''Join Bing and Sing Along'' is a long-playing vinyl album issued first by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

(LPM/LSP-2276) and immediately thereafter by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

(W/WS-1363) in 1960. The album consists of twelve medleys of 33 old songs in a singalong format. Bing Crosby sings on all of the tracks except those marked with an asterisk. The chorus and orchestra is conducted by Jack Halloran and their tracks were pre-recorded on November 9 & 13, 1959 with Crosby over-dubbing his vocals. Orchestral arrangements were by Bob Thompson. The album entered the UK album charts on October 8, 1960 and reached a peak position of No. 7 in an 11-week stay.

Hallmark Records Hallmark Records is a British record label. History Hallmark Records was founded in the 1960s and was the first budget label in the United Kingdom. The revived company has since become a major publisher of budget CDs in the UK, issuing both pub ...

issued the album on CD in 2011 No. 710082.

Reception

Variety magazine ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

reviewed the album saying “Every company seems to be getting into the “Sing Along” act that

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

started for Columbia in the spring of 1958. Warner Bros. has a good scoring chance with their Bing Crosby version. He leads the vocal chorus through 33 familiar items and he has a way that makes it easy to join along.”

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

liked it. "Of course, this is imitation, as are so many of the recent sing-along sets, but it is a first-rate one due to the presence of the old master, Bing Crosby. The grand collection of 33 old-time tunes is made to order for the old Groaner, and he sings them infectiously so that everyone is sure to sing along with him. If exploited this could be a good seller." Crosby expert, Fred Reynolds, writing in his book ''The Crosby Collection, 1926–1977'' summed it up as follows: "Bing makes little attempt at subtlety of phrasing, ornamentation, niceties or nuances of any kind and his vocals, backed by hearty voices, create only a mechanically jolly atmosphere of a party get-together. There was a criticism, not without justification, that the album was too lightweight for a singer of his calibre but in mitigation it can be fairly claimed that it is a pleasant, happy sound with well chosen classic old songs brought back to life."

Track listing

*Non-Bing – orchestra and chorus only

References

{{Authority control 1960 albums Bing Crosby albums Sing-along albums Warner Records albums