FILE UNDER: Another Bing Crosby Greatest Hits.
CORPORATE LINE: More useful as a primer than as a comprehensive overview of Bing Crosby’s 50-year career, Geffen’s THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION still packs in 22 superb cuts from the crooner’s massive discography. Beginning with the early 1930s and continuing up through the ’40s and into the mid ’50s, the set covers traditional songs (“Home on the Range”), standards (“Stardust”), show tunes (“Ol’ Man River”), and songs from his movies (“Road to Morocco”).
Naturally, “White Christmas” is here (the song will forever be associated with Crosby), while “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s An Irish Lullaby)” sounds like it was written expressly for Crosby. Despite the sometimes dated production and arrangements on some of these tracks, the artist’s warm, pure baritone and jazz-tinged approach is so compelling that the performances have lost not one iota of their charm and appeal even decades and decades down the line.
THE REVIEW: There may never be a singer as great as Bing Crosby. Crosby was the original crooner. His voice was larger than life.
The Definitive Collection is for anyone that wants to get a taste of Crosby without buying an expensive box set. There could be no Crosby collection without the classics “White Christmas” and “Pennies From Heaven.”
Some of my personal favorites are; “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” “Swinging On A Star,” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” There are some fun songs such as “Road To Morocco” and WWII novelty songs like “MacNamara’s Band.”
No one has sung the western classics “Home on the Range” or “Don’t Fence Me In” so beautifully. Crosby makes you long for the open range and nothing but serenity for miles. Crosby also sang some gorgeous traditional Irish songs; “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral” and “MacNamara’s Band.” Crosby’s voice make the hair on my neck stand up every time I hear him sing “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral.”
FRANKLY: The Definitive Collection is good—however it’s missing other great Crosby songs. Crosby certainly had better songs than some of those that made this collection. It’s a shame that classics such as “Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive,” “Holiday Inn,” “Adeste Fidelis (O Come, All Ye Faithful)” and the duet with Peggy Lee “Watermelon Weather” weren’t included. There are a number of other songs left behind—and I can only wonder if it’s because these songs weren’t owned by the record label.
I love Bing Crosby—he is one of my favorite artists of all time—but this is not the best of Bing Crosby. On the plus side it’s a great introduction to Bing Crosby for all of those who are looking for a place to start.
+ Charlie Craine
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