1960 studio album by Bing Crosby
Join Bing & Sing Along is a long-playing vinyl album issued first by RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2276)[ 1] and immediately thereafter by Warner Bros. Records (W/WS-1363)[ 2] in 1960. The album consists of twelve medleys of 33 old songs in a singalong format. Bing Crosby sings on all of the tracks except those marked with an asterisk. The chorus and orchestra is conducted by Jack Halloran and their tracks were pre-recorded on November 9 & 13, 1959[ 3] with Crosby over-dubbing his vocals. Orchestral arrangements were by Bob Thompson .
The album entered the UK album charts on October 8, 1960 and reached a peak position of No. 7 in an 11-week stay.[ 4]
Hallmark Records issued the album on CD in 2011 No. 710082.
Variety magazine reviewed the album saying “Every company seems to be getting into the “Sing Along” act that Mitch Miller started for Columbia in the spring of 1958. Warner Bros. has a good scoring chance with their Bing Crosby version. He leads the vocal chorus through 33 familiar items and he has a way that makes it easy to join along.”[ 5]
Billboard liked it. "Of course, this is imitation, as are so many of the recent sing-along sets, but it is a first-rate one due to the presence of the old master, Bing Crosby. The grand collection of 33 old-time tunes is made to order for the old Groaner, and he sings them infectiously so that everyone is sure to sing along with him. If exploited this could be a good seller."[ 6]
Crosby expert, Fred Reynolds, writing in his book The Crosby Collection, 1926–1977 summed it up as follows: "Bing makes little attempt at subtlety of phrasing, ornamentation, niceties or nuances of any kind and his vocals, backed by hearty voices, create only a mechanically jolly atmosphere of a party get-together. There was a criticism, not without justification, that the album was too lightweight for a singer of his calibre but in mitigation it can be fairly claimed that it is a pleasant, happy sound with well chosen classic old songs brought back to life."[ 7]
Side one Title Writer(s) 1. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game " "Meet Me in St. Louis " "Peggy O'Neil" Jack Norworth , Albert Von Tilzer Andrew B. Sterling , Kerry Mills Harry Pease, Ed Nelson, Gilbert Dodge3:22 2. "K-K-K-Katy " "Mairzy Doats " "Old MacDonald Had a Farm " Geoffrey O'Hara Milton Drake , Al Hoffman , Jerry Livingston Traditional3:21 3. "Aura Lea " "Cuddle up a Little Closer " W. W. Fosdick George R. Poulton Karl Hoschna , Otto Harbach 2:56 4. "Daisy Bell " "The Bowery " "After the Ball " Harry Dacre Percy Gaunt, Charles H. Hoyt Charles K. Harris 2:54 5. "Long, Long Ago " "On the Banks of the Wabash "* "Seeing Nellie Home " Thomas Haynes Bayly Paul Dresser John Fletcher3:29 6. "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me " "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers " "On the Road to Mandalay " Thomas Brigham Bishop James A. Bland Oley Speaks , Rudyard Kipling 3:13 Total length: 19:15
Side two Title Writer(s) 1. "Give My Regards to Broadway " "Mary's a Grand Old Name*" "You're a Grand Old Flag " George M. Cohan George M. Cohan George M. Cohan3:13 2. "When You Wore a Tulip" "You Were Meant for Me " Percy Wenrich , Jack MahoneyNacio Herb Brown , Arthur Freed 3:12 3. "Goodbye, My Lady Love" "Linger Awhile" "Heart of My Heart " Joseph E. Howard Harry Owens , Vincent Rose Ben Ryan 3:28 4. "Doodle Doo-Doo" "All I Do Is Dream of You " Mel Stitzel , Art Kassel Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed3:14 5. "Alice Blue Gown "* "I Love You Truly *" "When I Grow Too Old to Dream " Harry Tierney , Joseph McCarthy Carrie Jacobs-Bond Sigmund Romberg , Oscar Hammerstein II 3:16 6. "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight " "Toot, Toot, Tootsie, (Goo'bye) " "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay *" Theodore August Metz, Joe Hayden Ernie Erdman, Dan Russo, Gus Kahn Henry J. Sayers 3:01 Total length: 19:24
*Non-Bing – orchestra and chorus only
^ "discogs.com" . discogs.com . Retrieved July 10, 2016 .
^ "discogs.com" . discogs.com . Retrieved July 10, 2016 .
^ "BingCrosby.com" . BingCrosby.com . Retrieved July 31, 2015 .
^ British Hit Singles & Albums (18th ed.). London: Guinness World Records. 2005. p. 126. ISBN 1-904994-00-8 .
^ "Variety". March 2, 1960.
^ "Billboard". February 22, 1960.
^ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part Four 1951-1960 ed.). pp. 268–269.
Albums
Music of Hawaii (1939)
Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. One (1939)
Patriotic Songs for Children (1939)
Cowboy Songs (Bing Crosby's first solo album) (1939)
Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. Two (1939)
George Gershwin Songs, Vol. One (1939)
Ballad for Americans (Bing Crosby's first solo studio album)(1940)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs (1940)
Christmas Music (1940)
Star Dust (1940)
Hawaii Calls (1941)
Small Fry (1941)
Crosbyana (1941)
Under Western Skies (1941)
Song Hits from Holiday Inn (w/ Fred Astaire ) (1942)
Merry Christmas (1945)
Selections from Going My Way (1945)
Selections from The Bells of St. Mary's (1946)
Don't Fence Me In (w/ The Andrews Sisters ) (1946)
The Happy Prince (1946)
Selections from Road to Utopia (1946)
Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster (1946)
What We So Proudly Hail (1946)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. One (1946)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. Two (1946)
Blue Skies (w/ Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin ) (1946)
Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern (1946)
St. Patrick's Day (1947)
Bing Crosby – Victor Herbert (1947)
Cowboy Songs, Vol. One (1947)
Selections from Welcome Stranger (1947)
Our Common Heritage (1947)
El Bingo (1947)
The Small One (1947)
The Man Without a Country (1947)
Drifting and Dreaming (1947)
Blue of the Night (1948)
Selections from Showboat (1948)
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
St. Valentine's Day (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters (1948)
Selections from Road to Rio (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Heywood, Louis Jordan (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows (1948)
Cowboy Songs, Vol. Two (1948)
Auld Lang Syne (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings Cole Porter Songs (1949)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin (1949)
South Pacific (1949)
Christmas Greetings (1949)
Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz (1950)
Songs from Mr. Music (w/ Dorothy Kirsten and The Andrews Sisters ) (1950)
Go West Young Man (w/ The Andrews Sisters ) (1950)
Collectors' Classics, Vols. 1–8 (1951)
Way Back Home (1951)
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from... (1951)
Bing and the Dixieland Bands (1951)
Yours Is My Heart Alone (1951)
Country Style (1951)
Beloved Hymns (1951)
Bing and Connee (w/ Connee Boswell ) (1952)
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1952)
Themes and Songs from The Quiet Man (w/ Victor Young ) (1952)
Selections from the Paramount Picture "Just for You" (w/ Jane Wyman and The Andrews Sisters ) (1952)
Road to Bali (w/ Bob Hope and Peggy Lee ) (1952)
Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris (1953)
Some Fine Old Chestnuts (1954)
Bing Sings the Hits (1954)
Selections from White Christmas (w/ Peggy Lee and Danny Kaye ) (1954)
Bing: A Musical Autobiography (1954)
The Country Girl / Little Boy Lost (1955)
Merry Christmas (later version of 1945 78rpm album) (1955)
Shillelaghs and Shamrocks (1956)
Home on the Range (1956)
Blue Hawaii (1956)
High Tor (w/ Julie Andrews and Everett Sloane ) (1956)
A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World (1956)
Anything Goes (w/ Donald O'Connor , Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmaire ) (1956)
High Society (w/ Frank Sinatra , Grace Kelly , and Louis Armstrong ) (1956)
Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around (1956)
Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (1956)
Bing with a Beat (1957)
A Christmas Story (1957)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1957)
New Tricks (1957)
The Bible Story of Christmas (1957)
Never Be Afraid (1958)
Jack B. Nimble – A Mother Goose Fantasy (1958)
Fancy Meeting You Here ( w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1958)
Around the World with Bing! (1958)
Bing in Paris (1958)
That Christmas Feeling (1958)
In a Little Spanish Town (1958)
Bing’s Buddies and Beaus (1959)
Say One for Me (w/ Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner ) (1959)
How the West Was Won (w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1960)
Join Bing and Sing Along (1960)
Bing & Satchmo (w/ Louis Armstrong ) (1960)
Songs of Christmas (1960)
101 Gang Songs (1961)
El Señor Bing (1961)
My Golden Favorites (1961)
The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Bing's Hollywood (set of 15 albums) (1962)
On the Happy Side (1962)
I Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962)
Holiday in Europe (1962)
Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (1963)
Return to Paradise Islands (1964)
America, I Hear You Singing (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring ) (1964)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (w/ Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , and Sammy Davis Jr. ) (1964)
12 Songs of Christmas (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring ) (1964)
Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits (1965)
That Travelin' Two-Beat (w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1965)
The Summit (w/ Dean Martin , Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. ) (1966)
Bing Crosby's Treasury – The Songs I Love (1966)
Bing Crosby and The Columbus Boychoir Sing Family Christmas Favorites (w/ The Columbus Boychoir ) (1967)
Thoroughly Modern Bing (1968)
Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love (1968 version) (1968)
Hey Jude/Hey Bing! (1969)
Goldilocks (1970)
A Time to Be Jolly (1971)
Bing 'n' Basie (w/ Count Basie ) (1972)
Rhythm on the Range (1972)
I’ll Sing You a Song of the Islands (1972)
A Southern Memoir (1975)
That's What Life Is All About (1975)
A Couple of Song and Dance Men (w/ Fred Astaire ) (1975)
Tom Sawyer (1976)
At My Time of Life (1976)
Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium (1976)
Feels Good, Feels Right (1976)
Beautiful Memories (1977)
Bingo Viejo (1977)
Seasons (Bing Crosby's last studio album released during his lifetime) (1977)
A Little Bit of Irish (posthumous edition, recorded in 1966) (1993)
Bing Crosby: The Voice of Christmas (1998)
On the Sentimental Side (posthumous edition, recorded in 1962; Bing Crosby's latest studio album) (2010)
Family Related