Bing Crosby - "Do You Hear What I Hear" (1963)

Hello Friends,

This familiar holiday song was written by a married couple, Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker, in October 1962 as a plea for peace during the very tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  As the Western World teetered on the brink of all out nuclear annihilation, this song (as performed by the Harry Simeone chorale) became a top-selling hit for the 1962 Holiday season.

A year later, Bing Crosby would record his own hit version which would reach # 2 on the Billboard charts, as well as provide a melancholic backdrop to the days and weeks following the assassination of JFK.

Might be a good Holiday theme song for 2016!

Cheers!

Bing Crosby - "The Headless Horseman" (1949)

Hello Friends,

A straight-up vintage Halloween tune right here.

Sing it Bing!

1 Days of Xmas: Bing Crosby - "Merry Christmas" (1955)

Bing Crosby - "Merry Christmas" (1955) - Decca Records

Merry Christmas Friends,

Tonight we've got the mother-of-all Christmas albums on the turntable as our 12 Days of Christmas listening party draws to a festive close!

Good ol' Bing probably never won any father of the year awards, but when it came a smooth-as-silk singing voice, this crooner is tops in our book!

Little Johnny awoke when he
heard the pitter-patter of tiny
hooves on the roof of his house!
(Vera Ellen)

Side One plays it a bit more mellow and sanctimonious with traditional hymns like "Silent Night" and "Faith Of Our Fathers"; the WWII-soldier-longing-to-home-at-Christmas-tearjerker,  "I'll Be Home For Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)" and the best-selling single of all time-- another wartime ballad-- the classic, "White Christmas".

Side Two is quite a bit more upbeat with swinging versions of "Jingle Bells", "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", "Mele Kalikimaka" (all accompanied by the Andrew Sisters), "Silver Bells", "Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" & the Irish Christmas song, "Christmas in Killarney".

It may sound cliche but Christmas just wouldn't seem like Christmas without a little Bing in our lives!

Merry Christmas everybody!

RATING: 5 Just Like The Ones I Used To Know out of 5