Bing Crosby

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Bing Crosby (1942)

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (born May 3, 1903 in Tacoma , Washington , † October 14, 1977 in Madrid ) was an American singer and actor . With his bass-baritone voice, Crosby is considered one of the most successful singers of the 20th century. Bing Crosby has sold over a billion records worldwide to date. With over 50 million copies sold, Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the best-selling song to date. He had been active as a film actor on a regular basis since the 1930s. He was best known and popular with the"Road to" - Comedy films starring Bob Hope that made Crosby and Hope one of the most popular comedian duos in America in the 1940s and 1950s . In 1945 he won the Oscar for best leading actor for his portrayal of a pastor in The Path to Happiness .

Early years

There is some uncertainty about when exactly Bing Crosby was born. Most sources give the year of his birth as 1903, but named his gravestone - on instructions from his family - the year 1904. His younger brother Bob Crosby was also a singer, actor and band leader.

Bing Crosby grew up with Al Rinker , the younger brother of singer Mildred Bailey . Crosby and Rinker took advantage of Bailey's connections and joined Paul Whiteman 's Rhythm Boys shortly after graduating from high school . He attended the Jesuit College Gonzaga University in Spokane , where he studied law. While he was on a business trip with fellow lawyers, he sang in bars and claims to earn more than the lawyers. It was then that he decided to focus entirely on a singing career.

He caused a sensation nationally with the popular Whiteman Orchestra, with which he made his film debut in The Jazz King (1930). From then on he was a sought-after stage actor, radio entertainer and singer with record sales.

Bing Crosby's singing career

Crosby and his partner Al Rinker were considered the first full-time band singers in the music business when they were appointed to the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. According to the author Will Friedwald , Crosby's singing in the Whiteman Band in 1928 embodied the integration of African and American elements, but - unlike his contemporary Ethel Waters - replaced the traces of the minstrel shows with subtlety: “The most important thing is that Crosby's style who picked up new instrumental soloists, especially Louis Armstrong and to a lesser extent Bix Beiderbeckes ; her melodic approach, her understanding of rhythm and her concept and vocabulary of improvisation . Crosby's great achievement was the combination of jazz with the music of Tin Pan Alley . ”This was already heard in his 1928 recordings with the Whiteman Band; in I'm Afraid of You and T'aint So, Honey, T'aint So he held out notes longer at the end of the phrases in order to play with the rhythm, and in Make Believe he was only accompanied by the rhythm section , where he had a duet with bassist Steve Brown in which they fell from time to time into 4/4 time, which would later become one of the fundamental elements of modern jazz.

With his warm, slightly covered baritone, Crosby marked a kind of naturalness that stood in contrast to noisy humorists like Al Jolson or Billy Murray ; he was also the first singer who respected American melodies and was also able to measure himself against opera and the European tradition of art song . The result was the sound that would shape generations of popular singing. In the early 1930s, Crosby's and Armstrong's styles became most convergent; this could be heard in the numerous joint appearances. Armstrong said of his friend, “Bing's voice has a softness that is typical of Bing. It is like gold flowing out of a chalice. "

Between 1932 and 1935 he perfected his style, heard in the jazz standards Sweet Georgia Brown , Some of These Days , as well as the four and a half minute St. Louis Blues , which arose with musicians from the Duke Ellington Orchestra , in which he proved himself to be a masterful scat singer showed. Crosby then took up a variety of rhythmically lively tracks from 1936 to 1939, for example with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and later with John Scott Trotter. By slowing down, he created the typical ballad style of Crosby, as in his Decca recordings Pennies from Heaven , Somebody Loves Me , Maybe (1939) and Day Dreaming (1941, with Victor Young's orchestra). At this point, jazz no longer played the leading role for Crosby as it did in the early 1930s; He made up for this with some hot sessions, like in June 1940 with Andy Secrest and Abe Lincoln, trombonist for The California Ramblers , when he recorded four upbeat numbers for his film Rhythm on the River , the theme song , the Hoagy Carmichael composition Can 't Get Indiana Off My Mind and That's for Me as well as a remake of his earlier hit I Found a Million Dollar Baby . In the mid-1940s, Crosby made further recording sessions with well-known jazz musicians, which he put together with Milt Gabler , such as Eddie Heywood , Vic Dickenson , Eddie Condon , Wild Bill Davison and the Bud Freeman Orchestra (1946). In 1944 he created duets with Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five as well as a recording session with Glenn Miller AAF Orchestra; In 1952 there was a reunion session with Red Nichols , as well as many recordings with the orchestras of Woody Herman and Bob Crosby as well as with their smaller bands, the Woodchoppers and the Bobcats , in which he did not appear - as usual - as a crooner .

His greatest success as a singer of popular music was finally recording of Irving Berlin's song White Christmas , which is one of the biggest sales successes of all time and after Candle in the Wind by Elton John is No. 2 in the eternal bestseller list.

The loss of youthful audiences in the late Eisenhower period relieved Bing Crosby of the pressure to keep producing hits. So he turned back to his origins, jazz. In Will Friedwald's opinion, the climax of his late jazz recordings are his Verve album Bing Sings While Bregman Swings , his answer to Frank Sinatra's swing sessions with Nelson Riddle or Billy May , the combo recordings with Buddy Cole Some Fine Old Chestnuts (1955 ) and New Tricks (1957) for Decca and in particular the Victor album Bing with a Beat , which he recorded in 1957 with Bob Scobey and his Frisco Jazz Band , for which clarinetist Matty Matlock was responsible as arranger . With the album they paid their respects to the early jazz of King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton and interpreted titles such as Mack the Knife , Coal Cart Blues and Exactly Like You .

Bing Crosby became known as an important advocate of magnetic tape technology by providing financial support for the further development of German magnetophones at the US company Ampex . The result was the groundbreaking Ampex Model 200 .

Crosby as an actor

After initial success as a singer, Crosby began his film career in 1930 with a few short film comedies from the production of Mack Sennett . He had his first leading role in a full-length feature film in 1932 in Frank Tuttle's musical film The Big Broadcast , in which he sang the popular song Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day) . In the 1930s he mainly shot for Paramount Pictures and played mostly cheerful and comedic roles in music films, including Raoul Walsh's musical Going Hollywood (1933) and Shipwreck under Palms (1934) with Carole Lombard and Mississippi (1935) at the side of WC Fields . He cultivated the image of the casual and friendly average American for himself.

In the 1940s, Crosby rose to become one of Hollywood's most popular film actors. Beginning with The Road to Singapore , Crosby starred with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour in a number of successful comedies that are set in mostly exotic locations. By 1962 Hope and Crosby appeared in six other films in the Road to ... film series, where they were mainly characterized by an improvised and relaxed acting style. The two also appeared together in other shows on radio, television and theater. In 1945, Crosby received the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the personable and unconventional Pastor Chuck O'Malley in the film The Road to Happiness . Crosby, a devout Catholic, almost turned down the role at first, believing the film was trying to make fun of faith. The following year he shot the sequel The Bells of St. Mary , in which Ingrid Bergman plays a nun at his side. With The Bells of St. Mary's , Blue Skies and The Road to Utopia , Crosby starred in three of the five most commercially successful films of the year in 1946.

From the 1950s onwards, Crosby also made more television appearances, but remained in demand as a cinema actor and starred in some of his films, which are still best-known today. In 1954 he stood for White Christmas by Michael Curtiz with Danny Kaye in front of the camera and sang herein also his most successful song he previously in the film already 12 years , Music sang. White Christmas was by far the most successful film of the year, grossing around $ 30 million in the US alone. Also in 1954 he appeared next to Grace Kelly in the comedy A Country Girl , for which this received the Oscar. In 1956, Crosby and Kelly, 26 years younger, were again in front of the camera for the musical film The Top Ten Thousand . The love duet True Love from the film, composed by Cole Porter and sung with Grace Kelly, received an Oscar nomination and became an evergreen .

From 1945 to 1977 he ran his production company Bing Crosby Productions, known among other things for the 1965-1966 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show and the hit series A Cage Full of Heroes . In the 1960s, Crosby ended his film career with appearances in the rat pack film Seven Against Chicago and the Western San Fernando (1966), a less successful remake of the John Ford Western Ringo . Until his death, he remained present as a host or guest on various television shows.

Private life

Bing Crosby with his second wife Kathryn Grant, 1960

Crosby was married twice. His first marriage to actress and singer Dixie Lee resulted in his son Gary , who appeared on several shows and television programs at his father's side. Gary and his brothers Dennis Crosby (1934–1991), Phillip Crosby (1934–2004) and Lindsay Crosby (1938–1989) performed often as the vocal group The Crosby Boys in the 1950s and 1960s . All four sons of Bing Crosby's marriage to Dixie Lee were alcoholics, as was their mother. Crosby was also a heavy drinker or even an alcoholic at least around 1930, but later got his alcohol consumption under control.

After her death in 1953 he married the actress Kathryn Grant . Since she was considerably younger than him, he still had children at an advanced age, as a result of which the children of both marriages belonged to different generations. After his death, his eldest son from his first marriage wrote a controversial biography in which he describes him as an autocratic and abusive father. Two of his children, Lindsay and Dennis, died from suicide . Actress Denise Crosby is a granddaughter and actress Mary Crosby is a daughter of Bing Crosby.

Singing style and characteristics

Crosby was one of the first singers to take advantage of the intimacy of the microphone rather than the deep and loud variety theater style associated with Al Jolson. He was, by his own definition, a "phraser," a singer who emphasized both text and music alike. His love for jazz helped bring the genre to a wider audience. As part of the Rhythm Boys' novel vocal style, he bent notes and added out of tune phrases, an approach based on jazz. Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smithantes had already been introduced to him from his first appearance on the record. Crosby and Armstrong remained friends for decades. They sang "Now You Has Jazz" in the film High Society (1956).

During the first part of his solo career (around 1931-1934), Crosby's often emotional singing style of humming was popular. But Jack Kapp, manager of Brunswick and later Decca, convinced him to abandon many of his more jazzy gestures in favor of a clear vocal style. Crosby credited Kapp with selecting hits, collaborating with many other musicians, and most importantly, diversifying his repertoire across different styles and genres. Kapp helped Crosby get number 1 hits in Christmas, Hawaiian and country music, as well as the top 30 hits in Irish music, French music, rhythm and blues and ballads.

Crosby had an idea: phrasing or the art of making the lyrics of a song ring. Tommy Dorsey kept saying to Sinatra, “There's only one singer you should hear and his name is Bing Crosby. The only thing that matters to him are the words, and that's the only thing that should be important to you. "

The critic Henry Pleasants wrote:

“[While] the eighth flat B to flat B in Bing's voice at the time [1930] is one of the most beautiful to my ears that I've heard in forty-five years and that I've heard both classical and classical baritones popular, but improving Singing remarkable in later years. Since the mid-1950s, Bing was more comfortable in a bass range while maintaining the baritone quality, with the best octave from G to G or even F to F. He made a recording of 'Dardanella'. With Louis Armstrong in 1960, he easily and easily attacks on a low E-floor. This is lower than most opera basses that like to hit the road, and they usually sound like they're in the basement when they get there. "

Career statistics

For fifteen years (1934, 1937, 1940, 1943–1954) Crosby was in the top ten box office sales, and for five of those years (1944–1948) he led the world. Crosby was the voice of 13 Oscar-nominated songs, four of which won the Oscar for Best Song: Sweet Leilani (Waikiki Wedding, 1937), White Christmas (Holiday Inn, 1942), Swinging "on a Star (Going My Way, 1944) and In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (Here Comes the Groom, 1951).

Crosby was so famous and loved around the world by the mid-20th century that a poll conducted at the time in the United States found that Crosby was more popular with Americans at the time than then President Harry S. Truman and Pope Pius XII. was. He had separate chart singles each year between 1931 and 1954, and in 1939 alone he had 24 separate popular singles. Crosby reached 396 chart positions, including 41 number one hits. Including two other number-one placements from White Christmas , there are 43 number-one placements, more than The Beatles, 24 and Elvis Presley, 18 combined.

Bing Crosby has made over 2,000 commercial recordings and approximately 4,000 radio broadcasts, as well as an extensive list of film and television appearances. He is considered to be the most recorded artist in history.

Bing Crosby was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : one for recording, one for radio, and one for movies.

Crosby has five appearances in the Grammy Hall of Fame , a special award established in 1973 to honor recordings of "qualitative and historical significance".

A 2000 poll found that Crosby was the third most popular actor of all time, with 1,077,900,000 movie tickets sold. The International Motion Picture Almanac lists him in second place on the all-time star list with Clint Eastwood , Tom Hanks, and Burt Reynolds . His most popular film, White Christmas , grossed $ 30 million in 1954 (the equivalent of $ 286 million today).

According to the Million Selling Records book , he received 23 gold and platinum records. The Recording Industry Association of America didn't introduce its gold record certification program until 1958. Before 1958, gold records were given out by record companies. Universal Music, owner of Crosby's Decca catalog, has never applied for RIAA certification for any of their hit singles.

Crosby scored 23 Billboard hits out of 47 recorded songs with the Andrews Sisters , with their record sales in the 1940s only being exceeded by Crosby himself. The collaboration produced four million- sellers : Pistol Packin 'Mama , Jingle Bells , Don't Fence Me In and South America, Take it Away .

In 1962, Crosby received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . He was inducted into the Hall of Fame for both radio and pop music. He was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

death

Bing Crosby (1977)
Crosby's grave

Bing Crosby - an avid golfer - died of heart failure in 1977 after a game of golf in Spain after which he collapsed. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City , California . A few weeks before his death he had recorded a Christmas program in which he sang the song Little Drummer Boy in a highly acclaimed duet with David Bowie .

In recognition of his services to golf, Crosby was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978 .

plant

Filmography (selection)

Comedy "Road" films with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour :

Crosby hosted radio shows regularly from the 1930s to the 1950s, as well as a show on cable television from 1964 to 1965 . He also made numerous short films and appeared in various television shows.

Discography

Merry Christmas from 1945 (reissued 1947)

Albums

Crosby's work of the 1920s and 1930s as a jazz singer is documented in the Columbia - Compilations The Crooner - The Columbia Years 1928-'34 , and The Bing Crosby Story: The Early Years Jazz . The album Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (9678-2-R) contains eight vocal numbers by Crosby. The English label Living Era has put together three CDs with material from the Whiteman period to the Decca period, Bix 'n' Bing , Here Lies Love and On the Sentimental Side ; The compilations of the label ProArte, Pennies from Heaven and Pocketful of Dreams come from the same phase .

The outstanding album by Crosby is the Christmas album Merry Christmas , released in 1945 , which includes his own classic White Christmas as well as recordings of Silent Night (the English version of Silent Night ), I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams ) , Jingle Bells, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (the last two along with the Andrews Sisters ). From 1947 the album was released with 8 instead of 10 songs and with new recordings of Silent Night and White Christmas . Until 1954, the album appeared classically as a collection of 4 or 5 double-sided singles in one sleeve and in 1955 for the first time on a single long-playing record. From 1945 to 1962 the album hit the charts every Christmas (except 1955, where no complete chart data is available), for the first 5 years and again in 1957 the album reached number 1 and occupied the top position for a total of 39 weeks. 1963 Christmas albums were performed only in special "Christmas Album Charts" and even there he was so consistently until 1973 in the top 10. By 1998, the album was placed irregularly in various successor charts in 1992. But when the newly formed Christmas Compilation White Christmas , which replaced the 1945 album. An estimated 15 million copies of Merry Christmas were sold, from 1958 there were official certifications of sales and after that Crosby was awarded a gold record for the album for the first time and for the only time in his lifetime .

Album charts have been kept in the USA since 1945 (in Great Britain since 1956). The following albums from Bing Crosby have been placed there:

year Title
artist
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, artist , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK US US
1945 Going my way - US1 (13 weeks)
US
Soundtrack for the film Going My Way (1944)
Merry Christmas - US1
gold
gold

(89 weeks)US
Christmas album; From 1945 to 1962 every year at Christmas in the charts, 1945 to 1950 and 1957 every year at Christmas at number 1
million seller
1946 The Bells of St. Mary's - US1 (9 weeks)
US
Soundtrack to the film The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
Don't Fence Me In (Songs of the Wide Open Spaces) - US2 (15 weeks)
US
Blue Skies
Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire
- US2 (10 weeks)
US
Soundtrack for the film Blue Skies (1946)
1947 St. Patrick's Day - US1 (13 weeks)
US
In 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951 the album was placed on Irish Saint Patrick's Day , in the second attempt in 1948 it reached number 1
1948 St. Valentine's Day - US3 (3 weeks)
US
In 1948 one week (number 3) and in 1949 two weeks in the charts
The Emperor Waltz - US2 (14 weeks)
US
Stardust - US10 (1 week)
US
First published: 1942
1949 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - US5 (8 weeks)
US
South Pacific
Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye , Evelyn Knight & Ella Fitzgerald
- US4 (9 weeks)
US
Recordings of songs from the musical South Pacific (1949) with 2 songs each by the 4 performers; Crosby wore Bali Ha'i and Some Enchanted Evening at
Christmas Greetings - US4 (8 weeks)
US
In the charts for three consecutive years at Christmas
1951 Mr. Music
Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters & Dorothy Kirsten
- US10 (1 week)
US
Soundtrack for the film Mr. Music (1950)
1954 Bing (A Musical Autobiography) - US9 (14 weeks)
US
Compilation of the single releases from 1927 to 1954 (89 songs on 5 LPs / 17 EPs), the songs up to 1940 were re-recorded
White Christmas
Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye & Peggy Lee
- US2 (8 weeks)
US
New recording of the soundtrack for the film White Christmas (1954); for contractual reasons sang Peggy Lee songs again, which in the film by Rosemary Clooney came
1956 High Society
Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly & Frank Sinatra
- US5 (28 weeks)
US
Soundtrack for the film High Society (1956)
A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World - US21 (1 week)
US
Christmas album
1958 Shillelaghs and Shamrocks - US13 (2 weeks)
US
First published: 1956
1960 Join Bing and Sing Along UK7 (11 weeks)
UK
-
12 medleys of 2 or 3 songs each
1962 I wish you a Merry Christmas - US50 (2 weeks)
US
Christmas album
1964 America, I Hear You Singing
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra & Fred Waring
- US116 (7 weeks)
US
1969 Hey Jude / Hey Bing! - US162 (8 weeks)
US
1974 White Christmas [UK] UK45
silver
silver

(3 weeks)UK
-
Christmas compilation
1975 That's What Life Is All About UK28
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
-
1977 Live at the London Palladium UK9 (2 weeks)
UK
-
Recorded live in June 1976, concert for the 50th anniversary, stage guests including Rosemary Clooney , Joe Bushkin and Crosby's children
The best of Bing UK41
silver
silver

(7 weeks)UK
-
Best of album
Bing Crosby's Greatest Hits - US98 (9 weeks)
US
Best of album
Seasons UK25th
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
-
last studio album, released posthumously
1979 Songs of a Lifetime UK29 (3 weeks)
UK
-
1991 Christmas with Bing Crosby UK66 (3 weeks)
UK
-
Christmas compilation
1992 White Christmas [US] - US45
Quadruple platinum
× 4
Quadruple platinum

(… Where.)Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryUS
First publication: 1992; Highest ranking of 2018
1996 The best of UK59 (4 weeks)
UK
-
Best of album
1999 The Best of Bing Crosby - 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection - US14 (47 weeks)
US
with re-entries, highest ranking from 2020
2010 I wish you a Merry Christmas - US195 (1 week)
US
Christmas album
2019 Christmas Classics UK69 (4 weeks)
UK
US18 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / provisional / 2019US
with re-entries, highest placements from 2021
Bing at Christmas UK9
silver
silver

(5 weeks)UK
-
2020 The Voice of Christmas - The Complete UK84 (1 week)
UK
-
Christmas compilation

hatched gray : no chart data available for this year

Further album releases

  • 1939: Music of Hawaii
  • 1939: Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. 1
  • 1939: Patriotic Songs for Children
  • 1939: Cowboy Songs
  • 1939: Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. 2
  • 1939: George Gershwin Songs, Vol. 1
  • 1940: Ballad for Americans
  • 1940: Favorite Hawaiian Songs
  • 1940: Christmas Music
  • 1941: Hawaii Calls
  • 1941: Small Fry
  • 1941: Crosbyana
  • 1942: Under Western Skies
  • 1942: Song Hits from Holiday Inn
  • 1946: Favorite Hawaiian Songs Volume 2
  • 1946: The Happy Prince (with Orson Welles )
  • 1946: Road to Utopia (Soundtrack)
  • 1946: Stephen Foster (songs by the composer Stephen Foster , 1826–1864)
  • 1946: What We So Proudly Hail
  • 1946: Favorite Hawaiian Songs Volume 1
  • 1946: Favorite Hawaiian Songs Volume 2
  • 1946: Jerome Kern
  • 1947: Victor Herbert
  • 1947: Cowboy Songs Volume 1
  • 1947: Welome Stranger (soundtrack)
  • 1947: Our Common Heritage
  • 1947: El Bingo - Latin American Favorits
  • 1947: The Small One
  • 1947: The Man Without a Country
  • 1947: Drifting and Dreaming
  • 1948: Blue of the Night
  • 1948: Showboat
  • 1948: Bing Crosby Sings with Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters
  • 1948: Road to Rio
  • 1948: Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin and Johnny Mercer
  • 1948: Bing Crosby Sings with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Heywood and Louis Jordan
  • 1948: Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows
  • 1948: Cowboy Songs Volume 2
  • 1948: Auld Lang Syne
  • 1948: Bing Crosby Sings Cole Porter Songs
  • 1949: Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin
  • 1949: Ichabod - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
  • 1950: Top o 'the Morning / Emperor Waltz
  • 1950: Go West, Young Man
  • 1950: Collectors' Classics - Vol. 1-8
  • 1951: Way Back Home
  • 1951: Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Call Me Madam, Guys & Dolls, Lost in the Stars, Texas Li'l Darlin '
  • 1951: Bing and the Dixieland Bands
  • 1951: Beloved Hymns
  • 1952: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
  • 1952: The Quiet Man
  • 1952: Just for You
  • 1952: Road to Bali
  • 1953: Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris
  • 1953: Some Fine Old Chestnuts
  • 1954: Bing Sings the Hits
  • 1955: The Country Girl / Little Boy Lost
  • 1956: High Tor
  • 1956: A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World
  • 1956: Anything Goes
  • 1956: Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around
  • 1956: Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings
  • 1957: Bing with a Beat
  • 1957: A Christmas Story - An Ax, an Apple and a Buckskin Jacket
  • 1957: Ali Baby and the Forty Thieves
  • 1957: Never Be Afraid
  • 1957: Jack B. Nimble - A Mother Goose Fantasy
  • 1957: New Tricks
  • 1957: The Bible Story of Christmas
  • 1958: Fancy Meeting You Here (with Rosemary Clooney )
  • 1959: How the West Was Won
  • 1959: Say One for Me
  • 1960: El Señor Bing
  • 1960: Bing & Satchmo (with Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong )
  • 1960: 101 gang songs
  • 1961: Holiday in Europe
  • 1962: Bing's Hollywood Vols. 1-15
  • 1962: The Road to Hong Kong
  • 1962: On the Happy Side
  • 1962: On the Sentimental Side
  • 1962: I Wish You a Merry Christmas
  • 1963: Guys and Dolls
  • 1963: Finian's Rainbow
  • 1963: South Pacific
  • 1963: Return to Paradise Islands
  • 1963: Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits
  • 1964: Robin and the 7 Hoods (with Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. )
  • 1964: 12 Songs of Christmas (with Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring )
  • 1964: That Travelin 'Two-Beat (with Rosemary Clooney )
  • 1965: Bing Crosby's Treasury: The Songs I Love
  • 1966: A Little Bit of Irish
  • 1968: Thoroughly Modern Bing
  • 1970: Goldilocks
  • 1971: A Time to Be Jolly
  • 1972: Bing 'n' Basie (with Count Basie )
  • 1975: A Southern Memoir
  • 1975: Bingo Viejo
  • 1975: A Couple of Song and Dance Men (with Fred Astaire )
  • 1975: Tom Sawyer
  • 1975: The Very Best of Bing (Best-of-Album, UK:goldgold)
  • 1976: At My Time of Life
  • 1976: Feels Good, Feels Right
  • 1976: Beautiful Memories
  • 1977: Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Sky

Posthumously published compilations

  • 1978: Bing Sings (US:Double platinum× 2Double platinum )
  • 1987: Anniversary Collection (UK:silversilver)
  • 2002: Winter Wonderland (UK:silversilver)

Singles

Bing Crosby's single discography begins with its first publication in 1927. In the 1920s and 1930s there were no official chart lists in the USA. The following selection is based on unofficial popularity lists that the US chart journalist Joel Whitburn compiled from time sources.

At the end of the 1930s, the industry magazine Billboard published a ranking list for the first time in the “Record Buying Guide” and, from July 1940, a sales hit parade. They are considered the first official US charts. In Great Britain there were officially recognized charts from 1952 and in Germany from 1953. The following list is based on the chart entry and the positions in the respective chart lists. All publications up to 1977 are listed first, excluding the Christmas singles. This is followed by a list of Christmas carols, some of which returned to the charts at Christmas well beyond Crosby's death.

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placementsTemplate: chart table / maintenance / monthly data
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE UK UK US USTemplate: chart table / maintenance / charts non-existent
1939 Yodelin 'Jive - - US4 (11 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
authors: Hughie Prince , Don Raye
1940 The Singing Hills - - US2 (14 weeks)
US
Authors: Mack David , Sammy Mysels, Dick Sanford
April Played the Fiddle - - US10 (2 weeks)
US
from the film If I Had My Way (1940)
Authors: James V. Monaco , Johnny Burke
Sierra Sue - - US1 (12 weeks)
US
Author: Joseph Buell Carey
That's for me - - US14 (3 weeks)
US
Authors: James V. Monaco, Johnny Burke
Trade Winds - - US2 (15 weeks)
US
Authors: Cliff Friend, Charles Tobias
Only forever - - US1 (16 weeks)
US
from the film Rhythm on the River (1940) with Crosby and Mary Martin
Authors: James V. Monaco, Johnny Burke
1941 Along the Santa Fe Trail - - US18 (1 week)
US
Theme song from the film Santa Fe Trail (1940)
Authors: Will Grosz, Al Dubin , Edwina Coolidge
New San Antonio Rose - - US7 (3 weeks)
US
Original / author: Bob Wills (1938)
million seller
Dolores - - US2 (9 weeks)
US
Guest musicians: Eddie Miller (saxophone solo)
from the film Las Vegas Nights ; Authors: Louis Alter , Frank Loesser
'Til Reveille - - US6 (5 weeks)
US
Authors: Stanley Cowan, Bobby Worth
You Are My Sunshine - - US20 (1 week)
US
Original: Pine Ridge Boys (1939)
Authors: Jimmie Davis , Charles Mitchell
You and I - - US6 (4 weeks)
US
Author: Meredith Wilson
Be honest with me - - US20 (1 week)
US
Original / author: Gene Autry
The Whistler's Mother-in-Law - - US18 (1 week)
US
with Muriel Lane
Authors: Bert Stevens, Larry Wagner
Clementine - - US20 (1 week)
US
Author: Percy Montrose
Shepherd serenade - - US5 (6 weeks)
US
Authors: Fred Spielman, Kermit Goell
1942 Deep in the Heart of Texas - - US3 (6 weeks)
US
Authors: Don Swander, June Hershey
I don't want to walk without you - - US9 (1 week)
US
from the film Sweater Girl (1942)
Authors: Jule Styne , Frank Loesser
Miss you - - US9 (1 week)
US
from the film Strictly in the Groove (1942)
Authors: Charles Tobias, Henry Tobias, Harry Tobias
Skylark - - US19 (1 week)
US
Authors: Hoagy Carmichael , Johnny Mercer
that same year a top 10 hit for Glenn Miller
Be Careful It's My Heart - - US14 (6 weeks)
US
from the film Holiday Inn with Crosby and Fred Astaire
Author: Irving Berlin
1943 Moonlight Becomes You - - US3 (11 weeks)
US
from the film Road to Morocco (1942) with Crosby and Bob Hope
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen , Johnny Burke
Constantly - - US17 (1 week)
US
from the film Road to Morocco ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
B-side of Moonlight Becomes You
Sunday, Monday or Always - - US1 (18 weeks)
US
from the movie Dixie with Crosby and Dorothy Lamour ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
million seller
If you please - - US17 (3 weeks)
US
from the movie Dixie ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
B-side of Sunday, Monday or Always
People Will Say We're in Love - - US2 (14 weeks)
US
with Trudy Erwin
from the Broadway musical Oklahoma! (1943); Authors: Richard Rodgers , Oscar Hammerstein II
Oh! What a beautiful mornin ' - - US5 (9 weeks)
US
with Trudy Erwin
from the Broadway musical Oklahoma! ; Authors: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
B-side of People Will Say We're in Love
Pistol packin 'mom - - US2 (9 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters ; Author: Al Dexter
Millionaire
Al Dexter came first in the same year with its original
1944 Vict'ry Polka - - US6 (5 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters; Authors: Jule Styne , Sammy Cahn
B-side of Pistol Packin 'Mama
San Fernando Valley - - US1 (22 weeks)
US
Author: Gordon Jenkins
Poinciana (Song of the Tree) - - US3 (15 weeks)
US
Authors: Nat Simon, Buddy Bernier
B-side of the San Fernando Valley
Ich liebe dich - - US1 (18 weeks)
US
from the Broadway musical Mexican Hayride
Author: Cole Porter
I'll be seeing you - - US1 (25 weeks)
US
Authors: Sammy Fain , Irving Kahal
Swinging on a star - - US1 (27 weeks)
US
from the movie Going My Way ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
Millionenseller; Oscar (Best Song)
1963 hit for Little Eva and Big Dee Irwin
Going my way - - US12 (1 week)
US
Theme song of the film Going My Way ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
with Swinging on a Star on a single
Cupid - - US2 (16 weeks)
US
from the film Broadway Rhythm (1944)
Authors: Gabriel Ruiz , Ricardo López Méndez, Sunny Skylar
Long Ago (And Far Away) - - US5 (5 weeks)
US
from the film Cover Girl (1944); Authors: Jerome Kern , Ira Gershwin
with Amor on a single
(There'll Be A) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin (When the Yanks Go Marching In) - - US1 (14 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
authors: Sgt. Joe Bushkin, Pvt. John De Vries
Is You Is or Is You Ain't (Ma Baby) - - US2 (13 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters; Authors: Louis Jordan , Billy Austin
from the film Follow the Boys (1944)
with Hot Time in the Town of Berlin on a single,
the original by Louis Jordan also reached number 2
The Day After Forever - - US12 (1 week)
US
from the movie Going My Way
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
It could happen to you - - US13 (1 week)
US
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
with The Day After Forever on a single
Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Rai (That's an Irish Lullaby) - - US4 (12 weeks)
US
a hit for Chauncey Olcott from the film Going My Way
Millioneller
1914 ; Author: James Royce Shannon
Don't Fence Me In - - US1 (21 weeks)
US
from the film Hollywood Canteen (1944) with Bette Davis
Authors: Cole Porter , Robert Fletcher
Million seller
1945 The Three Caballeros - - US8 (5 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters ; Authors: Manuel Esperón, Ernesto Cortazar, Ray Gilbert
Theme song from the Disney cartoon The Three Caballeros (1944)
Sweet and Lovely - - US21 (1 week)
US
First publication: 1931; Used in the film Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
1931 a top hit for Gus Arnheim ; Authors: Gus Arnheim, Charles N. Daniels, Harry Tobias
Evelina - - US9 (5 weeks)
US
from the Broadway musical Bloomer Girl (1944); Authors: Harold Arlen , EY Harburg
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive - - US2 (12 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters; Authors: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
from Here Come the Waves with Crosby and Betty Hutton
Sleigh Ride in July - - US14 (3 weeks)
US
from the film Belle of the Yukon (1944)
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
Like Someone in Love - - US15 (1 week)
US
from the film Belle of the Yukon ; Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
with Sleigh Ride in July on a single
Just a Prayer Away - - US4 (10 weeks)
US
Guest musician: Ethel Smith (organ)
Authors: David Kapp, Charles Tobias
All of My Life - - US12 (1 week)
US
Author: Irving Berlin
Yah-Ta-Ta Yah-Ta-Ta (talk, talk, talk) - - US5 (7 weeks)
US
with Judy Garland
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
You belong to my heart - - US3 (14 weeks)
US
with Xavier Cugat and orchestra; Authors: Ray Gilbert , Augustín Lara
from the film The Three Caballeros
Baía - - US6 (2 weeks)
US
with Xavier Cugat and orchestra; Authors: Ary Barroso , Ray Gilbert
from The Three Caballeros
with You Belong to My Heart on a single
(Yip Yip De Hootie) My Baby Said Yes - - US14 (1 week)
US
with Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
Authors: Sid Robin , Teddy Walters
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe - - US3 (15 weeks)
US
from the film The Harvey Girls (1946) with Judy Garland
Authors: Harry Warren , Johnny Mercer
If I loved you - - US8 (6 weeks)
US
from the Broadway musical Carousel (1945)
Authors: Richard Rodgers , Oscar Hammerstein II
Along the Navajo Trail - - US2 (11 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
authors: Richard Charles Krieg, Larry Markes, Eddie DeLange
It's Been a Long Long Time - - US1 (16 weeks)
US
with Les Paul and His Trio
Authors: Jule Styne , Sammy Cahn
I can't begin to tell you - - US1 (20 weeks)
US
with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano; Authors: James V. Monaco , Mack Gordon
from the film The Dolly Sisters (1945)
million seller
Aren't You Glad You're You ? - - US8 (9 weeks)
US
from the film The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) with Crosby and Ingrid Bergman
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
1946 In the Land of Beginning Again - - US18 (1 week)
US
a hit for Charles Harrison from the 1919 film The Bells of St. Mary’s ; Authors: George W. Meyer, Grant Clarke
Symphony - - US3 (12 weeks)
US
Authors: Alex Alstone, Jack Lawrence
Give me the simple life - - US16 (1 week)
US
with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
from the film Wake Up and Dream (1946); Authors: Harry Ruby , Rube Bloom
The Bells of St. Mary's - - US13 (1 week)
US
from the film The Bells of St. Mary’s
1920 a hit for Frances Alda ; Authors: A. Emmett Adams, Douglas Furber
McNamara's band - - US10 (4 weeks)
US
with the Jesters ; Authors: Shamus O'Connor, John J. Stamford
Million Seller
Day by day - - US15 (1 week)
US
with Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones
Authors: Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston, Sammy Cahn
Sioux City Sue - - US3 (16 weeks)
US
with the Jesters
authors: Dick Thomas, Max C. Freedman
Personality - - US9 (3 weeks)
US
Guest musicians: Wild Bill Davis ( cornet ); Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
from the film Road to Utopia with Crosby and Bob Hope
They say it's wonderful - - US12 (4 weeks)
US
from the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun (1946)
Author: Irving Berlin
South America, Take It Away - - US2 (19 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
from the Broadway musical Call Me Mister ; Author: Harold Rome
million seller
Get Your Kicks on “Route 66”! - - US14 (2 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
Author: Bobby Troup
a pop and R&B hit that same year for the King Cole Trio
You Keep Coming Back Like a Song - - US12 (2 weeks)
US
from the film Blue Skies (1946) by Crosby and Fred Astaire
Author: Irving Berlin
1947 A gal in calico - - US8 (6 weeks)
US
with the Calico Kids; from the film The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)
Authors: Arthur Schwartz , Leo Robin
That's How Much I Love You - - US17 (1 week)
US
with Bob Crosby and His Bob Cats
1946 a country hit for Eddy Arnold ; Authors: Eddy Arnold, Wally Fowler, Graydon Hall
Tallahassee - - US10 (10 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
from the film Variety Girl (1947); Author: Frank Loesser
Feudin 'and Fightin' - - US9 (4 weeks)
US
with the Jesters
from the musical Laffing Room Only (1944); Authors: Al Dubin , Burton Lane
How Soon (Will I Be Seeing You) - - US6 (14 weeks)
US
with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano
Authors: Carroll Lucas, Jack Owens
You Do - - US8 (8 weeks)
US
with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano
from the film Mother Wore Tights (1947); Authors: Mack Gordon , Josef Myrow
with How Soon (Will I Be Seeing You) on a single
Whiffenpoof Song - - US7 (7 weeks)
US
with Fred Waring and the Glee Club; Authors: Maede Minnigerode, George Pomeroy, Tod Galloway
the song has been the million seller of the Glee Club at Yale University since 1909
1948 ballerina - - US10 (8 weeks)
US
Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song) - - US1 (23 weeks)
US
Authors: Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau, Dorothy Stewart
million seller
A Hundred and Sixty Acres - - US23 (2 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
Author: David Kapp
1949 Far Away Places - - US2 (19 weeks)
US
Authors: Joan Whitney, Alex Kramer
Galway Bay - - US3 (17 weeks)
US
Author: Arthur Colahan
Million Seller
If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon - - US27 (1 week)
US
from the film A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) with Crosby and Rhonda Fleming
Authors: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
Careless hands - - US12 (10 weeks)
US
Authors: Bob Hilliard, Carl Sigman
Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend - - US14 (10 weeks)
US
Author: Stan Jones
Original: Burl Ives ; the orchestral version of Vaughn Monroe reached number 1
Some Enchanted Evening - - US3 (20 weeks)
US
from the musical South Pacific
Authors: Richard Rodgers , Oscar Hammerstein II
The version by Perry Como reached number 1 in the same year
Bali ha′i - - US12 (7 weeks)
US
from the musical South Pacific ; Authors: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
B-side of Some Enchanted Evening
Dear Hearts and Gentle People - - US2 (17 weeks)
US
Authors: Sammy Fain , Bob Hilliard
million seller
the version by Dinah Shore also reached number 2
Mule train - - US4 (12 weeks)
US
from the film Singing Guns (1950) with Vaughn Monroe ; Authors: Johnny Lange , Hy Heath , Fred Glickman
with Dear Hearts and Gentle People on a single,
a number 1 hit for Frankie Laine
Way Back Home - - US21 (2 weeks)
US
Victor Young hit with Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians in
1935 ; Authors:
Al Lewis , Tom Waring
1950 Quicksilver - - US6 (17 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
authors: Irving Taylor , George Wyle, Eddie Pola
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? - - US24 (4 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters; Author: Scotty Wiseman
B-side of Quicksilver
Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - - US4 (13 weeks)
US
Authors: Harry Stone, Jack Stapp
in the same year a million seller for Red Foley
I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell - - US22 (2 weeks)
US
Authors: George Wyle, Eddie Pola
Play a Simple Melody - - US2 (19 weeks)
US
Gary Crosby and Friend; Million seller
from the Broadway musical Watch Your Step (1914); Author: Irving Berlin
1916 a hit for Billy Murray & Elsie Baker
Sam's Song (The Happy Tune) - - US3 (19 weeks)
US
Gary Crosby and Friend; Authors: Jack Elliott , Lew Quadling
with Play a Simple Melody on a single
La vie en rose - - US13 (6 weeks)
US
Authors: Édith Piaf , Louiguy
Original: Édith Piaf
I cross my fingers - - US22 (4 weeks)
US
Authors: William Farrar, Walter Kent
B-side of La vie en rose
All my love - - US11 (12 weeks)
US
Author: Ryan Leslie
Harbor Lights - - US8 (13 weeks)
US
Authors: Will Grosz, Jimmy Kennedy
1937 a hit for Frances Langford , 1950 a number 1 hit for Sammy Kaye , 1960 an international hit for the Platters
Beyond the Reef - - US26 (1 week)
US
Author: Jack Pitman
B-side of Harbor Lights
1951 Sparrow in the tree top - - US8 (15 weeks)
US
with the Andrews Sisters
Author: Bob Merrill
When You and I Were Young, Maggie, Blues - - US8 (10 weeks)
US
with Gary Crosby in
1905 a hit for Frank Stanley & Corrine Morgan ; Authors: George Washington Johnson, James Butterfield
Moonlight Bay - - US14 (6 weeks)
US
with Gary Crosby in
1912 a hit for the American Quartet ; Authors: Percy Wenrich , Edward Madden
Gone Fishin ' - - US19 (2 weeks)
US
with Louis Armstrong
Authors: Nick Kenny, Charles Kenny
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening - - US11 (6 weeks)
US
with Jane Wyman ; Authors: Hoagy Carmichael , Johnny Mercer
from the film Here Comes the Groom (1951) with Crosby and Wyman
Oscar (Best Song)
Why Did I Tell You I Was Going to Shanghai - - US21 (1 week)
US
Authors: Milton DeLugg , Bob Hilliard
that same year a top 10 hit for Doris Day
domino - - US15 (6 weeks)
US
Authors: Louis Ferrari, Don Raye
a top 10 hit for Tony Martin in the same year
1952 Watermelon Weather - - US28 (2 weeks)
US
Till the End of the World - - US16 (6 weeks)
US
with Grady Martin and His Slow Foot Five
1949 a country hit for Ernest Tubb ; Author: Vaughn Horton
The Isle of Innisfree - UK3 (12 weeks)
UK
-
Author: Dick Farrelly
Zing a Little Zong - UK10 (2 weeks)
UK
US18 (6 weeks)
US
with Jane Wyman
from Just for You (1952) with Crosby and Wyman; Authors: Harry Warren , Leo Robin
1954 Changing Partners - UK9 (3 weeks)
UK
US13 (2 weeks)
US
Authors: Larry Coleman, Joe Darion
Y'All Come - - US20 (3 weeks)
US
with the Cass County Boys
Author: Arlie Duff
1955 Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep - UK11 (3 weeks)
UK
-
Author: Irving Berlin
Stranger in Paradise - UK17 (2 weeks)
UK
-
from the musical Kismet ; Authors: Bob Wright , George Forrest , Alexander Borodin
Melody is the dance of the virgins from Borodin's Polovtsian dances
Tony Bennett's version reached number 2 in the US and number 1 in the UK
1956 In a Little Spanish Town ('Twas on a Night Like This) - UK22 (3 weeks)
UK
US49 (7 weeks)
US
with the Buddy Cole Trio
in 1927 was a hit for Paul Whiteman ; Authors: Mabel Wayne, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young
True love DE18 (4 months)
DE
UK4 (33 weeks)
UK
US3 (31 weeks)
US
with Grace Kelly ; from the movie High Society ; Author: Cole Porter
of 33 weeks in UK is six weeks from 1983 re-entry
Well Did You Evah? - - US92 (2 weeks)
US
with Frank Sinatra ; from the film High Society
the song originally comes from the Cole Porter musical Du Barry Was a Lady (1939)
Now You Has Jazz - - US88 (4 weeks)
US
with Louis Armstrong
from the film High Society ; Author: Cole Porter
1957 Around the world - UK5 (15 weeks)
UK
US25 (31 weeks)
US
from the film Around the World in Eighty Days
Authors: Harold Adamson , Victor Young ; Original: Victor Young
1975 That's What Life Is All About - UK41 (4 weeks)
UK
-
Authors: Bing Crosby, Ken Barnes, Les Reed, Peter Dacre

hatched gray : no chart data available for this year

Christmas singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US USTemplate: chart table / maintenance / charts non-existent
1940 Silent Night - - - - US16 (2 weeks)
US
First publication USA: 1935; In the charts at Christmas in 1940 and 1941, highest ranking of 1941
Authors: Franz Xaver Gruber , Joseph Mohr , John Freeman Young
million seller
1942 White Christmas DE39 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryDE
AT44 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryAT
CH40 (7 weeks)
CH
UK5
platinum
platinum

(… Where.)Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryUK
US1 (... week)
Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryUS
from the film Holiday Inn (1942) with Crosby and Fred Astaire ; Author: Irving Berlin ; New entry: 1947
in US from 1942 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1962 in the charts at Christmas, was in the charts
for the first time in 1942, 1945 and 1946 at number 1 in the UK in 1978 (number 5), then from 1983 irregular re-entries
in DE from 2007 to 2010 and again from 2019 placed (53rd place in January 2009)
irregularly placed in CH from 2007, 40th place in 2019
Grammy Hall of Fame ; is considered the best-selling song of all time
1943 I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams) - - - - US3 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / preliminaryUS
Authors: Buck Ram, Kim Gannon , Walter Kent in
1943 and 1944 at Christmas in the
million seller charts
1950 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer - - - - US14 (4 weeks)
US
Author: Johnny Marks A
1949 number 1 hit for Gene Autry
A Crosby Christmas (Parts 1 & 2) - - - - US22 (2 weeks)
US
Gary, Phillip, Dennis, Lindsay and Bing Crosby
a medley from This Christmas Feeling , I'd Like to Hitch a Ride with Santa Claus and The Snowman
A Marshmallow World - - - - US24 (1 week)
US
Authors: Peter De Rose, Carl Sigman
Mele Kalikimaka - - - - US36 (1 week)
US
Chart entry in US only in 2020
with The Andrews Sisters
1952 Silent Night [1942] - - - UK8 (2 weeks)
UK
US54 (5 weeks)
US
New entry from 1942; charted in UK in 1952 and in US in 1957 and 1960
1957 Silver Bells - - - - US78 (2 weeks)
US
with Carol Richards
originally from The Lemon Drop Kid (1950); Authors: Jay Livingston , Ray Evans
How Lovely Is Christmas - - - - US97 (1 week)
US
1960 Adeste fideles (Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful) - - - - US45 (3 weeks)
US
recorded in 1942; the song is from the 18th century
1982 Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy - AT53 (5 weeks)
AT
- UK3
silver
silver

(12 weeks)UK
-
with David Bowie
Authors: Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, Buz Kohan / Harry Simeone, Henry Onorati, Katherine K. Davis
in UK re-entry 2007; in AT first entry in 2007, re-entry in 2009

hatched gray : no chart data available for this year

Jazz collection

Awards

  • 1945: Oscar as best leading actor for The Path to Happiness
  • 1946: Oscar nomination for best leading actor for The Bells of St. Mary's
  • 1955: Oscar nomination for Best Actor for A Country Girl

Awards for music sales

Golden record

  • NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands
    • 1979: for the album White Christmas
  • SwedenSweden Sweden
    • 1996: for the single White Christmas

Platinum record

  • DenmarkDenmark Denmark
    • 2021: for the single White Christmas

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / RegionAwards for Mu-sik-ver-käu-fe
(country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Silver record icon.svg silver Gold record icon.svg gold Platinum record icon.svg platinum Sales sources
Denmark (IFPI) Denmark (IFPI) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg platinum1 90,000 ifpi.dk
Netherlands (NVPI) Netherlands (NVPI) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P.- 50,000 nvpi.nl
Sweden (IFPI) Sweden (IFPI) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P.- 15,000 sverigetopplistan.se
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 Platinum record icon.svg 6 × platinum6th 6,500,000 riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Silver record icon.svg 8 × silver8th Gold record icon.svg gold1 Platinum record icon.svg platinum1 1,370,000 bpi.co.uk
All in all Silver record icon.svg 8 × silver8th Gold record icon.svg 4 × gold4th Platinum record icon.svg 8 × platinum8th

literature

  • Will Friedwald: Swinging Voices of America - A Compendium of Great Voices . Hannibal, St. Andrä-Wierter, 1992, ISBN 3-85445-075-3 .
  • Gary Giddins : Bing Crosby Swinging On a Star: The War Years 1940-1946 (Little, Brown, 2018).

Web links

Commons : Bing Crosby  - collection of images, videos and audio files

sources

  1. Hope Robert: Bing Crosby: The Billion Selling Man !. January 28, 2020.
  2. Norman Abjorensen: Historical Dictionary of Popular Music . Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5381-0215-2 ( com.ec [accessed March 24, 2020]).
  3. Bing Crosby at American Masters
  4. Best-selling single. Retrieved April 2, 2020 (UK English).
  5. Quoted from Friedwald, p. 34.
  6. See Friedwald, p. 35.
  7. Quoted from Friedwald, p. 46.
  8. See Friedwald, p. 41.
  9. See Friedwald, p. 42 f.
  10. See Friedwald, p. 44.
  11. ^ Bing Crosby | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (American English).
  12. ^ Bing Crosby | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (American English).
  13. ^ Bing Crosby | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (American English).
  14. ^ Bing Crosby | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (American English).
  15. Bing Crosby - Hollywood's Greatest Entertainer. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
  16. ^ Media History Digital Library: Variety (January 05, 1955) . New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company, 1955 ( archive.org [accessed May 15, 2020]).
  17. ^ White Christmas (1954) - Financial Information. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
  18. Bing Crosby Productions - The TV IV. Accessed August 1, 2017 .
  19. ^ Gary Giddins: Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903-1940 . Little, Brown, 2009, ISBN 978-0-316-09156-5 ( google.com [accessed August 3, 2021]).
  20. ^ Gary Giddins: Bing Crosby: The Unsung King of Song. In: The New York Times . January 28, 2001, accessed December 3, 2014 .
  21. ^ Bing Crosby (1901? -1977) . In: Music Educators Journal 64 . No. 7, 1978, pp. 56-57.
  22. ^ Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years, 1903-1940 (NY: Little and Brown, 2009), p. 67. ISBN 0316091561
  23. ^ Jack Kapp - Bing Crosby Internet Museum. In: Stevenlewis.info. Retrieved November 19, 2016 .
  24. ^ Will Friedwald: A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers . Knopf Doubleday, November 2, 2010, ISBN 978-0-307-37989-4 , pp. 116– (accessed October 3, 2018).
  25. Internet Archive: The great American popular singers: [their lives, careers and art] . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984 ( archive.org [accessed April 2, 2020]).
  26. ^ Bing Crosby | Bing by the Numbers. His Amazing Music Records | American Masters | PBS. November 25, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2020 (American English).
  27. You Can't Take It With You: Bing Crosby Edition. November 23, 2012, accessed April 5, 2020 .
  28. ^ Bing Crosby. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
  29. ^ Bing Crosby | Bing by the Numbers. His Amazing Music Records | American Masters | PBS. November 25, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2020 (American English).
  30. ^ Bing Crosby | Bing by the Numbers. His Amazing Music Records | American Masters | PBS. November 25, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2020 (American English).
  31. GRAMMY Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 5, 2020 .
  32. The Bing Crosby Movie Page. Retrieved June 1, 2020 (American English).
  33. Noteworthy: Merry Christmas - Bing Holds the Record at 50 Million Copies , Mik Davis, Signature Magazine, December 3, 2019
  34. a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  35. ^ A b Billboard Pop Hits Singles & Albums 1940–1954 by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2002, ISBN 978-0-89820-198-7
  36. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
  37. Bing at Christmas (album) in the UK charts
  38. Pop Memories 1890–1954: The History of American Popular Music by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 1992, ISBN 978-0-89820-083-6
  39. Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7 .
  40. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p before the introduction of the gold record in 1958 there were only estimated, unofficial sales figures from the music labels