Customer Reviews

Bing With a Beat

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This album is one of the great achievements of Bing Crosby's remarkable career. It's also tremendous fun. Here Bing swings twelve songs, some famous, others not, in Dixieland style, backed by the reliable Bob Scobey and his "Frisco Jazz Band." Crosby brings to mind his earliest recordings with sensitive yet swinging interpretations of "Whispering," "I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," and, most notably, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," where Crosby's voice and Scobey's trumpet both sound as if they're awaking from a dreamy, lilting, southern sleep.

This album is one of the great achievements of Bing Crosby's remarkable career. It's also tremendous fun. Here Bing swings twelve songs, some famous, others not, in Dixieland style, backed by the reliable Bob Scobey and his "Frisco Jazz Band." Crosby brings to mind his earliest recordings with sensitive yet swinging interpretations of "Whispering," "I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," and, most notably, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," where Crosby's voice and Scobey's trumpet both sound as if they're awaking from a dreamy, lilting, southern sleep. I originally posted this review for the Japanese re-issue, but this Bluebird release sounds much better. Oddly, the version of "Exactly Like You" heard on this release is an alternate take from the one released on the LP and Japanese CD. It's the same arrangement, but a different vocal with a different scat. There is no mention of this change in the liner notes or technical information! I would also like to disagree with the reviewer who described this album as representative of Sinatra's 50s style. Sinatra could never record an album like this. There are only about two existing tracks (and they're almost never heard) of Sinatra with a dixie band. It was not a style he was comfortable with, and one at which he did not excel. Crosby, on the other hand, was intimately aquainted with this style and proves it, yet again, on Bing with a Beat.

I only recently got this CD, but it has quickly become one of my all-time favorites and has yet to leave my CD player. Bing is in great voice. As usual, his phrasing is impeccable. Bob Scoobey and the Frisco Jazz Band are fantastic. Best of all, Bing and the band seem to be having a great time together. Finally, the sound quality is excellent.

Man, does this swing! Bing's velvety voice and precise phrasings along with a terrific jazz band produce irresistable renditions of pop standards. Much of it is of the Dixieland jazz variety, and it's hot! Pure pleasure.

This reissue of one of Bing's best albums is very welcome indeed. Accompanied by Bob Scobey's excellent band, Bing delivers superb versions of twelve old classics. In relaxed form and obviously enjoying the jazz band backing, Bing seldom sounded better in the 50s. There is a surprise amongst the songs as 'Exactly Like You' is an alternate take to the track issued on the original vinyl issue. Top class sleeve notes by noted writer Will Friedwald plus several photographs from the session make this a most appealing package.

Bing's music did not translate well to the long-playing record format of the '50's and later. There's a a brash and unswinging outing with Buddy Bregman and even a tepid date with Count Basie. But the 4/4 swing style was the domain of Sinatra, a vocalist whose approach was based on Harry james' incisive phrasing and Coleman Hawkins' arresting timbre and attack. Bing, on the other hand, is the alter ego and musical descendent of Louis Armstrong's looser, more genial 2-beat New Orleans style. Forget the crisp, tightly orchestrated riffs of the '40's swing ensembles. Instead, think Dixieland polyphony, and the collaborative, good-time music-making of the best jazz of the '20's and early '30's.

"Bing With a Beat" is late Crosby at his very best. Like his masterful performance with Louis in "High Society" it's one of the rare occasions after 1940 when Crosby displays the jazz chops that contributed to his complete dominance as a popular recording artist in the 1930's. His command of the program makes even an unfamiliar tune like "Last Night on the Back Porch" or "Tell Me" sound like a welcome return to an old favorite. Scobey's trumpet sound--full, brassy, passionate--is a perfect complement to Bing, who brings the instrumentalist into the conversation at every opportunity.

Bing is in his element on this overdue reissue, and his pleasure is the listener's. (I've played the CD 5-6 times, and it just keeps getting better. Maybe it's time for another one of those "Dixieland revivals" that used to occur periodically.)

I was thrilled to see that this became available on CD. I've been stuck listening to a cassette copy of a scratchy borrowed record for decades.

My initial reaction to this album was that it was Bing trying to be Sinatra, an odd irony given the important influence Bing was on Sinatra when he was a big band boy singer. But my initial reaction, although not totally off base, was too superficial.

Bing indeed sings with a Frankophilic swagger that I don't normally associate with him. However, he pulls it off, sounding like Bing having assimilated late 50s pop/jazz singing, and only slightly like someone who abandoned his own style to copy something newer that's more in vogue, the musical equivalent of dressing too young for one's age (which usually comes across as kind of pathetic). This is perhaps a difference between a great singer like Crosby and a lesser one. Perry Como or Eddie Fisher could never have cut this record.

The band is good. Yeah, it is Dixieland, not New Orleans, but they don't engage in the self-indulgent excesses that infected the 1950s Dixieland revival. They've got drive and movement without getting hectic (good disc for the gym or the car). In addition to Scobey, the band boasts the great Nick Fatool on drums.

Recorded during RCA's golden years, the sound is brassy with out being brash and nicely balanced. Highly recommended.

A good choice in any lists of BING CROSBY's all time best LP,BING WITH A BEAT is a immensely enjoyable trip to the DIXIELAND days.BING is perfectly at ease in displaying his good natured charm here that permits him to go back to his roots without repeating himself.Many songs in this LP are also in the LOUNGE LEGENDS AND OTHER STARS collection and it's no wonder.Is there a better version of an IRVING BERLIN song than this one:SOME SUNNY DAY?I can't think of a record that definies more the quality of BING CROSBY's singing and the simplicity that was BERLIN's trademark.The whole cd is a gem for any CROSBY fan.In fact,you'll probably want to give this cd to your grandfather, and then end up getting a copy for yourself.I can garantee you that you'll play this one often,it won't melt in your musical library.

It look a long time for this cd to be available worldwide.Should you choose one original from BING's collection,this would be the one.At the time 1957,the singer was no longer associated with DECCA and could record with different labels like his friend SATCHMO.BING could actually choose the songs he wanted and with this selection, arranged in the dixieland mold he scored a A+.This is the kind of project that pleased him the most.This is the BING CROSBY we like to remember best.A big thanks to BLUEBIRD for releasing this priceless gem for the fans.Just try to listen to this cd only once.It will belong in your top 25 list,and will also be enjoyed by the whole family.Fans should also check out the 1956 BING SINGS WHILST BREGMAN SWINGS,another winner.

For several years I have had a scratchy LP version of this most enjoyable recording. For me the big question was: "Will the digital version be as good as, or surpass, the original?" I can enthusiastically say the engineers did a superb restoration job on this production. The sound is incredibly clear and vibrant. This disc certainly belongs in the top echelon of outstanding Bing Crosby recordings. Everything works well together. Mr. Crosby in in fine voice. The arrangements, although nearly 50 years old, still sound fresh and catchy. And there is a spirit of commaradarie that is truly infectious. This is the kind of music that deserves continued hearing and preservation. What a blessing to have it still available.