Asv Living Era
2003
His Greatest Hits Of The 30's & 40's
About This Album
Listeners who want a lengthy compilation of Bing Crosby's chart and career highlights could hardly do better than picking up Swinging on a Star: His Fifty Greatest Hits of the 30s & 40s, a 50-track compilation from Living Era. The two-disc set spends its first half looking at the Crosby phenomenon as it existed in the 1930s, when he became the most exciting singer in the music industry, soothing audiences with his crooning ("Out of Nowhere," "June in January") and showing both sides of Depression-era living in "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and "Pennies from Heaven." Crosby entered the '40s as one of America's top film stars, and if his musical recordings had become more commercial, they were hardly less enjoyable. "San Fernando Valley," "Swinging on a Star," and "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" defined the new American optimism, and Crosby also broadened his talents with various ethnic crossovers, highlighted here by "MacNamara's Band," "Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)," "Don't Fence Me In," "The Whiffenpoof Song," and "South America, Take It Away!" Nary a hit is missing, and while the chart emphasis may unfairly neglect some great recordings (two that come to mind are "Gone Fishin'" and the victorious "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin"), it's clear from the evidence here why Bing Crosby was America's favorite singer during the 1930s and '40s. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,4,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,18,19,20 and 24)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 1,2,4,5,7,8,9,11,13 and 16)

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