Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern

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Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern
Bing Crosby - Jerome Kern (album cover).jpg
Compilation album by Bing Crosby
Released 1946 (original 78rpm album)
1949 (10" LP album)
Recorded 1936, 1944, 1945
Genre Popular
Length22:45
Label Decca
Bing Crosby chronology
Blue Skies
(1946)		Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern
(1946)		 St. Patrick's Day
(1947)

Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern is a compilation album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby of songs written by Jerome Kern.

A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology.

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.

Jerome Kern American composer of musical theater and popular music

Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago " and "Who?". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg.

Contents

Reception

According to Billboard:

With the forthcoming of the new movie keyed to the music of Jerome Kern, there is more than casual interest in this packaging of eight melodies by the master, some of which had been issued earlier as singing sides. Attention is also directed to two of the eight sides Bing Crosby had the missus, Dixie Lee, joining him vocally. Mr. and Mrs. Crosby share the lyrics for the ballads "A Fine Romance" and "The Way You Look Tonight" with Victor Young providing the musical background. Album plays down Mrs. Crosby, which is easy to understand once the sides spin out. Much more effective are the other six sides that has the groaner giving out in his usual easy and relaxed style, bearing out all the expression and understanding of the Kern songs … Booklet included with the package includes copious notes on the singer and the composer … Movie association will heighten the merchandising appeal of this slap-together set. [1]

Track listings

Original release

These songs were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-485. [2]

"Ol' Man River" is a show tune from the 1927 musical Show Boat that contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River. It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show. The song is meant to be performed in a slow tempo, it is sung complete once in the musical's lengthy first scene by the stevedore "Joe" who travels with the boat, and, in the stage version, is heard four more times in brief reprises. Joe serves as a sort of musical one-man Greek chorus, and the song, when reprised, comments on the action, as if saying, "This has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway."

"I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" is a popular song with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, published in 1932. The song was introduced in the musical play, Music in the Air. The first hit recording of the song was released in 1932 by Jack Denny and His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, featuring the vocals of Paul Small. It has since been recorded by many artists.

"Long Ago " is a popular song with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. about nostalgia from the 1944 Technicolor film musical Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly and released by Columbia Pictures. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1944 but lost out to “Swinging on a Star”. The song was published in 1944 and sold over 600,000 copies in sheet music in a year. In 2004 it finished #92 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

LP reissue

The 1949 10" LP album issue Decca DL 5001 consisted of eight songs on one 33 1/3 rpm record. All were reissues of earlier recordings. [3]

All music composed by Jerome Kern. Recording dates follow song titles.

Side one
No.TitleLyricsPerformed withLength
1."Till the Clouds Roll By" (December 18, 1945) Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse Camarata and His Orchestra2:35
2."Ol' Man River" (December 31, 1945) Oscar Hammerstein II Camarata and His Orchestra3:03
3."I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" (December 31, 1945)Oscar Hammerstein IICamarata and His Orchestra2:46
4."Dearly Beloved" (May 3, 1944) Johnny Mercer John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:42
Side two
No.TitleLyricsPerformed withLength
1."Long Ago (and Far Away)" (May 3, 1944) Ira Gershwin John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra2:53
2."All Through the Day" (December 31, 1945)Oscar Hammerstein IICamarata and His Orchestra3:05
3."A Fine Romance" (August 19, 1936) Dorothy Fields Dixie Lee and Victor Young and His Orchestra3:04
4."The Way You Look Tonight" (August 19, 1936)Dorothy FieldsDixie Lee and Victor Young and His Orchestra2:37

[4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. December 21, 1946.
  2. ↑ "DISCOGS". discogs.com. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  3. ↑ "DISCOGS.COM". discogs.com. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
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