Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster

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Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster
Bing Crosby - Stephen Foster (album cover).jpg
Compilation album by Bing Crosby
Released Original 78 album: 1946
Re-release 78 album: 1946
Original LP album: 1949
Recorded 1935, 1940, 1941
Genre Popular
Length23:36
Label Decca
Bing Crosby chronology
Selections from Road to Utopia
(1946)		Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster
(1946)		 What We So Proudly Hail
(1946)

Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster is a compilation album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby of songs by Stephen Foster released in 1946.

Bing Crosby American singer and actor

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, Music Digest estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.

Stephen Foster American songwriter

Stephen Collins Foster, known as "the father of American music", was an American songwriter known primarily for his parlor and minstrel music. He wrote more than 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna", "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer", and many of his compositions remain popular today. He has been identified as "the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century" and may be the most recognizable American composer in other countries. His compositions are sometimes referred to as "childhood songs" because they have been included in the music curriculum of early education. Most of his handwritten music manuscripts are lost, but editions issued by publishers of his day can be found in various collections.

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1946.

Contents

Background

Bing Crosby had enjoyed unprecedented success during the 1940s with his discography showing six No. 1 hits in 1944 alone. His films such as Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's were huge successes as were the Road films he made with Bob Hope. On radio, his Kraft Music Hall and Philco Radio Time shows were very popular. Decca Records built on this by issuing a number of 78rpm album sets, some featuring freshly recorded material and others utilizing Crosby's back catalogue. Ten of these sets were released in 1946, nine in 1947 and nine more in 1948. Most of these 78rpm albums were reissued as 10" vinyl LP's in subsequent years.

<i>Going My Way</i> 1944 film by Leo McCarey

Going My Way is a 1944 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Based on a story by Leo McCarey, the film is about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran. Crosby sings five songs in the film, with other songs performed onscreen by Metropolitan Opera's star mezzo-soprano, Risë Stevens as well as the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir. Going My Way was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's.

<i>The Bells of St. Marys</i> 1945 film by Leo McCarey

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) is an American drama film, produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Dudley Nichols and based on a story by Leo McCarey, the film is about a priest and a nun who, despite their good-natured rivalry, try to save their school from being shut down. The character Father O'Malley had been previously portrayed by Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was produced by Leo McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.

<i>Road to ...</i> series of American comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour

Road to ... is a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as the "Road" pictures or the "Road" series. The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, romance, and music. The minimal plot often took a back seat to gags, many of them reportedly ad-libbed by Crosby and Hope during filming.

Reception

Billboard liked the album saying: "It was expected that sooner or later Bing Crosby would make an album of Stephen Foster tunes. Crosby does full justice to the popular composer's music." [1]

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Original track listing

The songs were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-440. [2]

Disc 1 (18801): "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" / "Nell and I"
Disc 2 (18802): "Beautiful Dreamer" / "Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair"
Disc 3 (18803): "My Old Kentucky Home" / "De Camptown Races"
Disc 4 (18804): "Old Folks at Home" / "Old Black Joe"

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair song composed by Stephen Foster

"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1854. Foster wrote the song with his estranged wife Jane McDowell in mind. The lyrics allude to a permanent separation.

Beautiful Dreamer song by Stephen Foster

"Beautiful Dreamer" is a parlor song by American songwriter Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published posthumously in March 1864, by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. The first edition states on its title page that it is "the last song ever written by Stephen C. Foster. Composed but a few days prior to his death." However, Carol Kimball, the author of Song, points out that the first edition's copyright is dated 1862, which suggests, she writes, that the song was composed and readied for publication two years before Foster's death. There are at least 20 songs, she observes, that claim to be Foster's last, and it is unknown which is indeed his last. The song is set in 9
8 time with a broken chord accompaniment.

My Old Kentucky Home song

"My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!" is an anti-slavery ballad written by Stephen Foster, probably composed in 1852. It was published in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York. Foster was likely inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, with imagery witnessed on his visits to the Bardstown, Kentucky farm called Federal Hill.

Re-issue track listing

The same songs were issued on another 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-482 later in 1946, [3] although the actual discs had different numbers.

Disc 1 (25127): "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" / "Nell and I"
Disc 2 (25128): "Beautiful Dreamer" / "Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair"
Disc 3 (25129): "My Old Kentucky Home" / "De Camptown Races"
Disc 4 (25130): "Old Folks at Home" / "Old Black Joe"

LP track listing

The same songs were issued on a Decca 10" album DL 5010 in 1949.

All tracks written by Stephen Foster. Recording dates follow song titles.

Side one
No.TitlePerformed withLength
1."Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (March 22, 1940) John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:46
2."Nell and I" (July 5, 1941)John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:51
3."Beautiful Dreamer" (March 22, 1940)John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:51
4."Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair" (June 16, 1941)John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra3:13
Side two
No.TitlePerformed withLength
1."My Old Kentucky Home" (December 9, 1940) Victor Young and His Orchestra3:10
2."De Camptown Races" (December 9, 1940)Victor Young and His Orchestra2:42
3."Old Folks at Home" (February 21, 1935) Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra3:05
4."Old Black Joe" (June 16, 1941)John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:58

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References

  1. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard: 30. June 1, 1946.
  2. ↑ "DISCOGS". discogs.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ "DISCOGS". discogs.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
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