unaware of even rather recent history.  People who never heard of Bing, also, are unlikely to appreciate that there ever was any scandall associated with his memory.  Last night there was a startling report illustrating this on the evening news (I forget which broadcast network).  The reporter described the reactions on Twitter to a new popular recording by Kanye West, on which Sir Paul McCartney played piano.  People in their teens and twenties posted things like: "Who is Paul McCartney?" and "Isn't it great to see Kanye West giving a chance to unknown artists like McCartney?"  The reporter couldn't believe people were posting such remarks about one of the most well-known and honored performers and song writers of the past 50 years, one who is still writing and recording, no less!  So he went out on the street and interviewed young people at random. Not one of the ones he showed in his report knew who Paul McCartney was, though one may have heard of "her."  He also sang brief passages of early Beatles hits, and these random young people didn't recognize any of the songs.  I don't know how many of such people will see the new documentary, or be interested in it if they do, but it sounds very unlikely they would arrive at such viewings with any contradictory impressions of Crosby. When it comes to even much more recent music and musical artists than Bing, such people are blank slates.

Last edited by Steve Fay (05/1/2015 1:00 pm)

I had a chance to watch the Bing Crosby American Masters documentary online. I thought it was very well done. It was great to see a documentary that looked at Bing's career seriously, rather than just being a tribute show. It covered his innovative role in the development of popular singing, the varied aspects of his career (recordings, radio, movies, television) and the astonishing level of success he attained in multiple arenas, and his role in the development of tape recording. Also, it did not ignore or shy aware from the negatives, but instead put them in perspective. It was good to see the interview segments with Gary Giddins, Ken Barnes, and Tony Bennett, as well as those with Katherine and Mary.

I hope it will serve to introduce, or reintroduce a lot of people to Bing Crosby. Of course they could not cover everything, and we all would have sat through a much longer documentary. But they covered a lot and very effectively in an hour and a half, which is probably about the limit for a general audience. It covered many of the themes in Gary Giddins' book, while hopefully reaching a much larger audience (Gary, can we hope for volume 2 in 2015, the timing would be good).

I also purchased the soundtrack and have really been enjoying it. They did a good job of choosing nice alternate versions of many of the songs, I especially enjoyed "Pocket Full of Dreams", "Moonlight Becomes You", and "It's Been a Long, Long Time". I'm curious who plays the guitar on the soundtrack alternate of "Pocket Full of Dreams", perhaps Perry Botkin.

I also like the version of "It's Been a Long, Long Time" with Les Paul on guitar. But I am quite certain I hear bass and rhythm guitar on it, so it seems to be a trio rather than Les solo despite what the liner notes infer. I recall an interview with Les Paul where he said that when they were recording it he was playing something complicated and Bing asked him to simplify his solo, and that Bing was right about that. I imagine the radio performance is closer to what Les originally wanted to play, and I love hearing it that way, since I love Les's guitar playing, but I can also understand why Bing felt that a more understated solo was more suitable for the mood of the song for the commercial recording. Incidentally, Les Paul and Chet Atkins recorded a nice instrumental version of the song for an album they did together.

I have read that Fred Astaire turned down White Christmas because he didn't like the script. Perhaps he thought it was too similar to Holiday Inn, or too sentimental? I've never felt it was quite as good as Holiday Inn, and that it could have been a better movie, although it's hard for me to put my finger on exactly what was missing. I think Bing and Danny Kaye worked well together, and I'm glad they did a film together. I don't think that just having Astaire would have necessarily made it a better movie.