Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium

1976 live album by Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium

Live album by

Bing Crosby

Released| 1976
Recorded| June 24–25, 1976
Genre| Vocal
Label| K-Tel Records (NE-951)
Producer| Ken Barnes
Bing Crosby chronology
| At My Time of Life
(1976)  | Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium
(1976)  | Feels Good, Feels Right
(1976)

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|

Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium  is a 1976 vinyl 2-LP live recording of the show put on by Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Kathryn Crosby and Ted Rogers at the London Palladium from June 21 to July 4, 1976.[1] Musical support was provided by the Pete Moore Big Band and the Joe Bushkin Quartet. The Crosby children (Harry, Mary and Nathaniel) also took part.[2]

The performances on June 25 and 26 were recorded by Ken Barnes and issued as a double album by K-Tel International under licence from United Artists Records. [3]

The album entered the UK charts in November 1977 and peaked at No. 9.[4]

Most of the songs from the album were issued on CD for the first time in 1997 by EMI Records on a CD called “Bing Crosby 50th Anniversary Concert at the London Palladium” (catalogue No. 7243 8 57547 2 2). Omissions were the Crosby Family “Round” and tracks 15-17, 33-34 and 36. An additional track – “Great Day” – was included and it is suspected that this came from the recording session for the At My Time of Life album.

The 3-CD set called “Bing Crosby – The Complete United Artists Sessions” issued by EMI Records (7243 59808 2 4) in 1997[5] included tracks 15-16, 33-34 and 36 but not track 17 and the Crosby Family “Round” neither of which have ever been issued in digital form.

## Background

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Bing Crosby had been tempted back into the recording studios by producer Ken Barnes and quickly made three albums with him in London. He also made two LPs which he financed himself and during an extended stay in the U.K. in the summer of 1975, he made many appearances on radio and television shows. His appetite for show business seemed to have returned and then he decided to give a series of concerts to celebrate his fifty years as an entertainer. Starting in California, and then coming across to the London Palladium for a two-week stint, his performances were a revelation to many and Crosby was clearly enjoying himself.[6]

The opening of the show was clever, featuring as it did a British 1944 newsreel of Crosby singing at the opening of the Stage Door Canteen in London. The screen then lifted away, the orchestra played the opening bars of “Where the Blue of the Night,” and Crosby walked onto the stage to tumultuous applause. In unusually high temperatures, he was on stage at the Palladium for most of the two and a half hour show and he wound up with a thirty-five minute medley of his old hits, with the audience joining in enthusiastically, before closing with the song “That's What Life Is All About.”

The proceeds of the show went to the National Society for Cancer Relief, the Playing Fields Association, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.[7]

## Personnel

[edit]

No details for the Pete Moore Big Band.

Joe Bushkin Quartet

* Joe Bushkin – piano
* Johnny Smith – guitar
* Jake Hanna – percussion
* Lennie Bush – bass

## Reception

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Variety reviewed the show itself. "On opening night (21) the vet turned in a superlative performance and one perhaps not expected from a performer of his years. Though he looked frail, even tottery at times, the power and warmth of his voice is remarkably preserved, his charisma still intact, his wit still keen and his sense of showbiz paramount…Crosby was on stage — and on his feet, yet — for a good deal of the three hour initialer. He managed, moreover, to finish in a sprint noticeably stronger than his start. The Crosby show majors in sentimentality, but cleverly so, stopping short of goo, gush or schmaltz. He introduced his family who went through some musical romps while wife Kathryn showed a real talent for dancing. Crosby’s nostalgic repertory was spiked with a handful of new songs, indicating an awareness of what gives these days, though the crowd stood after his reprise in singalong style some 30 or so standards from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s… Show was well balanced, perfectly paced, expertly interlinked and a satisfyingly complete presentation."[8]

Also Geoffrey Wansell writing for the prestigious newspaper The Times saw the show and commented: "The voice of the Old Groaner may not be quite as smooth now at 72. The range and register are only just there, but the pitch is still perfect and the tone and phrasing are magical. No one has ever missed a single word, or a single meaning, of a song that Crosby has sung. The “strolling player” as he calls himself, treated a rapturous audience to a cross section of some of his four-thousand songs he has recorded in fifty years or more of show business. Still looking more like a bank clerk than a star, he reminded them of the 300 million records he has sold in 27 languages and 88 countries in that time …"[9]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks featuring Bing Crosby unless annotated.

SIDE ONE

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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1.| "Where the Blue of the Night (orchestra)"| Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk, Bing Crosby| 0:40
2.| "The Pleasure of Your Company"| André Previn, Johnny Mercer| 1:36
3.| "Mary Lou"| Abe Lyman, George Waggner, J. Russel Robinson| 0:57
4.| "Where the Morning Glories Grow"| Richard Whiting, Gus Kahn, Raymond B. Egan| 3:23
5.| "At My Time of Life"| Cyril Ornadel, Hal Shaper| 3:11
6.| "On a Slow Boat to China (Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney)"| Frank Loesser| 2:55
7.| "By Myself (Rosemary Clooney)"| Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz| 3:46
8.| "Tenderly (Rosemary Clooney)"| Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence| 2:15
9.| "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Rosemary Clooney)"| Paul Simon| 5:04

SIDE TWO

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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10.| "Send in the Clowns"| Stephen Sondheim| 3:32
11.| "Gone Fishin' (Bing Crosby & Ted Rogers)"| Charles Kenny, Nick Kenny| 2:48
12.| "Now You Has Jazz (Bing Crosby & Joe Bushkin Quartet)"| Cole Porter| 1:04
13.| "Medley (The Man That Got Away / Hallelujah!) (Joe Bushkin Quartet)"| Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin / Vincent Youmans, Clifford Grey, Leo Robin| 4:34
14.| "Sing (Bing Crosby and his family)"| Joe Raposo| 2:57
15.| "You've Got a Friend (Bing Crosby & Harry Crosby)"| Carole King| 2:44

SIDE THREE

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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16.| "My Cup Runneth Over (Bing Crosby & Kathryn Crosby)"| Harvey Schmidt| 3:00
17.| "Play a Simple Melody (Bing Crosby & Harry Crosby)"| Irving Berlin| 1:55

Crosby Family “Round” (Bing Crosby and his family) (7:59)

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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18.| "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"| Traditional|
19.| "Frère Jacques"| Traditional|
20.| "A Kookaburra sits in the Old Gum Tree"| Marion Sinclair|
21.| "Loch Lomond"| Traditional|
22.| "Annie Laurie"| Alicia Scott, William Douglas|
23.| "My Bonnie"| Traditional|
24.| "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"| Gaston Lyle, George Leybourne|
25.| "The Whiffenpoof Song"| Tod B. Galloway, Meade Minnigerode, George S. Pomeroy, Rudy Vallée |
26.| "The Drinking Song"| Sigmund Romberg, Dorothy Donnelly|
27.| "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes"| Traditional|
28.| "Dark Eyes"| Traditional|
29.| "You Are My Sunshine"| Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell|
30.| "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain"| Traditional|
31.| "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"| Traditional|
32.| "Row, Row, Row Your Boat (reprise)"| Traditional|

SIDE THREE (continued)

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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33.| "The Way We Were"| Marvin Hamlisch, Alan and Marilyn Bergman| 2:20
34.| "Cuando calienta el sol"| Carlos Martinoli, Carlos Rigual, Mario Rigual| 3:57
35.| "Just One of Those Things (Rosemary Clooney, drums Miguel Ferrer)"| Cole Porter| 3:08
36.| "A Song for You (Rosemary Clooney, drums Miguel Ferrer)"| Leon Russell| 3:36

SIDE FOUR

The Crosby Medley – Bing Crosby and the Joe Bushkin Quartet (30:18)

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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37.| "I Surrender Dear"| Harry Barris, Gordon Clifford|
38.| "Swinging on a Star"| Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke|
39.| "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"| Harry Barris, Ted Koehler, Billy Moll|
40.| "True Love (Bing Crosby & Mary Crosby)"| Cole Porter|
41.| "Don't Fence Me In"| Cole Porter|
42.| "Pennies from Heaven"| Arthur Johnston, Johnny Burke|
43.| "Blue Hawaii"| Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin|
44.| "Sweet Leilani"| Harry Owens|
45.| "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)"| J. R. Shannon|
46.| "Just One More Chance"| Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow|
47.| "Them There Eyes"| Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William G. Tracey|
48.| "Moonlight Becomes You"| Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke|
49.| "I'll Be Seeing You"| Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal|
50.| "The White Cliffs of Dover"| Walter Kent, Nat Burton|
51.| "When the Lights Go On Again"| Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin|
52.| "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"| Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer|
53.| "Please"| Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin|
54.| "Baby Face"| Harry Akst, Benny Davis|
55.| "South of the Border"| Jimmy Kennedy, Michael Carr|
56.| "Galway Bay"| Arthur Colahan|
57.| "Dinah"| Harry Akst, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young|
58.| "San Fernando Valley"| Gordon Jenkins|
59.| "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)"| Harry Warren, Billy Rose, Mort Dixon|
60.| "San Antonio Rose"| Bob Wills|
61.| "I'm an Old Cowhand"| Johnny Mercer|
62.| "In a Little Spanish Town"| Mabel Wayne, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young|
63.| "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (Bing Crosby & Kathryn Crosby)"| Harry Von Tilzer, Andrew B. Sterling|
64.| "It's Easy To Remember"| Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart|
65.| "Blue Skies"| Irving Berlin|
66.| "It's Been a Long, Long Time"| Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn|
67.| "Mississippi Mud"| Harry Barris, James Cavanaugh|
68.| "Ol' Man River"| Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II|

SIDE FOUR (continued)

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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69.| "That's What Life Is All About"| Les Reed, Peter Dacre, Ken Barnes, Bing Crosby| 3:14
70.| "Where the Blue of the Night (reprise) (orchestra)"| Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk, Bing Crosby| 1:26

## References

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1. ^ "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
2. ^ "Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
3. ^ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part Five: 1961-1977 ed.). John Joyce. p. 197.
4. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (2005 ed.). Guinness World Records. p. 126\. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
5. ^ "Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
6. ^ "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
7. ^ "BING magazine". BING magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
8. ^ "Variety". Variety. June 30, 1976.
9. ^ "The Times". The Times. June 22, 1976.

* v
* t
* e

Bing Crosby

* Discography
* Filmography

Albums|

* Music of Hawaii (1939)
* Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. One (1939)
* Patriotic Songs for Children (1939)
* Cowboy Songs (Bing Crosby's first solo album) (1939)
* Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. Two (1939)
* George Gershwin Songs, Vol. One (1939)
* Ballad for Americans (Bing Crosby's first solo studio album)(1940)
* Favorite Hawaiian Songs (1940)
* Christmas Music (1940)
* Star Dust (1940)
* Hawaii Calls (1941)
* Small Fry (1941)
* Crosbyana (1941)
* Under Western Skies (1941)
* Song Hits from Holiday Inn (w/ Fred Astaire) (1942)
* Merry Christmas (1945)
* Selections from Going My Way (1945)
* Selections from The Bells of St. Mary's (1946)
* Don't Fence Me In (w/ The Andrews Sisters) (1946)
* The Happy Prince (1946)
* Selections from Road to Utopia (1946)
* Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster (1946)
* What We So Proudly Hail (1946)
* Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. One (1946)
* Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. Two (1946)
* Blue Skies (w/ Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin) (1946)
* Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern (1946)
* St. Patrick's Day (1947)
* Bing Crosby – Victor Herbert (1947)
* Cowboy Songs, Vol. One (1947)
* Selections from Welcome Stranger (1947)
* Our Common Heritage (1947)
* El Bingo (1947)
* The Small One (1947)
* The Man Without a Country (1947)
* Drifting and Dreaming (1947)
* Blue of the Night (1948)
* Selections from Showboat (1948)
* The Emperor Waltz (1948)
* St. Valentine's Day (1948)
* Bing Crosby Sings with Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters (1948)
* Selections from Road to Rio (1948)
* Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer (1948)
* Bing Crosby Sings with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Heywood, Louis Jordan (1948)
* Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows (1948)
* Cowboy Songs, Vol. Two (1948)
* Auld Lang Syne (1948)
* Bing Crosby Sings Cole Porter Songs (1949)
* A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
* Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin (1949)
* South Pacific (1949)
* Christmas Greetings (1949)
* Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
* Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz (1950)
* Songs from Mr. Music (w/ Dorothy Kirsten and The Andrews Sisters) (1950)
* Go West Young Man (w/ The Andrews Sisters) (1950)
* Collectors' Classics, Vols. 1–8 (1951)
* Way Back Home (1951)
* Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from... (1951)
* Bing and the Dixieland Bands (1951)
* Yours Is My Heart Alone (1951)
* Country Style (1951)
* Beloved Hymns (1951)
* Bing and Connee (w/ Connee Boswell) (1952)
* When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1952)
* Themes and Songs from The Quiet Man (w/ Victor Young) (1952)
* Selections from the Paramount Picture "Just for You" (w/ Jane Wyman and The Andrews Sisters) (1952)
* Road to Bali (w/ Bob Hope and Peggy Lee) (1952)
* Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris (1953)
* Some Fine Old Chestnuts (1954)
* Bing Sings the Hits (1954)
* Selections from White Christmas (w/ Peggy Lee and Danny Kaye) (1954)
* Bing: A Musical Autobiography (1954)
* The Country Girl / Little Boy Lost (1955)
* Merry Christmas (later version of 1945 78rpm album) (1955)
* Shillelaghs and Shamrocks (1956)
* Home on the Range (1956)
* Blue Hawaii (1956)
* High Tor (w/ Julie Andrews and Everett Sloane) (1956)
* A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World (1956)
* Anything Goes (w/ Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmaire) (1956)
* High Society (w/ Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Louis Armstrong) (1956)
* Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around (1956)
* Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (1956)
* Bing with a Beat (1957)
* A Christmas Story (1957)
* Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1957)
* New Tricks (1957)
* The Bible Story of Christmas (1957)
* Never Be Afraid (1958)
* Jack B. Nimble – A Mother Goose Fantasy (1958)
* Fancy Meeting You Here ( w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1958)
* Around the World with Bing! (1958)
* Bing in Paris (1958)
* That Christmas Feeling (1958)
* In a Little Spanish Town (1958)
* Bing’s Buddies and Beaus (1959)
* Say One for Me (w/ Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner) (1959)
* How the West Was Won (w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1960)
* Join Bing and Sing Along (1960)
* Bing & Satchmo (w/ Louis Armstrong) (1960)
* Songs of Christmas (1960)
* 101 Gang Songs (1961)
* El Señor Bing (1961)
* My Golden Favorites (1961)
* The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
* Bing's Hollywood (set of 15 albums) (1962)
* On the Happy Side (1962)
* I Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962)
* Holiday in Europe (1962)
* Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (1963)
* Return to Paradise Islands (1964)
* America, I Hear You Singing (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring) (1964)
* Robin and the 7 Hoods (w/ Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.) (1964)
* 12 Songs of Christmas (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring) (1964)
* Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits (1965)
* That Travelin' Two-Beat (w/ Rosemary Clooney) (1965)
* The Summit (w/ Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.) (1966)
* Bing Crosby's Treasury – The Songs I Love (1966)
* Bing Crosby and The Columbus Boychoir Sing Family Christmas Favorites (w/ The Columbus Boychoir) (1967)
* Thoroughly Modern Bing (1968)
* Bing Crosby's Treasury – The Songs I Love (1968 version) (1968)
* Hey Jude/Hey Bing! (1969)
* Goldilocks (1970)
* A Time to Be Jolly (1971)
* Bing 'n' Basie (w/ Count Basie) (1972)
* Rhythm on the Range (1972)
* I’ll Sing You a Song of the Islands (1972)
* A Southern Memoir (1975)
* That's What Life Is All About (1975)
* A Couple of Song and Dance Men (w/ Fred Astaire) (1975)
* Tom Sawyer (1976)
* At My Time of Life (1976)
* Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium (1976)
* Feels Good, Feels Right (1976)
* Beautiful Memories (1977)
* Bingo Viejo (1977)
* Seasons (Bing Crosby's last studio album released during his lifetime) (1977)
* A Little Bit of Irish (posthumous edition, recorded in 1966) (1993)
* Bing Crosby: The Voice of Christmas (1998)
* On the Sentimental Side (posthumous edition, recorded in 1962; Bing Crosby's latest studio album) (2010)

Family|

* Dixie Lee (first wife)
* Gary Crosby (son)
* Dennis Crosby (son)
* Phillip Crosby (son)
* Lindsay Crosby (son)
* Kathryn Crosby (second wife)
* Harry Crosby (son)
* Mary Crosby (daughter)
* Nathaniel Crosby (son)
* Denise Crosby (granddaughter)
* Larry Crosby (brother)
* Bob Crosby (brother)

Related|

* Songs Bing Crosby recorded multiple times
* A Tribute to Bing Crosby

* Category

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