Crosby Fan World / The Chronological Bing Crosby Complete Online Set

**Posted by ModernBingFan0377** 03/10/2025 6:22 pm

Hi friends,

I finally had gotten all 51 Chronological CDs and decided to rip them all to the lossless FLAC format and uploaded them, along with some scans of the booklets I found, onto the Internet Archive, so these recordings will be more readily available for people who can’t get their hands on the whole set.

https://archive.org/details/the_chronological_bing_crosby_complete#

**Posted by Pantelis Kavouras** 03/10/2025 8:55 pm

First of all, congratulations, assembling the full 51-CD Chronological Bing Crosby set is a worthwhile accomplishment, and a dream for every collector. These days, CDs have fallen out of popularity even faster than they replaced cassette tapes or vinyl. New cars don’t even come with CD players anymore. It’s sad to see any belovedformat fading, but Internet archiving is the future. Many people from yougner generations are much more at ease with digital accesing music than obtaining hard copies of cds.Having the entire Chronological Bing Crosby set preserved in the Internet Archives, is a great way to preserve Bing's recorded legacy for the benefit of newer generations. Since I don’t have a full set myself, I’m absolutely delighted to be able to hear it this way. Thank you again for doing this!

**Posted by dgmprod** 04/10/2025 5:11 am

Thanks so much for doing this. I have all the LPs but stopped when they went to CD. It’s great to have access to them. Appreciate it very much. Cheers Dave Duncan.

**Posted by ModernBingFan0377** 04/10/2025 6:06 pm

I figured it would be best to do this instead of uploading clips to YouTube - getting that lossless CD quality out there is lovely.

**Posted by STEPO** 04/10/2025 7:26 pm

A great idea thanks although i got the complete set used in an E Bay auction about a couple of years the prices have since gone up to such ridiculous prices now on E Bay that it's now practically unobtainable the only snag is that this will discourage Universal from issuing any new CDs and records of Bing's classic recordings but Universal haven't done much with it the last several years anyway.

Last edited by STEPO (24/10/2025 11:16 am)

**Posted by John Shrewsbury** 05/10/2025 10:56 am

Thank you!

**Posted by David Lobosco** 05/10/2025 11:02 am

This is an amazing project and service you did. I always wanted to do it, but never had the time to do so.
AMAZING and thank you!

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 15/10/2025 6:24 am

Congratulations and thank you for all you have done, here. You really have demonstrated such high passion and dedication with this and your efforts have already proven so useful, informative and entertaining.
I've blown hot and cold over the years whether or not to invest in the "Chronological" CD set. Mostly because of what I already have of Bing's on CD and vinyl. Because I am a member of one of the generations almost entirely sympathetic to these particualr physical formats, it's a lovely way for me to take more of a peak into the world of accessing Bing's music online. Very well done!!!

Just with reference to the Chronological Crosby on CD, with my never having seen any in person - coulld someone who posses any of these be able to inform me if they have extensive liner notes and also detailed information on the recordings themselves (dates, etc)?

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (15/10/2025 6:28 am)

**Posted by STEPO** 15/10/2025 7:29 pm

Yes they have extensive liner notes and detailed information on the recordings including the dates and where it was recorded,what record label it was on and plenty of photos.

Last edited by STEPO (23/11/2025 8:17 pm)

**Posted by ModernBingFan0377** 15/10/2025 11:18 pm

Even better Ian - you can look at the liner notes at that link! They’re wonderful, I love referring to them along with The Crosby Collection books.

Last edited by ModernBingFan0377 (15/10/2025 11:19 pm)

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 17/10/2025 1:52 am

ModernBingFan0377 wrote:
Even better Ian - you can look at the liner notes at that link! They’re wonderful, I love referring to them along with The Crosby Collection books.

Thank you very much indeed. I've now properly signed up to "Internet Archive". Apologies for not being terribly observant but are you able to tell me which precise heading I need to click on (and where about on the page it is) to access the liner notes, please?

**Posted by ModernBingFan0377** 17/10/2025 6:12 am

I believe if you click on the picture showing the front cover of the first volume of the CDs you’ll be able to scroll through all of the images.

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 17/10/2025 10:43 am

Thank you very much. I'm sure I'll work it out. Congratulations on all this, again.

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (17/10/2025 10:43 am)

**Posted by STEPO** 25/4/2026 12:21 pm

Noticed some songs are actually missing like the 1928 version of "Ol' Man River" with Paul Whiteman.

Last edited by STEPO (25/4/2026 10:47 pm)

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 25/4/2026 4:38 pm

That's quite a major one, Stepo.
Is this missing off the online files or the CDs themselves?

**Posted by STEPO** 25/4/2026 10:51 pm

Sorry should have been more clearer, it's the online files that's missing the 1928 version of Ol' Man River" , the CD set has every single song Bing recorded from 1926 through to September 1950.it looks to me that when ModernBingFan got a bit overwhelmed when ransferring the digital files because it's a massive undertaking also there were two later versions of "OL' Man River" later on in the set as well but they were include in the online files.

Last edited by STEPO (25/4/2026 10:57 pm)

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 26/4/2026 12:29 am

No apology necessary, Stepo.
Thank you.
There's two later recorded versions of "Ol' Man River"?
Do you know where from?
Did Bing record one with Buddy Cole - or would that be post 1950, which would be after The Chronological Crosby period? I only know elsewhere of a telly performance of this song by Bing and of course a much later one recorded at The London Palladium.
I'd love to get my hands on a full set of the "Chronological" CDs.

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (26/4/2026 12:30 am)

**Posted by STEPO** 26/4/2026 5:57 pm

A 1941 version with Victor Young which was released in Australia and the UK in 1944 and a version recorded in 1945 with the Camarata Orchestra, Bing also recorded a version with The Buddy Cole Trio in 1955 which was the b side of "A Little Spanish Town" a UK top 30 in 1956.

Last edited by STEPO (26/4/2026 6:07 pm)

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 26/4/2026 9:06 pm

Thank you, Stepo. That was most enlightening as I had never knowingly heard either the 1941 Victor Young or the 1945 Camarata orchestra versions before. I found the latter to be mellower and more consistent but Victor Young's a little less so. The strict melody line with which I'm familiar on Bing's vocals seemed to be a little less consistent with Bing seemingly beginning line openings on a slightly higher key and then dropping to another. My favourite of the three you mentioned was Buddy Cole's, which I had heard before. I think it's because I associate this song with Bing as an uptempo one. The first version I ever heard was indeed the 1928 version on a Crosby double cassette tape compilation I borrowed from my local library when aged fourteen. It was an RCA 1982 compilation entitled "Bing Crosby Forever (30 Evergreens)" and that one set really opened my eyes to Bing's versatility, as it contained more of his late 1920's early solos, most of the "Bing With a Beat" album and "Fancy Meeting You Here". No wonder I copied both cassette tapes!

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (26/4/2026 10:04 pm)

**Posted by STEPO** 27/4/2026 10:51 am

Seemingly had record charts existed in 1928 in America "Ol' Man River" with Paul Whiteman would have been Bing's first number one hit but those charts were compiled like the UKs Missing Charts book as the United States record charts did not exist until 1936 but i would have thought the Paul Robeson version would have been the big hit version as it was ipopular n the United Kingdom as Paul Robeson stayed England throughout the 1930s.

Last edited by STEPO (27/4/2026 10:55 am)

**Posted by ModernBingFan0377** 29/4/2026 4:15 am

Hi,

The 1928 version of Ol’ Man River is able to be downloaded in the files section; it may be glitched on the site’s web player.

**Posted by Pantelis Kavouras** 29/4/2026 7:44 am

I always loved Bing's versions of Ol'Man River, specially hearing first the 1928 one and then Bing's concert performances of the same number in Pasadena and Norway in 1977. In Pasadena specifically Bing's intensity is palpable.

**Posted by Ian Kerstein** 29/4/2026 5:30 pm

Stepo, that's interesting that Bing's 1928 version of Ol' Man River would have reached number one had the charts existed. Am I correct in thinking that up to about 1950, the format in which music was mainly purchased was sheet music?

Yes, Robeson was very popular over in the UK. Theatre runs in plays, films and concert appearances. Once when managing a music shop, a senior customer told me how transfixed he was on seeing Robeson at an outdoor concert over here in the 1950's. Like a singing Mount Rushmore.

Pantelis, I must look out my copy of a Joe Bushkin LP I have which contains a couple of 1977 Norway recorded tracks from Bing. I'll be interested to see if Ol' Man River is one of them, as I'm blowed if I can remember!

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (29/4/2026 5:42 pm)

**Posted by STEPO** 01/5/2026 10:07 am

Sheet music sold well because it was much cheaper to buy than records in the UK especially with rationing during world war two however by the early 1950s records were starting to outsell sheet music especially with singers like like Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray who had powerful voices and whose records where the singing over of the songs they sang made their versions the definitive versions of those songs also in those days there were would be several versions of the same songs but in the case of Frankie Line and Johnnie Ray. they were not many versions of "Jezebel" and "Cry" .

**Posted by Aaron Tickner** 09/9/2026 11:12 am

There is an alternate take of the 1928 Ol' Man River. I first discovered it on the Bix Restored series of CDs. I alerted Malcolm at the time who then let me know it had popped up on one of the Bing Good and Rare CDs.