Bing's best-selling album and the best-selling Christmas album of all-time is "Merry Christmas," a collection of holiday recordings originally released as an album of five 78rpm records in 1945 (Decca A-403). This set included the original 1942 recording of "White Christmas," as well as "Silent Night," "Adeste Fideles," "Let's Start the New Year Right," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Danny Boy," "Faith of Our Fathers," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus is Comin to Town."

The album was reissued on four 78rpm discs (A-550) in 1947 (photo top left) with Bing's 1947 re-recording of White Christmas and without "Danny Boy" and "Let's Start the New Year Right."

In 1949 "Merry Christmas" was released as a 10-inch 33rpm long-playing record (LP) with the same eight songs and cover (DL-5019). In 1951 Decca gave the LP a new cover (photo right) but no change in content. In 1955 the 12-inch LP (DL-8128) made its debut with four additional songs ("Christmas in Killarney," "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas," "Mele Kalikimaka" and "Silver Bells").

In 1986 "Merry Christmas" was transferred to compact disc and included these same 12 songs. In 1998, following the release of the double-CD "Bing Crosby, The Voice of Christmas," MCA changed the name of the "Merry Christmas" album to "White Christmas" but kept the contents unchanged.

"Merry Christmas" entered the "Billboard Top 40" five times, beginning in 1957, when it held the No. 1 position for a week during the holiday season. In 1958 the album rose to No. 2; in 1959 it reached No. 17; in 1960 No. 9; and in 1962 it reached No. 22. The RIAA awarded Bing a belated gold disc for "Merry Christmas" in 1970.

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