A Review of The New Bing Christmas CDs


Bing Message Board

Posted by Lee on October 25, 1999 at 09:32:42:

Hello To All Bingsters,

Well, over the weekend I decided to do what I normally don't and listen to Bing's Christmas music out of season. But, I had a reason, I was curious about the sound of the new MCA Best of Bing Christmas CD & the new Capitol Bing 24 bit sound. First, my take on the MCA CD. I still wish they could find a better more real sounding recording of "A Christmas Song". The Decca people found better sounding recordings of many of the songs that were originally on "That Christmas Feeling" album and they used them on last year's big Christmas release and again on this new release. But some still sound bad, like "Christmas Song."

Now for the most important comment, that is this "new" version of the 1942 "White Christmas" song that was found in Australia or somewhere. Be warned, this version on the new CD sounds worse, yes worse, than the version MCA used last year in the big collection. I compared both versions, listening to each, and the problem with the new version is it sounds like an old radio show tape recording. Very flat and very artificial, like a cheap tape recording would make a record sound from the '60's. The sound was just not real, there was no presence in Bing's voice. The sound on last year's CD set, Bing's voice sounded like a real voice in the room, there was presence and reality to it. Granted it had a few bad spots, where the sound got distorted when Bing sang any loud parts, but it sounded like a real voice of Bing, not a tinny recording. This new version is tinny, not quite as bad, but almost like the sound used on "Winchester Cathedral", remember? That's what this new version sounds like.

As to the sound on the Capitol CD, it's excellent, couldn't be better. My one and only complaint is the sound on "Do You Hear What I Hear." The background singers and the orchestra seem to drown out Bing's vocals. Bing sounds buried underneath all the background music. His vocal should have been much louder over the music, not buried under it. But all the other songs sounded excellent. By the way, you could also hear the long dialogue between Bing & Bowie several years ago on another Christmas CD "Coolest Christmas".

The first time I heard really excellent sound quality versions of the songs on the "That Christmas Feeling" album was when I got several years ago the Pickwick MCA foreign release of about 15 or so Bing MCA Christmas songs, "That Christmas Feeling" "Sleigh Ride" and many other unusual Bing Christmas songs were on that little known CD and they were all in excellent sound, I don't remember the title of that CD but it was great. I was shocked to realize such excellent versions, so clear and real sounding versions of songs I'd heard for years on "That Christmas Feeling" album existed. That MCA album's sound was always so flat and muffled, no real presence to Bing's voice. But that Pickwick CD and there was another Christmas CD released by Half Moon which were both excellent, in terms of giving great sounding versions of Bing Christmas songs. But last year's big MCA release finally fixed the problem of the bad sound on those "Christmas Feeling" tunes, except for "Christmas Song" that is. That one still sounds flat. I'm still glad to have this new MCA CD, just for the nice picture of Bing on the back, and just the fact that it's a Bing MCA new release.


Posted by Steven Lewis on October 25, 1999 at 11:29:14:

In Reply to: A Review of The New Bing Christmas CDs posted by Lee on October 25, 1999 at 09:32:42:

It's pathetic we have to buy multiple CDs to find a version of a recording that has been lovingly transferred to the digital world. Too often it seems the folks who issue Crosby CDs must feel that the people who listen to Bing are near death and half deaf, so why make an effort. I hope you got a chance to read the interview with Steve Hoffman, who was critical of his colleagues in the remastering business. Hoffman did the remastering on the first non-Xmas MCA release of Bing in the U.S. -- Bing Crosby Sings Again -- and I was so impressed I wrote him. Unfortunately, my letter had to be forwarded to a different address because he had already left MCA to work elsewhere.

I wish MCA would assign someone with the love for the music and the requisite skills such as a Hoffman or a Robert Parker to breath life back into the old songs. If it could be done on vinyl in the '50s and '60s it could certainly be done today. Whenever I want to listen to the best restorations of "Swinging on a Star" or "Who Gave You the Roses" I drag out my old vinyl LPs from the '60s ("Bing Crosby Sings" and "The Best of Bing"). All the songs on these old vinyl discs sound better than their equivalent on CD, despite the pops and clicks. We can only hope that the recently-announced reorganization of Universal-MCA to focus more on their old product will have tangible results.