The Best Of Bing Crosby: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection)

CD Details

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Bing Crosby is the gold standard against which every vocal stylist of the pre-rock & roll era (even Sinatra) can be judged. His assured, intimate style changed the way popular music was sung, and his casual mode of dress–the hat, the pipe, the sweater–made him the era’s definition of cool. Just so, he was staggeringly successful as a recording artist, with over 300 hits and nearly half a billion records sold. Reducing that to the dozen songs heard here must have seemed a comically impossible task. Yet the selection is a good one, coming mostly from the World War II era and just beyond, when Crosby’s popularity was at its zenith. The set shows off Crosby’s versatility–one minute he’s a jazz singer (“Swingin’ on a Star,” “Play a Simple Melody”–a duet with son Gary), the next an emotional crooner (“I’ll Be Seeing You,” “It’s Been a Long Long Time”) and the definitive interpreter of timeless classics (“White Christmas”). Brief though it may be, this is a surprisingly satisfying collection. –Daniel Durchholz

Product Description

The perfect single-CD anchor to any Bing collection: his top 1944-57 hits plus some rarely collected treats. I’ll Be Seeing You; Swinging on a Star; It’s Been a Long Time; White Christmas; Don’t Fence Me In; Far Away Places , and Dear Hearts and Gentle People join Play a Simple Melody (with his son Gary); the theme from Around the World in 80 Days , and more!