Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium

Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium is a 1976 vinyl 2-LP live recording of the show put on by Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Kathryn Crosby and Ted Rogers at the London Palladium from June 21 to July 4, 1976.[1] Musical support was provided by the Pete Moore Big Band and the Joe Bushkin Quartet. The Crosby children (Harry, Mary and Nathaniel also took part.[2]

Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium
Live album by
Released1976
RecordedJune 24-25, 1976
GenreVocal
LabelK-Tel Records (NE-951)
ProducerKen Barnes
Bing Crosby chronology
At My Time of Life
(1976)
Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium
(1976)
Feels Good, Feels Right
(1976)

The performances on June 25 and 26 were recorded by Ken Barnes and issued as a double album by K-Tel International under licence from United Artists Records. [3]
The album entered the UK charts in November 1977 and peaked at No. 9.[4]

Most of the songs from the album were issued on CD for the first time in 1997 by EMI Records on a CD called “Bing Crosby 50th Anniversary Concert at the London Palladium” (catalogue No. 7243 8 57547 2 2). Omissions were the Crosby Family “Round” and tracks 15-17, 33-34 and 36. An additional track – “Great Day” – was included and it is suspected that this came from the recording session for the At My Time of Life album.

The 3-CD set called “Bing Crosby – The Complete United Artists Sessions” issued by EMI Records (7243 59808 2 4) in 1997[5] included tracks 15-16, 33-34 and 36 but not track 17 and the Crosby Family “Round” neither of which have ever been issued in digital form.

Background

Bing Crosby had been tempted back into the recording studios by producer Ken Barnes and quickly made three albums with him in London. He also made two LPs which he financed himself and during an extended stay in the U.K. in the summer of 1975, he made many appearances on radio and television shows. His appetite for show business seemed to have returned and then he decided to give a series of concerts to celebrate his fifty years as an entertainer. Starting in California, and then coming across to the London Palladium for a two-week stint, his performances were a revelation to many and Crosby was clearly enjoying himself.[6]

The opening of the show was clever, featuring as it did a British 1944 newsreel of Crosby singing at the opening of the Stage Door Canteen in London. The screen then lifted away, the orchestra played the opening bars of “Where the Blue of the Night,” and Crosby walked onto the stage to tumultuous applause. In unusually high temperatures, he was on stage at the Palladium for most of the two and a half hour show and he wound up with a thirty-five minute medley of his old hits, with the audience joining in enthusiastically, before closing with the song “That's What Life Is All About.” The proceeds of the show went to the National Society for Cancer Relief, the Playing Fields Association, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.[7]

Personnel

No details for the Pete Moore Big Band.

Joe Bushkin Quartet

Reception

Variety reviewed the show itself. "On opening night (21) the vet turned in a superlative performance and one perhaps not expected from a performer of his years. Though he looked frail, even tottery at times, the power and warmth of his voice is remarkably preserved, his charisma still intact, his wit still keen and his sense of showbiz paramount…Crosby was on stage — and on his feet, yet — for a good deal of the three hour initialer. He managed, moreover, to finish in a sprint noticeably stronger than his start. The Crosby show majors in sentimentality, but cleverly so, stopping short of goo, gush or schmaltz. He introduced his family who went through some musical romps while wife Kathryn showed a real talent for dancing. Crosby’s nostalgic repertory was spiked with a handful of new songs, indicating an awareness of what gives these days, though the crowd stood after his reprise in singalong style some 30 or so standards from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s… Show was well balanced, perfectly paced, expertly interlinked and a satisfyingly complete presentation."[8]

Also Geoffrey Wansell writing for the prestigious newspaper The Times saw the show and commented: "The voice of the Old Groaner may not be quite as smooth now at 72. The range and register are only just there, but the pitch is still perfect and the tone and phrasing are magical. No one has ever missed a single word, or a single meaning, of a song that Crosby has sung. The “strolling player” as he calls himself, treated a rapturous audience to a cross section of some of his four-thousand songs he has recorded in fifty years or more of show business. Still looking more like a bank clerk than a star, he reminded them of the 300 million records he has sold in 27 languages and 88 countries in that time …"[9]

Track listing

All tracks featuring Bing Crosby unless annotated.

SIDE ONE

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Where the Blue of the Night (orchestra)"Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk, Bing Crosby0.40
2."The Pleasure of Your Company"André Previn, Johnny Mercer1:36
3."Mary Lou"Abe Lyman, George Waggner, J. Russel Robinson0.57
4."Where the Morning Glories Grow"Richard Whiting, Gus Kahn, Raymond B. Egan3:23
5."At My Time of Life"Cyril Ornadel, Hal Shaper3:11
6."On a Slow Boat to China (Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney)"Frank Loesser2:55
7."By Myself (Rosemary Clooney)"Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz3:46
8."Tenderly (Rosemary Clooney)"Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence2:15
9."50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Rosemary Clooney)"Paul Simon5:041

SIDE TWO

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Send in the Clowns"Stephen Sondheim3:32
11."Gone Fishin' (Bing Crosby & Ted Rogers)"Charles Kenny, Nick Kenny2:48
12."Now You Has Jazz (Bing Crosby & Joe Bushkin Quartet)"Cole Porter1:04
13."Medley (The Man That Got Away / Hallelujah!) (Joe Bushkin Quartet)"Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin / Vincent Youmans, Clifford Grey, Leo Robin4:34
14."Sing (Bing Crosby and his family)"Joe Raposo2:57
15."You've Got a Friend (Bing Crosby & Harry Crosby)"Carole King2:44

SIDE THREE

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."My Cup Runneth Over (Bing Crosby & Kathryn Crosby)"Harvey Schmidt3:00
17."Play a Simple Melody (Bing Crosby & Harry Crosby)"Irving Berlin1:55

Crosby Family “Round” (Bing Crosby and his family) (7:59)

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
18."Row, Row, Row Your Boat"Traditional 
19."Frère Jacques"Traditional 
20."A Kookaburra sits in the Old Gum Tree"Marion Sinclair 
21."Loch Lomond"Traditional 
22."Annie Laurie"Alicia Scott, William Douglas 
23."My Bonnie"Traditional 
24."The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"Gaston Lyle, George Leybourne 
25."The Whiffenpoof Song"Tod B. Galloway, Meade Minnigerode, George S. Pomeroy, Rudy Vallée  
26."The Drinking Song"Sigmund Romberg, Dorothy Donnelly 
27."Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes"Traditional 
28."Dark Eyes"Traditional 
29."You Are My Sunshine"Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell 
30."She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain"Traditional 
31."Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"Traditional 
32."Row, Row, Row Your Boat (reprise)"Traditional 

SIDE THREE (continued)

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
33."The Way We Were"Marvin Hamlisch, Alan and Marilyn Bergman2:20
34."Cuando calienta el sol"Carlos Martinoli, Carlos Rigual, Mario Rigual3:57
35."Just One of Those Things (Rosemary Clooney, drums Miguel Ferrer)"Cole Porter3:08
36."A Song for You (Rosemary Clooney, drums Miguel Ferrer)"Leon Russell3:36

SIDE FOUR

The Crosby Medley – Bing Crosby and the Joe Bushkin Quartet (30:18)

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
37."I Surrender Dear"Harry Barris, Gordon Clifford 
38."Swinging on a Star"Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke 
39."Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"Harry Barris, Ted Koehler, Billy Moll 
40."True Love (Bing Crosby & Mary Crosby)"Cole Porter 
41."Don't Fence Me In"Cole Porter 
42."Pennies from Heaven"Arthur Johnston, Johnny Burke 
43."Blue Hawaii"Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin 
44."Sweet Leilani"Harry Owens 
45."Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)"J. R. Shannon 
46."Just One More Chance"Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow 
47."Them There Eyes"Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William G. Tracey 
48."Moonlight Becomes You"Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke 
49."I'll Be Seeing You"Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal 
50."The White Cliffs of Dover"Walter Kent, Nat Burton 
51."When the Lights Go On Again"Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin 
52."Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer 
53."Please"Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin 
54."Baby Face"Harry Akst, Benny Davis 
55."South of the Border"Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Carr 
56."Galway Bay"Arthur Colahan 
57."Dinah"Harry Akst, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young 
58."San Fernando Valley"Gordon Jenkins 
59."I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)"Harry Warren, Billy Rose, Mort Dixon 
60."San Antonio Rose"Bob Wills 
61."I'm an Old Cowhand"Johnny Mercer 
62."In a Little Spanish Town"Mabel Wayne, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young 
63."Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (Bing Crosby & Kathryn Crosby)"Harry Von Tilzer, Andrew B. Sterling 
64."It's Easy To Remember"Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart 
65."Blue Skies"Irving Berlin 
66."It's Been a Long, Long Time"Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn 
67."Mississippi Mud"Harry Barris, James Cavanaugh 
68."Ol' Man River"Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II 

SIDE FOUR (continued)

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
69."That's What Life Is All About"Les Reed, Peter Dacre, Ken Barnes, Bing Crosby3:14
70."Where the Blue of the Night (reprise) (orchestra)"Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk, Bing Crosby1:26

References

  1. "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  2. "Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  3. Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part Five: 1961-1977 ed.). John Joyce. p. 197.
  4. British Hit Singles & Albums (2005 ed.). Guinness World Records. p. 126. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  5. "Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  6. "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  7. "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  8. "Variety". Variety. June 30, 1976.
  9. "The Times". The Times. June 22, 1976.
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