GUEST REVIEW: BING SINGS LP

Here is a great review of a terrific Bing Crosby LP issue of its time. It was one of my prized possessions when I first started collecting Bing...

Effortless Grace
by Annie Van Auken

Perhaps the most likeable (and relaxed) vocalist of all time, Bing Crosby had hundreds of charting singles over a long career. One of these, “White Christmas,” was #1 in 1942, and reappeared 22 times after that, charting in 19 of those years: ’43 (6); ’44 (5); ’45 (1); ’46 (1); ’47 (3); ’48 (6); ’49 (5); ’50 (13); ’51 (13); ’53 (21); ’54 (13); ’55 (7); ’56 (65); ’57 (34); ’58 (66); ’59 (59); ’60 (26); ’61 (12); ’62 (38); ’77; ’85 and ’98. This is a feat that will never be equalled.

Many of Bing’s best sides are here. Only the first three are remakes of his earliest hits, which may be why “I Surrender Dear” and “Just a Gigolo” weren’t included (Crosby never redid these classics).

An overview of his BRUNSWICK and DECCA output, Reader’s Digest’s BING SINGS 96 OF HIS GREATEST HITS was issued less than a year after Crosby’s 1977 death. Manufacturer is RCA. These aren’t their dreadful DYNAFLEX paper-thin discs, but they also aren’t up to golden era vinyl standards. A tiniest bit of rechanneling has been applied to make bass notes seem right soundstage. There’s no echo, no masking filters, no channel imbalance

These discs were meant to be stacked on a changer for continuity by year (Sides 1 thru 8 “A” followed by 8 thru 1 “B”). Average side time is 18 minutes.

A heavy stock box that holds the records slides out of an even more substantial outer case. Plastic-lined card paper storage sleeves have graduated cuts in the upper right corner, which simplifies finding a specific record (when they’re in the correct order). Sleeves have interesting paragraphs about each recording on their backs. No studio dates are provided...

ANNIE'S RATING: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS
MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10
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