Thoroughly Modern Bing

Thoroughly Modern Bing is a long-playing vinyl album recorded by Bing Crosby for Pickwick Records at Mastertone Recording Studio in Long Island City, New York. The orchestral tracks were conducted by "Bugs" Bower with a vocal group under the direction of Don Marshall. Crosby subsequently over-dubbed his vocals at two separate sessions in February 1968.[1]

Thoroughly Modern Bing
Studio album by
Bing Crosby
Released1968 (1968)
RecordedFebruary 9, 12, 1968
GenreVocal
LabelPickwick
ProducerJoe Abend
Bing Crosby chronology
A Little Bit of Irish
(1966)		 Thoroughly Modern Bing
(1968)		 Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love
(1968)

Another song, "Where the Rainbow Ends" was also recorded on February 12, 1968 but did not appear on the original vinyl album. It was included on a LaserLight CD in 1991. A song called "That's All I Want from You" (written by M. Rotha) was also recorded on the same day but has never surfaced.

The album was issued on CD in 1991 by LaserLight as "Bing Crosby - A Visit to the Movies (CD: 15 411) and by Pickwick Records in 1997 as "Bing Crosby at His Best" (1128-2).[1] The song "(I Call You) Sunshine" was not included on the LaserLight CD.

Reception

Billboard said: "In this uptempo album, the old crooner shows that he still has much of the fire that ranked him among yesterday's superstars. Here he is applying his unique style to some recent top chart riders with interesting results."[2]

The British publication "The Gramophone" commented: "Meanwhile there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Crosby has lost none of his charm or skill in Thoroughly Modern Bing (Stateside SL10257). He works his lasting magic on “Talk to the Animals,” “Love Is Blue,” “Chim Chim Cheree,” and other modern songs of quality plus the oldie “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead” with the same ease and warmth that was discernible in 1928. He even transforms a blatant flag-waver like “What’s More American” into something tolerable, and is the first singer to hold my attention throughout “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” without causing a single wince."[3]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Talk to the Animals"Leslie Bricusse3:07
2."Love Is Blue (L'amour est bleu)"Bryan Blackburn, André Popp2:36
3."Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead"Harold Arlen, E.Y.Harburg2:16
4."Chim Chim Cher-ee"Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman3:04
5."(I Call You) Sunshine"Jack Wolf, John Howard, "Bugs" Bower2:07
6."High Hopes"Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn2:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Thoroughly Modern Millie"Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn2:15
8."My Friend, the Doctor"Leslie Bricusse3:00
9."Up, Up and Away"Jimmy Webb2:54
10."Puff, the Magic Dragon"Peter Yarrow, Leonard Lipton3:07
11."What's More American?"Kadish Millet2:33
Bonus track on Laserlight CD
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Where the Rainbow Ends"Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway2:30

References
  1. "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  2. "Billboard". January 2, 1971: 30. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "The Gramophone". January 1969. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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