Tom Sawyer (album)

Last updated
Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer (Bing Crosby album) (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
Bing Crosby
Released1976
RecordedSeptember 3, 5, 1975
Genre Reading
Label Argo Records (UK) (ZSW 561-3)
Producer Kevin Daly
Bing Crosby chronology
A Couple of Song and Dance Men
(w/ Fred Astaire)
(1975)		Tom Sawyer
(1976)		 At My Time of Life
(1976)

Tom Sawyer is a 3-LP box set containing a reading by Bing Crosby of an abridged version of Mark Twain’s classic story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . It was recorded for Argo Records (UK) on September 3 and 5, 1975 [1] at Argo Studios, 115 Fulham Road, London.

Contents

Background music in the natural breaks in the story was composed by David T. Reilly and played by his father Tommy Reilly on the harmonica. [2]

The album has never been issued on CD.

Background

Executive producer Geoff Milne described the background in a magazine article after Crosby’s death. “Argo wanted to do something to commemorate the American Bicentennial celebrations, and it seemed a good idea to do Tom Sawyer - we all agreed that the only person who could relate the story was Bing Crosby…The recordings were done in two sessions, one lasting four hours and the other two and one-half hours...It was interesting to watch him in the studios. He was on his feet throughout the sessions. And he didn’t just read Tom Sawyer, he was actually acting the parts. His voice took on different tones and characters. He put a lot into it and I believe that it comes across in the records.” [3]

Most of the sound effects on the album were done by Geoff Milne himself – the sound in the cave for instance was achieved by recording a dripping tap in the Decca washroom and then doctoring the effect appropriately. [4]

Reception

Mary Postgate writing in the UK publication, the Gramophone liked the box set. "This abridged version of a well-loved story is one of the most enjoyable sets to have come my way in recent years. It was a master stroke to get Bing Crosby to read it, for the ‘Old Groaner’ has a devastatingly charming manner, compounded of a relaxed and sympathetic delivery and a lovely speaking voice. The vocal cords that kept him at the very top in music and musical films for so many years are just as velvety now...Crosby’s masterly reading needs little help. Delicate, dry, humorous but never whimsical or condescending, he is one of the most delightful readers Argo has offered us. The quality of the sound is exceptionally fine. Highly recommended." [5]

Crosby researcher and author Fred Reynolds summed the album up saying, "the exploits of Tom, living with his Aunt Polly in a small town on the Missouri, and his companion Huckleberry Finn are refreshingly recaptured in Crosby’s reading. . . . Bing’s expressive narrative and his dialect voicing of the characters enhance an impressive and entertaining story." [6]

Track listing

SIDE ONE

  1. Tom Escapes from Aunt Polly
  2. The new boy
  3. Whitewash!
  4. Becky Thatcher is admired
  5. Huckleberry Finn
  6. At School
  7. Tom Meets Becky

SIDE TWO

  1. An engagement
  2. Tom and Huck in the graveyard
  3. Muff Potter and Injun Joe
  4. The murder
  5. A solemn oath
  6. Pain-killer!
  7. Becky rejects Tom

SIDE THREE

  1. Tom, Huck and Joe Harper run away
  2. Jackson's Island
  3. Supper and homesickness
  4. Exploring the Island
  5. Have the boys drowned?
  6. The Storm
  7. A Resurrection
  8. Tom and Amy Lawrence
  9. A blotted spelling book and a torn picture.

SIDE FOUR

  1. Mr. Dobbins discovers the books
  2. Muff Potter in jail
  3. The Trial
  4. Injun Joe escapes
  5. Digging for Treasure
  6. The haunted house
  7. Injun Joe returns

SIDE FIVE

  1. The Temperance Tavern
  2. Injun Joe's 'Number Two'
  3. The Picnic
  4. McDougal's Cave
  5. Huck saves the Widow Douglas
  6. Tom and Becky are lost
  7. At Church
  8. The Searchers

SIDE SIX

  1. In the cave
  2. Injun Joe returns
  3. The children are found
  4. Tom and Huck explore the cave
  5. The Treasure
  6. A Party
  7. Huck is introduced into society

Related Research Articles

<i>Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> 1885 novel by Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885.

<i>Tom and Huck</i> 1995 American film

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<i>Huckleberry Finn and His Friends</i> 1979 television series

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<i>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</i> (musical)

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Tom Sawyer is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama/adventure film starring Jack Pickford, Robert Gordon, and Clara Horton; it is based on Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Directed by William Desmond Taylor, the film was released by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> Television series

The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American live-action and animated fantasy television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1968, through February 23, 1969. Produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on the classic Mark Twain characters, the program starred its three live-action heroes, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, and Tom Sawyer, navigating weekly adventures within an animated world as they attempted to outrun a vengeful "Injun Joe". After the show's original run, the series continued to air in reruns as part of The Banana Splits and Friends Show syndication package.

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<i>Tom Sawyer</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

Tom Sawyer is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by John Cromwell and starring Jackie Coogan. The screenplay by Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, and Sam Mintz is based on the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

<i>Huckleberry Finn</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Huckleberry Finn is a 1931 American pre-Code adventure comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and written by Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt, based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It stars Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer, Mitzi Green as Becky Thatcher, Junior Durkin as Huckleberry Finn, and Jackie Searl as Sid Sawyer.

<i>Huckleberry Finn</i> (1920 film) 1920 film by William Desmond Taylor

Huckleberry Finn is a surviving American silent dramatic rural film from 1920, based on Mark Twain's 1884 classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. William Desmond Taylor directed Huckleberry Finn, as he had the 1917 film version of Tom Sawyer, using a scenario written by Julia Crawford Ivers, who also had been the writer for Tom Sawyer.

<i>Huck and Tom</i> 1918 film by William Desmond Taylor

Huck and Tom is a surviving American comedy-drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and released in 1918. The scenario by Julia Crawford Ivers is derived from Mark Twain's novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Robert Gordon and Jack Pickford reprise the title roles from the 1917 version of Tom Sawyer, a successful adaptation that was also directed by Taylor.

<i>Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn</i> 2014 American film

Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn is a 2014 American comedy-drama/adventure film directed by Jo Kastner and starring Joel Courtney as Tom Sawyer, Jake T. Austin as Huckleberry Finn, Katherine McNamara as Becky Thatcher, Noah Munck as Ben Rogers, and with Val Kilmer as Mark Twain. It is based on Mark Twain's novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The film was released by VMI Worldwide.

<i>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</i> 1876 novel by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel, Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of Twain's works during his lifetime. Though overshadowed by its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American literature. It was one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.

<i>Band of Robbers</i> 2015 American film

Band of Robbers is a 2015 American independent crime comedy film written and directed by brothers Aaron and Adam Nee, based on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this modern-day retelling, the two iconic rascals are grown up and small-time crooks still searching for the fabled Murrell's treasure that has eluded them since childhood. The story draws heavily from Twain's classic novels, including characters, plot twists and even dialogue.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a 1955 CBS TV film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1884 novel of the same name, starring Charles Taylor in the title role. It was directed by Herbert B. Swope Jr. It aired on September 1, 1955 as the Season 2 premiere of the anthology program Climax!.

<i>Tom Sawyer</i> (1956 musical) 1956 American film

Tom Sawyer was a one-hour musical by Frank Luther, originally created for the television series The U.S. Steel Hour. It was broadcast live on CBS November 21, 1956, and marked the first time the anthology series had presented a musical. Luther said the show evolved from his re-reading of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a few years earlier: "(W)henever an incident or character gave me an idea for a song, I'd write the music and words," Luther told an interviewer in 1957. "By the time I'd reached the end of the book, I found I had written 32 songs. The cast included John Sharpe as Tom Sawyer, Jimmy Boyd as Huckleberry Finn, Bennye Gatteys as Becky Thatcher, Rose Bampton as Aunt Polly, Matt Mattox as Injun Joe and Clarence Cooper as Jim the Narrator. A cast album was released on Decca Records shortly after the broadcast, featuring several songs omitted from the original show. The show's sets and backgrounds were designed by Thomas Hart Benton. Luther was commissioned to follow up the show with a musical adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also starring Boyd, which was broadcast on The U.S. Steel Hour November 22, 1957.

References

  1. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ Bishop, Bert (June 1976). "BING magazine". BING Magazine. #42: 7.
  3. ↑ "Woman's Realm". Woman's Realm. 1977.
  4. ↑ Macfarlane, Malcolm (2005). "BING magazine". BING Magazine. #140.
  5. ↑ Postgate, Mary (May 1976). "The Gramophone". The Gramophone.
  6. ↑ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part 5: 1961-1977 ed.). John Joyce. p. 188.
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