COMING SOON: SOME FINE OLD CHESTNUTS

Here are the track details for the 60th anniversary issue of the Some Fine Old Chestnuts album. The reissue comes out November 25th...

1. Do You Ever Think of Me

2. I Never Knew (That Roses Grew)

3. Somebody Loves Me

4. After You've Gone

5. Sleepy Time Gal

6. Dinah

7. I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody)

8. I Can't Give You Anything But Love

9. In A Little Spanish Town

10. Honeysuckle Rose

11. Ol' Man River

12. Swanee

13. Painting the Clouds with Sunshine - Previously unissued

14. Bright Eyes - Previously unissued

15. Avalon Town - Previously unissued

16. Sometimes I'm Happy (with Helen O'Connell) - Previously unissued

17. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me - Previously unissued

18. Hallelujah - Previously unissued

19. I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Rehearsals) - Previously unissued and never broadcast.

20. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Previously unissued

21. I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody) (take 2) - Previously unissued

22. I Never Knew (That Roses Grew) - Previously unissued and never broadcast.

23. After You've Gone (take 2) - Previously unissued and never broadcast.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING READING

You often hear about Bing Crosby - the crooner, the hunter, the movie star, the golfer - but you never really hear or see stories about Bing reading. I looked through the picture files and found some great photos of Bing reading. He read a lot from sheet music to the newspaper...

 

 

With Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland

 

 

 

 

With Gary Crosby
 

NEW CDS FROM BING CROSBY ENTERPRISES

Here is some exciting news from the Bing Crosby Archive and Universal Music. It is a good time to be a Bing Crosby fan...

American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered – The Soundtrack includes several previously unissued recordings of songs heard in the film, and is one of four new CD releases coming on November 25th from the Bing Crosby Archive and Universal Music Enterprises.

Also coming, Bing Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook, a brand new compilation featuring familiar classics from Bing’s Decca catalog alongside rare previously unissued recordings. The album features the first ever CD release of the 2012 Michael Bublé – Bing Crosby duet of “White Christmas.”

Expanded reissues of two classic Decca Crosby albums, Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around (Deluxe Edition) and Some Fine Old Chestnuts (60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) also feature previously unissued recordings, as well as newly remastered versions of the albums taken directly from the original master tapes, which had been stored in the Crosby archive for decades.

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RECALLING BING AND THE PIRATES

The singer-actor-entrepreneur purchased a stake in the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1946; years after his death, a pristine recording of what's been called The Best Game Ever — the seventh game of the 1960 World Series — was found in his cellar...

Bing Crosby ranked among the wealthiest entertainers of his era and was an early, highly successful multihyphenate.

The singer-actor-entrepreneur sold a half-billion records; did a string of hit movies withBob Hope; won a best actor Oscar for 1944'sGoing My Way; and in 1948 invested in a "fast freezing" process that paid off handsomely when it became Minute Maid. By the late 1950s, his wealth was estimated at up to $130 million in today's dollars. But the investment that got the most attention was his 1946 purchase of a 25 percent stake in the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The total price for the team was $2.25 million ($29 million today). Crosby always had been interested in baseball (he'd played semipro ball in his youth), but since 1937 he'd owned part of the Del Mar racetrack in Southern California.

At that time, the baseball commissioner was the formidable Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who prohibited anyone involved in what he considered the shady world of horse racing from becoming involved in Major League Baseball. When Landis died in 1944, the door opened for Crosby.

Arguably the biggest effect the singer had on MLB history was in preserving what's been called The Best Game Ever, the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, in which Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a game-ending home run to beat the Yankees 10-9 after the lead had changed four times. Crosby, who had a passionate interest in videotaping -- Ampex, an early tape-recorder manufacturer, was another of his investments -- believed he'd be a jinx to the Pirates since they'd lost a number of games he'd attended, so he arranged for a kinescope (a pre-videotape recording process) of the last game to be made. Crosby died at 74 in 1977, and in 2010 the pristine copy of the NBC broadcast was found in his wine cellar.

"There's no replays or no nothing except the actual play," says 1960 Cy Young Award winner Vernon Law, now 84, who pitched the game's first seven innings for the Pirates. "I could remember every pitch I threw to every hitter. I remember those things like it was yesterday." Nine years after Crosby's death, the team was sold to a group of Pittsburgh businessmen... 

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BING'S MEMORABILIA GETS NEW HOME

 

SPOKANE — Gonzaga University's collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia is being moved into the singer's boyhood home on the campus in Spokane. The public exhibition of the entertainer's gold and platinum records, trophies and other items will be on display at the 101-year-old Crosby House.

A grand opening is scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 13 from 1 - 4 p.m.

The university says it's the largest public collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia.

The Crosby House is a tourist attraction for people who want to see where the singer learned to love music. Crosby attended Gonzaga for a time before joining a band and leaving for Hollywood in 1925..

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THE REAL FATHER O'MALLEY

100th Anniversary Concert to Feature the Music of Father Joseph P. Connor, Inspiration for Classic Film "Going My Way"

 

By Cynthia Cumming

 

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WEST ORANGE, NJ - What do American Bandstand, the Oscar-winning film "Going My Way," and former New Jersey Governor Brendan T. Byrne have in common? The answer is a 100th Anniversary concert celebrating the life and music of Father Joseph P. Connor, beloved parochial vicar and American music composer at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in West Orange on September 14.

The Les Elgart Orchestra, a 40s Big Band best-known for "Bandstand Boogie," the American Bandstand theme song, will perform many of Father Connor's compositions. Connor was the inspiration for Father O'Malley in "Going My Way," the classic film that earned Bing Crosby a best actor nod in 1944. The event chair is Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, who was a youth at Our Lady of Lourdes while Father Connor served there.

Father O'Connor composed popular and religious music during the twenties, thirties and forties. His best-known contemporary work is When I take my Sugar to Tea, which is regularly performed by the Les Elgart Orchestra. Other songs include By a Waterfall, You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me, The Golden Dawn, Lilies of Lorraine, The Far Green Hills of Home, Little Black Dog, I Shall Return, Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses, Miracle of the Bells and Honeymoon Lane. Father O'Connor wrote several movie scores including Footlights on Parade and 42nd Street.

“His history is truly amazing,” said Our Lady of Lourdes Pastor, Father James Ferry. “He was composing during the great swing era, and this year—our 100th anniversary-- is the right time to tell his unique story, celebrate his contributions to the parishes he served, and touch more people through his music.”

He is credited with 180 songs of his own; 330 in collaboration with composers like Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, and his works were recorded by superstars like Frank Sinatra. His friends included Ed Sullivan, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Jack Dempsey. He also worked closely with Oscar Hammerstein.Father Connor frequently used pseudonyms for his works, including Pierre Norman and John OpenshawIn.

Just like Father Chuck O'Malley in "Going My Way," Father Connor used his royalties for parish and the poor, and spearheaded the construction of Our Lady of Lourdes School. Sadly, after a short illness, Father Connor passed away in 1952 at the age of 54.

The Les Elgart Orchestra will perform Father Connor's music in a concert on Sept. 14 at Our Lady of Lourdes, One Eagle Rock Avenue, beginning at 2:15 pm. General admission is $50.00. On November 9, a 100th Anniversary Mass will be held and a Gala Celebration will take place at the Hanover Manor. More information on those events will be provided in the near future.

 

For more information on the event, visit the Our Lady of Lourdes website at http://www.lourdeswestorange.org/.

 

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HOLIDAY INN GOES TO BROADWAY

Bing Crosby's classic 1942 movie Holiday Inn is headed to Broadway...

 

 

Broadway's Tally Sessions (Big Fish) is set to star as Jim Hardy in the upcoming Goodspeed Opera House production of Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, replacing the previously announced Corey Mach. The new musical runs from September 19-November 30, with opening night set for October 15 at the Goodspeed Opera House.

Inspired by the Fred Astaire-Bing Crosby film of the same title, Holiday Inn tells the story of a Connecticut farmhouse that is transformed into a holiday nightspot. The score includes classic tunes like "Easter Parade," "Happy Holiday," and "White Christmas." The stage musical features a book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge.

In addition to Sessions, the previously announced cast will feature Noah Racey, Danny Rutigliano, Patti Murin, Hayley Podschun, Susan Mosher, and Noah Marlow. The ensemble will include Alissa Alter, Abby Church, Darien Crago, Caley Crawford, Jeremiah Ginn, Juliane Godfrey, Laura Harrison, Bryan Thomas Hunt, Charles MacEachern, Karl Skyler Urban, and John T. Wolfe. The swings are Sarah Fagan and Darrell T. Joe.

Greenberg directs the production, which will feature choreography by Denis Jones, scenic design by Anna Louizos, costumes by Alejo Vietti, lighting by Jeff Croiter, sound by Jay Hilton, orchestrations by Dan DeLange, musical direction by Michael O'Flaherty, and assistant musical direction by William J...

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