Lobosco wrote:

With the future of CCM in the air, I hope it will not affect future issues of Bing materials. It got me wondering though - what other items does the BCE own that they can issue?

I believe they own the Bingo Viejo album - but what else is in their treasure chests?

I was surprised 'Bingo Viejo' was not matched with 'El Senor Bing' for the recent issue - a fitting match for a 'two on one' if ever there was one (or even a double CD if there was a great importance attached to the'extras' that came with 'El Senor Bing'.  Does one read anything into that absence, apart from the fact that my choice of pairing differs from that of BCE/CC?

I think that there has been a suggestion that until the contents of that treasure house (more than a chest!) of a basement has been been catalogued, they are not certain what exists down there, but on the evidence so far, we can deduce with some confidence that they have the original tapes for probably all of the musical tracks recorded for insert into radio shows. That covers all of the three later series ('The Bing Crosby Show' 'The Ford Road Show, and' The Crosby Clooney Show') plus much or even all of the General Electric and possibly a number of the Chesterfields. The questions here are how much further do they go back and do they also have the radio shows as broadcast, and the radio shows from the time before they were assembled by inserting pre - recorded musical tracks. 

I would presume from a strictly logical view point that they have the lot (unless some have been destroyed/lost/damaged). I believe that Bing was contracted to provide the shows and I am sure I have seen it stated somewhere that he retained the rights, though I suppose the Clooney estate might be involved in relation to her involvement. 

As to commercial issues I would think it likely they have most of the post Decca commercial recordings. (Possibly with two or three gaps. There is one interesting sequence which was a sitting duck for release this last Christmas but which was not touched). Possession of original tapes might imply the possibility of alternate takes, or even un-issued tracks. There might be other rights involved with some material but I suspect that most of the time Bing was the prime mover and was buying in talent, retaining rights himself, though there might be the tail end of leasing periods to run through. We know that Ken Barnes released some tapes and rights, but there is an interesting gap in releases from CC so far in the tracks produced by Ken Barnes for United Artists. (Or maybe the UA CD releases are just too recent for them to do anything there).

And of course a remarkable selection of 'private' material going way back. Bing wrote of losing his collection in the 1950s house fire but some items already released go back before then, which implies that some were recovered from somewhere.

Richard, when you speak of recordings from The Bing Crosby Show, are you talking about the TV series BING had in the sixties?  Because, he definitely, sang in those episodes.  So, there have to be recordings available from that show.  I was talking on another blog recently, regarding one episode of the TV series.  And, in one of these episodes BING sings the old Rocker, "Kansas City".  And he sings it, at least for the time, quite convincingly, Like a Rocker.  Any thoughts?

I must add to all the above that I certainly have no inside knowledge. I have merely read the evidence that has come before all of us in the form of issues so far, coupled with a fairly detailed knowledge of the totality of what existed and some small smattering of knowledge as to who commissioned what for whom. Coupled to all of that I am an optimist - in other words I hope that those who might have possessed the original material would have kept and cared for it!