The Jonzo and Through The Years sets are by far the best place to start. These will give you as close as we're ever likely to get to Bing's complete commercial output from I've Got The Girl in 1926 to the end of his exclusive Decca contract at the end of 1955. Having said that, although all 10 volumes of Through The Years are still available from Sepia Records, the Jonzos are unfortunately no longer in production so are only available via the second-hand market, and they have become increasingly scarce. (The only radio performances either set contains are those which were subsequently mastered for commercial release.)

The Mosaic set is well worth having. The recordings were made for inclusion in Bing's 15-minute CBS radio show, and although a handful of the titles were licensed to Decca for commercial release, these tracks were not included in the relevant Through The Years volume, so there will be no overlap. As I said, though, this is radio material...

Anything post-1955 (or post-Jonzo and Through The Years...) is a matter of cherry-picking, I'm afraid. The complete UA sessions is a very useful 'chunk' of Bing's output in the final years of his career. Although the Legendary Years set is great, everything contained therein will also be on Jonzo and TTY. Bing Crosby Enterprises (BCE) have released a number of beautifully-produced CDs which very usefully plug a number of gaps in 'official' CD releases of Bing's commercial output. A word of warning, though - concentrate on the specific album releases from this source (Seasons, El Señor Bing, etc...) rather than the compilation titles since these latter almost exclusively re-cycle material from the Mosaic set. Sepia Records have released the 'Sing-Along' albums from the '60s and things also crop up from unexpected sources. For example, there is a very nice CD release of How The West Was Won available from Bear Family Records, which is based in Germany. Like I said, cherry-picking..!

The Harry Lillis sequence of five individual releases - including one double CD - were privately produced a number of years ago. They contain a lot of rare individual commercial releases but - once again - the CDs are now only available via the second-hand market.

I'm sure you've already discovered it, but the on-line discography contained within this site is an invaluable resource, initiated by Crosby stalwart - and founder of this board - Richard Baker. For a print discography dedicated solely to Bing's commercial output, you can't do better than The Definitive Bing Crosby Discography by F. B. 'Wig' Wiggins and Jim Reilly.

It can seem a daunting task at the outset, but the material is out there in one form or another, so good luck! If you need any more help or guidance, message me and I will do my best to help...




 

Last edited by jeremyrose (27/2/2022 10:33 am)

Hello! If you search Bing´s late recordings (1975 - 1977), don´t forget the not UA recordings. The finest LP on Decca Label was Feels Good, Feels Right, 12 official takes + 3 unissued Takes (later on a 2LP set: That Old Black Magic, I´m Getting Sentimantal Over You, At Last ). The 12 track album was released by Vocalion on CD. Bings Last album Season was recorded for Philipp, is now available on CD by collector´choice Music with bonus tracks, including his final BBC radio recordings four days before his death in Spain (+ 3 poem readings, 1977). For the London (Decca) label he recorded 1975 A Southern Memoir  and Bingo Viejo, first with bonus tracks on CD. The British and the US LP- version of Bingo Viejo are mixed differently.  With Philipps label Bing planed a contract (6  or 8 LPs, e.g. a duett album with Bob Hope on late Octobre 1977, a LP with Noel Coward songs, and a teamwork with violinist Joe Venuti, died mid 1978). On Decca label and the same on Ktel you can listen to Bing´s Palladium concert (1976), 2 LP. EMI published a (shortened) CD from this concert. Philipps released after Bing´s death the 2LP Songs of a Lifetime, orchestratet titles (Pete Moore Orchestra, produced by Ken Barnes) from Bing´s radio shows. Some of them unorchastrated you can find on wonderfull Mosaic set. The 2LP with additional titles and some new mixes were available on 3 single CDs by a Swiss label. ARGO released Bing Crosby Reads Tom Sawyer, 3LP (1975). For the Concorde Jazz label (Rosemary Clooney´s late home label) Bing recorded 1977 only one fine jazzy title Don´t Get Around Much Any More (Scott Hamilton, tenor sax, Bill Berry, trumpet, Monty Budwig, bass, Jake Hanna, drums): A Tribute To Duke (Ellington). This title with Buddy Cole from 1957 is on CD Bing Sings the Great American Songbook (collector´ choice, but not on Mosaic set!). The 1977 version was used in the film Tough Guys with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. The inprissoned Douglas layed a shellac of this 1977 record on a grammophone!!! 

Last edited by Dieter (27/2/2022 11:53 pm)