Bing with a Beat
Studio album by
Bing Crosby
Released1957
RecordedFebruary 19–20, 1957
GenreVocal
Length37:44
LabelRCA Victor
Bing Crosby chronology
High Society
(1956) 		Bing with a Beat
(1957) 		A Christmas Story - An Axe, An Apple and a Buckskin Jacket
(1957)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Bing with a Beat was Bing Crosby's seventh long play album but his first with RCA Victor. It was recorded at the Radio Recorders "Annex" Studio in Los Angeles and released on vinyl in September 1957. Bing with a Beat is a 1957 concept album where the songs feature "hot" jazz and dixieland arrangements by Matty Matlock, played by Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band.

The album was issued on CD by BMG Music and Bluebird Records in 2004.

Reception

Variety liked the album, saying, "Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band has put Bing Crosby in one of his happiest and swingiest vocal frames. The evergreens are ever-bright when Crosby and Scobey match wits."[2]

Record producer, Ken Barnes, wrote, "After his high-powered outing with Buddy Bregman, Bing probably felt a desire to get back to the roots of his singing style and this pleasantly swinging album with Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band was probably the best artistic therapy for him at this point in his career. Bing always responded enthusiastically to a Dixie-style backing and with songs like 'Some Sunny Day', 'Whispering' and 'Mama Loves Papa' he is in top-notch form. Scobey plays some tasty trumpet and there are telling solos from others in the band - notably Ralph Sutton on piano. The cleanly crisp arrangements are by Matty Matlock and the album is almost a total joy from beginning to end. The only mild disappointment is a rather lack-lustre version of 'Mack the Knife' which should have been a standout.[3]

The writer Will Friedwald, in his book Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond, commented, "Communicating the obvious joy the music arises in him, Crosby fairly oozes with charming insouciance above and beyond even the call of Crosby, expressed in semi-spoken asides and lyric alterations."[4]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella"Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, Francis Wheeler2:50
2."I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter"Fred E. Ahlert, Joe Young3:03
3."Along the Way to Waikiki"Richard A. Whiting, Gus Kahn3:29
4."Exactly Like You"Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields3:14
5."Dream a Little Dream of Me"Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt, Gus Kahn2:40
6."Last Night on the Back Porch"Carl Schraubstader, Lew Brown2:48
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Some Sunny Day"Irving Berlin2:46
2."Whispering"John Schonberger, Richard Coburn, Vincent Rose3:26
3."Tell Me"J. Will Callahan, Max Kortlander2:56
4."Mack the Knife"Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht3:53
5."Down Among the Sheltering Palms"Abe Olman, James Brockman, Leo Wood3:15
6."Mama Loves Papa"Abel Baer, Cliff Friend3:10

Personnel

Bob Scobey (trumpet and leader), Frank Beach (trumpet); Abe Lincoln (trombone); Matty Matlock (clarinet); Dave Harris (tenor saxophone); Ralph Sutton (piano); Clancy Hayes (guitar); Red Callender (bass); Nick Fatool (drums).[5]

References

  1. ^ Planer, Lindsay. "Bing with a Beat". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. ^ Variety. September 2, 1957. ((cite journal)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ Barnes, Ken (1980). The Crosby Years. Elm Tree Books. p. 93.
  4. ^ Friedwald, Will (1996). Jazz singing : America's great voices from Bessie Smith to bebop and beyond (1 ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 45. ISBN 0306807122.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part Four 1951–1960 ed.). John Joyce. p. 206.
Categories