Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)
2. Out of Nowhere
3. Just One More Chance
4. I'm Through With Love
5. I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store)
6. At Your Command
7. I Apologize
8. Dancing in the Dark
9. Stardust
10. Moon Was Yellow
11. Two Cigarettes in the Dark
12. With Every Breath I Take
13. June in January
14. Love Is Just Around the Corner
15. Soon
16. Down by the River
17. It's Easy to Remember
18. Red Sails in the Sunset
19. Silent Night
20. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
21. I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)
22. Pennies from Heaven
23. Fine Romance
24. Sweet Leilani

Disc 2:

1. Blue Hawaii
2. Too Marvelous for Words
3. It's the Natural Thing to Do
4. Moon Got in My Eyes
5. Remember Me
6. Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)
7. Don't Be That Way
8. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
9. Small Fry
10. I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams
11. Mexicali Rose
12. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
13. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)
14. Somebody Loves Me
15. What's New?
16. Sierra Sue
17. Trade Winds
18. Only Forever
19. New San Antonio Rose
20. Humpty Dumpty Heart
21. Deep in the Heart of Texas
22. Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie
23. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
24. White Christmas
25. Easter Parade

Disc 3:

1. Be Careful, It's My Heart
2. Adeste Fideles
3. Moonlight Becomes You
4. Sunday, Monday or Always
5. Mississippi Mud/I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain
6. Pistol Packin' Mama
7. I'll Be Home for Christmas
8. San Fernando Valley
9. Close the Door Joe, We're Making a Disc! [#]
10. Swinging on a Star
11. I Love You
12. I'll Be Seeing You [Rehearsal Glimpse][#]
13. I'll Be Seeing You
14. On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
15. Song of the Fifth Marines [#]
16. (There'll Be A) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin (When the Yanks Go ...)
17. Don't Fence Me In
18. My Baby Said Yes (Yip, Yip de Hootie)
19. Mine
20. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
21. Road to Morocco
22. You Belong to My Heart
23. It's Been a Long, Long Time
24. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)
25. I Can't Begin to Tell You
26. Day by Day
27. MacNamara's Band
28. South America, Take It Away!

Disc 4:

1. Alexander's Ragtime Band
2. Spaniard That Blighted My Life [#]
3. Whiffenpoof Song
4. Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)
5. But Beautiful
6. Galway Bay
7. Far Away Places
8. Sing Soft, Sing Sweet, Sing Gentle
9. Dear Hearts and Gentle People
10. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
11. Play a Simple Melody
12. Sam's Song (The Happy Tune)
13. Harbor Lights
14. Autumn Leaves
15. Silver Bells
16. Getting to Know You
17. Gone Fishin' [Live]
18. In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening
19. Watermelon Weather
20. Thanks for the Memory
21. Around the World (In Eighty Days)
22. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
23. Gigi
24. Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107954 in Music
• Released on: 1993-09-28
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Bing Crosby was a laidback swinger, and this four-CD box spends a fair amount of its time reminding us of an era when the emphasis was as much on the swing as on the lazy-lidded attitude. Never as angst-ridden as Sinatra could be, and consequently not as multilayered, Crosby is nonetheless not a singer to be missed. The quarter century surveyed here includes cultural touchstones ("White Christmas," "Don't Fence Me In") and obscurities. All deserve to be heard by fans of the American song book and stylish performances. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

An Amazing Box Set!
This is a beautiful sampling of the work of Bing Crosby during his best years. Wonderfully designed, wonderfully annotated by Will Friedwald (One of the most perceptive writers today on the subject of American pop music of the pre-rock era) and excellently re-mastered. The selections feature something for everyone: Lots of the big hits, for those who have no Crosby in their CD libraries, and a nice selection of the lesser-reissued tunes for the folks who already have enough copies of "Swinging On A Star" on the Crosby shelf. Listen, as Crosby's style matures over a period of 23 years, and as pop music itself morphs profoundly over the course of this remarkable man's reign (Bing fans and fanatics should know as well that Bing's ENTIRE recorded output, from 1926 to 1939, is available on a series of collector's CDs! check out the Bing Crosby Internet Museum website). In the meantime, this box is absolutely the finest collection of Crosby available on CD, and the perfect companion to Gary Giddins' great new book on Bing. grab it!

THE REAL THING
This 4 CD set (which covers songs released from 1931 to 1957) and its accompanying book with great photos and a superbly written appreciation of Crosby by Will Friedhold will take a place of honor in my music collection. I always thought Crosby was just "a good singer---someone who crooned, sang 'buh,buh,buh,boo,' acted in a few serious movies and in alot of silly movies with Bob Hope, and was someone who would not be remembered as an innovator or one of the greats." I was very, very wrong! Every single number on these CD's (approx. 24 per CD) is worth hearing and 90% of them, especially the ballads like "Dancing In the Dark" and a very cool arrangement of the usually hokey operetta number "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise," are unbeatable. There is no doubt that Crosby possessed one of the most beautiful bari-tenor voices--his voice is never less than graceful and beguilingly sexy, but he pays particular attention to lyrics in every song. There are classic songs like Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and Arlen & Mercer's "Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive"; there are novelty songs from WW2 like "There'll Be A Hot Time In The Town of Berlin When The Yanks Go Marching In"; there are duets with stars like Peggy Lee (a gorgeous song by Hoagy Carmichael called "Watermelon Weather") and Louis Armstrong ("Gone Fishin'"); there are songs from Crosby's movies, tv and radio shows; there are even Christmas songs. In each and every song, in each and every style (inc. Spirituals!!!) Crosby makes you aware that he cannot be shrugged off as a footnote to other popular singers. This set would be a wonderful gift for people who were/are his fans and a total revelation for people who have only vaguely heard of him or perhaps saw him on "The Late Show" playing straight man to Hope. Because it is on four CD's, the price is, of course, relatively high, but it is worth every cent. You'll be very, very happy that you bought this set. Bing Crosby is The Real Thing-The Genuine Article! Highly recommended!!!!!!

Excellent Introduction to Bing
I bought this set some ten years ago, when I was a budding Bing fan, fearful that I might regret having dropped so much coin on an artist I wasn't thoroughly familiar with. After sampling a few tracks on each of the four discs, however, I realized there would be no buyer's remorse with THIS purchase.

If you want to familiarize yourself with Bing Crosby, this is the perfect primer, covering his most prolific and influential years as the world's most popular entertainer. "Prolific" is the key word here. You can't not like Bing Crosby's music, because he masterfully interpreted so many genres that there's literally something for everybody. Popular Standards, Jazz, Country & Western, Hawaiian, Folk, Irish, Christmas Carols, Gospel, even Light Opera - he sang them all as though they were the reason for his existence. And it didn't hurt that he had one of the most appealing voices in the history of recorded sound. This package offers an enticing cross section of that incomparable versatility.

The attractive and entertainingly informative booklet by the eminent popular music historian Will Friedwald (author of Stardust Melodies) complements the set perfectly.

Be careful - purchasing this collection could start you down the road to full-fledged Crosby fanaticism, as it did me. Now THAT runs into money!