The Mosaic set is well done, but I have never cared for how Buddy Cole backed Bing on many of the radio recordings. John Scott Trotter was so much more better versed in how to back Bing I thought. However, I like the Mosaic set. I was able to pick up one discounted for $79 on Ebay at one point, and it is a great set to have.

Bingmo wrote:

I've heard about the re-mixed version of many of these recordings. Was that a Ken Barnes project? 

I may have to listen to the "New Recordings" to get a sense of what those sound like.

Thanks, Archiefit!

"Bingmo", Ken Barnes produced orchestral overdubbings of a large number of the CBS radio recordings in the late 1970s, and these were issued in various forms. Ultimately all of the tracks that had been so treated were issued on a three CD (and LP and cassette)  box set named "The 10th Anniversary Collection" in 1987, the 10th anniversary of Bing's death. Some tracks have appeared in other compilations since.

You can find details by browsing through this link http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/CBS.html

The more recent issue "The New Recordings" is very different in treatment.The CBS radio recordings all originally had the small Buddy Cole combo whereas the "New Recordings" material varied in the original musical backing, using recordings that covered a number of years and styles.

The result is that the 1970s treatment of the CBS radio material added an orchestral (and in some cases choral) accompaniment to the original piano/guitar/bass/drums combo, whereas the "New Recordings" treatment overlaid, and to a large extent obscured, the original orchestral parts, creating the stereo spread and adding additional parts to make them more "modern" sounding.  

The results are very different.
 

Archiefit wrote:

What??  My pictures of the other 3 CD releases I described above didn't show up on the message, only the first picture.   Dang, don't know what goes on here, why the board allows one picture but not any more to be posted is anybody's guess. 

"Archiefit"  - I have taken the liberty of editing the image URL addresses to correct the problem. The board does not like situations where the address of the image has been "nested" too many times and it is best to select a site that has it's own original image such as Discogs or Amazon. There are also other situations which will not work.  I am uncertain of the precise reason why your attempt to display images was unsuccessful but I did note that all the failed URL addresses were of great length and I would guess that they might have been too long for the placeholder. I do not think that there is any specific limit to the number that you can place in any one posting.
 

Last edited by Richard Baker (10/2/2018 12:09 pm)

This is a very bad post... it has covered 3 different collections that I have coveted! I think this post was the little push I needed to purchase "Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney - The New Recordings" & "10 Anniversary". 

Sadly, I am a little overwhelmed with Crosby material at the moment, including several new albums from Christmas and so haven't had the chance to really give these the attention they deserve but what I have heard I have liked VERY much. 

Two albums that I recently added to my collection are "New Tricks" and "Some Fine Old Chestnuts", so between the two of those and the "10th Anniversary" set I have been hearing a lot of the music that Bing did with Buddy Cole and I find myself liking it (if not always the electric organ) very much!

Still, I really have shied away from spending the money for the Mosaic box set. However, tonight I lost on a a bid for a box set on Ebay (I only hope to one of you!) and decided I would deprive myself no more! 

My order has been placed and now I just need to wait for the mailman! 

Bingmo, so today I came home from work to find the Mosaic box set has come in! The first order of business was to rip these CD's onto my laptop so I can get them on my Mp3 Player, flash drives - etc.!

The second order of business has been to start LISTENING to these songs! My first (and I HAVE to stress first listen)  is 100% positive!

It's funny, the first time I listened to the twofer of "Some Fine Old Chestnuts" and "New Tricks" was a bit of a letdown! I find the accompaniment to be too striped down, the electric organ too jarring. 

However, now, I have listened to many of these songs on the "songbook" CD's and the new deluxe CD's of SFOC and NT and the more I listen to the more I appreciate the intimacy that comes from Bing singing with just a quartet. 

In comparison with the "10th Anniversary" I am sort of thinking of them as alternate takes. One doesn't strike me better than the other, just different. 

The sound quality on the Mosaic set IS stellar I am listening to it over a inexpensive speaker plugged into a laptop and was jarred by the quality. I can only imagine what this would sound like on a quality sound system. 

One question I have is the booklet mentions something like 250 songs recorded by Bing in this fashion for other shows, will those eventually see the light of day?

Sadly, if this is a limited edition of 20,000 and ample stock remains almost a decade later there are too many people missing out! 

Bingmo, since you asked, I have been listening to the CBS Box set constantly and with each listen seem to enjoy it more. I'm a bit surprised to admit that because my first thoughts after first hearing some of Bing's work with Buddy Cole was that it was too sparse and a bit hokey with the electric organ but it has really grown on me. 

The 10th Anniversary collection is great and I still do wish that he had more albums from the 50's that included full orchestra backing but the box set clearly shows why Bing was so big on radio. His voice is welcoming and intimate. He sounds so casual and yet clearly there is a lot of skill and talent on display. 

I was recently having a conversation with someone trying to explain my interest in Crosby and why I found him so appealing and of course the comparisons to Sinatra came up and thinking of these recordings I said that Sinatra was great, his voice grabs, his charisma on full display, and the music and arrangements arrest you. But, removing the arrangements and Sinatra loses something. It's not longer as dynamic or as riveting. Bing on the other hand remains engaging and mesmerizing.

It was a painful decision because I did not want to spend the money on it when I did, but there is always a fear that it won't be around when you go looking for it, so I made the jump and it really is just a fantastic set and a must own. 

Fortunately i won a bid for a copy of the Mosaic set on Ebay recently it is an excellent set but Buddy Cole's organ can get a bit much at times but good to hear Bing sing a lot of songs he never commercially recorded..

Funny you should say that Ron when i saw it on Ebay back in February i bid at the last ten minutes only 1 pence for it and got it for the advertised amount which came to £64 for a used copy , I thought i better get it while it was at that price.

I lucked out and got my copy for about $70. I'm not sure where. For that price I was happy, but I don't think it is the greatest set ever. I am not a Buddy Cole fan but Bing's voice made if of course.

I love the Mosaic set. I never knew about the10 th Anniversary set. Where can I get that? I don't see it on ebay. What does it look like?

Wow, David and Stepo. You did tremendously well with your prices.  Maybe if I had been a little more patient, I could have done better, value wise. However, my new bank had just given me a hundred pounds as a joining gift (as recommended by my same disapproving friend). As I was so then excited about this set., I could justify the expenditure. 

I do enjoy Buddy Cole's playing very much, indeed. It's so tragic he died so young. However, David' -you have an ally with Bing himself about the stripped down recordings, back to their original form. In the notes of the "Tenth Anniversary" set, Ken Barnes notes that on questioning Bing about them, he responded that to be released, they'd need some sort of "embellishment".   

I had no idea, Stepo that one of our joint favourites on the set, "In a Little Spanish Town" achieved UK chart status.

Slightly off-topic, here but am I correct that this was the first time Bing had revisited this song since another tragic and even earlier death of another accompanist, this time in the early 'thirties, of his dear friend and guitarist, Eddie Lang? I'm sure I read somewhere that this song was part of their joint repertoire when Bing and a number of other friends had encouraged Eddie to undertake a badly needed tonsillectomy operation from which he died. Apparently they then carried this guilt with them for many years afterwards and Bing didn't go near the song for over two decades? 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (05/10/2024 8:23 pm)