Holiday Inn [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Bing Crosby | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 28, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Mca Special Products
• ASIN: B000008EP6
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,623 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great songs, terrible sound quality, August 25, 2000

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holiday Inn (Audio CD)

It grieves me to give a Bing Crosby selection a paltry two stars, but the quality of this CD is abysmal. I am convinced that someone merely stuck a cheap tape recorder in front of a TV playing this classic movie and then marketed this pale imitation of the original soundtrack.

The scratches, skipped notes and hideous tonal quality are reminiscent of a beat up old 78 record. What a disappointment considering this disc contains some hard-to-locate Bing songs like "I'll Capture her Heart" and "I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For." You might as well buy the VHS version of Holiday Inn and make your own recording from the film. This CD's quality is the nadir of listening experiences!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bing Crosby--Holiday Inn, December 13, 2005

By 

Randy L. Smith (Kobe, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holiday Inn (Audio CD)

After listening to this CD, I must confess to being puzzled by an earlier reviewer's negative reaction to the sound quality of the recording. All of the music here was recorded in 1942, and by the standards of that time, the sound isn't bad at all. According to a producer's blurb on the CD insert, Holiday Inn was released in 1962 as one of 15 albums (I'm guessing they all appeared on Decca) in a series known as Bing's Hollywood, each featuring songs from one of his movies. The blurb further states that the songs were collected from commercial recordings made by Crosby around the time the movies appeared in the theaters, so technically speaking, they can't be considered original soundtrack recordings. Again, the quality of the recording sounds fine to my ears. While it's true a few of the tracks exhibit some surface noise (as though they had been transferred from records), there's nothing here which ought to detract from enjoyment of the music.

As for the music, there are 12 songs written by the great Irving Berlin, expertly sung by either Bing or Fred Astaire and Margaret Lenhart on a few tracks. Backing is provided by longtime Crosby collaborator John Scott Trotter on about half of the selections, and Bing's brother Bob Crosby and His Orchestra on the others. Some of the Crosby tracks in particular provide excellent swinging arrangements which inspire Bing's jazzier approach to singing. Aside from "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," and "Be Careful It's My Heart," most of the songs are lesser known examples of Berlin's music; it's nice to discover a song like "Lazy" with its clever lyrics (". . . with a great big valise full of books to read where it's peaceful."). Most of the selections on hand here have been released on one of a series of 2 CD sets on the Jasmine label devoted to Bing's movie songs, but at the price this version of Holiday Inn is being offered for, it's easily worth the money.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astaire, Berlin, and Crosby, a powerful ABC!, April 25, 1999

By 

Mark Savary "moon_city" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holiday Inn (Audio CD)

If you don't have it, GET IT! This is the soundtrack to the delightful
1942 musical "Holiday Inn", a Bing and Fred team-up
triumph. This is the film that introduced "White Christmas",
Bing's signature song.

Obstensively a Christmas movie, this one can
be enjoyed at any time of year, as Christmas serves as the
"book-ends" for a year's worth of Berlin tunes (except
Halloween... they left that one out of the movie for some
reason).

The songs are intoxicating and contageous! You'll find
yourself humming some of these cuts long after you've put the CD on
the shelf.

"Holiday Inn" is not to be missed, but it is
sure to be cherished once you have a look, and a listen.