Bing Crosby

Nearly 11 months elapsed between the final recording on Jonzo Records' The Chronological Bing Crosby, Vol. 47: 1947 and the first one on The Chronological Bing Crosby, Vol. 48: 1948-49 because of the recording ban called by the American Federation of Musicians that began on January 1, 1948. Having stockpiled enough tracks in 1947 to keep him among the five most successful recording artists of 1948, Crosby stayed away from the recording studio until November 25, 1948, when he cut a single, "Far Away Places," that probably violated the soon-to-expire ban. It promptly rose to number two in Billboard, his most successful record of 1949, and he went back to recording full-time in January. This disc chronicles that return to action, which featured a typically varied set of tracks including covers of new show tunes ("So in Love" and "Why Can't You Behave?" from Cole Porter's +Kiss Me, Kate, and "Bali Ha'i" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's +South Pacific); novelty duets ("Sing Soft, Sing Sweet, Sing Gentle" with Jimmy Durante, "Be-Bop Spoken Here" with Patty Andrews); Western material ("Riders in the Sky," "Careless Hands"); and newly written songs by the regular Crosby team of Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for his movies ("Sure Thing" and "Sunshine Cake" from Riding High, "You're in Love with Someone" from Top o' the Morning). Acknowledging the newly introduced "long-playing" disc format, Crosby also cut an eight-song 10" LP, Beloved Hymns, accompanied by a choir and a church organ. He was at his most authoritative on the religious music and his most amusing on the novelties, but this was not a particularly memorable period in his recording history, which is perhaps confirmed by noting that of the five songs that charted for him in this batch, on none of them did he have the most popular recording, being outdistanced by Margaret Whiting, Mel Tormé, Vaughn Monroe, and Perry Como in the increasingly competitive postwar music scene. He didn't necessarily have first crack at those hits, of course, but among the songs crafted for him, Burke and Van Heusen didn't provide any real winners. Crosby remained at or near the top of the heap as an American recording artist in 1949 (the same position he held as a movie and radio star), but in the year he turned 46 his reign was being seriously challenged. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide