1961 studio album by Bing Crosby
101 Gang Songs is an LP recorded in December 1960[ 1] by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records and distributed by Warner Bros. (W 2R-1401) and the RCA Victor Record Club in 1961 with lyric sheets to help the listener join in with the singing. Spread over two records, the album consists of 24 medleys of 101 old songs (hence the album's title) in a sing-along format. ("Gang" is meant in the sense of a group of friends, not a street gang or work gang .) Bing Crosby sings on most of the tracks. Those that aren't are marked with an asterisk. The chorus and orchestra accompaniment, arranged and conducted by Jack Halloran , was pre-recorded with Crosby over-dubbing his vocals.
This original double LP was released as two separate albums under the titles Join Bing in a Gang Song Sing Along in September 1961 and Join Bing and Sing Along-51 Good Time Songs in January 1962.[ 2]
The albums were released on CD in 2017 by Sepia Records.[ 3]
Selected tracks from the albums and from the earlier Join Bing and Sing Along record later were re-dubbed over a children's chorus, arranged and conducted by Jack Halloran, which was recorded on 17–19 May 1961. It was issued later to children's camps as Sing Along with Bing .[ 4]
Reception Variety reviewed the album by writing "Bing Crosby is slowly moving into Mitch Miller 's territory. Crosby's first sing along package did quite well in the market and this compilation of 50 faves has a good chance to do even better. The formula is light and simple and with Crosby leading the way the sing-along is easy to follow."[ 5]
High Fidelity Magazine wrote "Mitch Miller may have started (or at least resurrected) the 'sing-along' craze, but it has taken the Old Master to supply the definitive triumph of this genre. He's in his jauntiest form here, leading a usually robust chorus, backed by a vigorously steady rhythm section in performances which imperiously demand participation."[ 6]
Track listing [citation needed ]
Part One – Side One Title Writer(s) 1. "Shine On, Harvest Moon " "That's Where My Money Goes" "Harrigan " "Listen to the Mocking Bird " Nora Bayes , Jack Norworth R.P. Lilly, Walter DanielsGeorge M. Cohan Alice Hawthorne , Richard Milburn 3:36 2. "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton " "Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms " "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes " Robert Burns , Jonathan E. Spilman Thomas Moore Ben Jonson 3:45 3. "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon" "Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway" "Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye*" Maude Nugent James Thornton George M. Cohan T. H. Allen2:56 4. "When the Saints Go Marching In " "Little David, Play on Your Harp "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho " "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane " "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel " Katharine Purvis , James Milton Black Traditional TraditionalJames A. Bland Traditional3:12 5. "While Strolling Through the Park One Day " "Today Is Monday" "Big Rock Candy Mountain " "Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? " "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?" Ed Haley TraditionalHarry McClintock TraditionalSeptimus Winner 3:31 6. "Annie Laurie " "Loch Lomond " "Bluebells of Scotland " "Comin' Thro' the Rye " William Douglas TraditionalDora Jordan Robert Burns 3:01 Total length: 20:01
Part Two – Side Two Title Writer(s) 1. "There Is a Tavern in the Town " "Oh! Susanna " "Maryland, My Maryland " "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny " "The Bear Went Over the Mountain " TraditionalStephen Foster James Ryder Randall James A. Bland Traditional 3:12 2. "Gumtree Canoe" "Dear Evelina" "Sweet and Low* (chorus only)" A.F. Winnemore, S.S. Steele TraditionalJoseph Barnby , Alfred, Lord Tennyson 3:13 3. "My Gal Sal" "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard" "School Days "* "Abdul Abulbul Amir " Paul Dresser Henry W. Petrie , Philip Wingate Will Cobb, Gus Edwards Percy French 3:25 4. "Heaven, Heaven" "Mary, Don't You Weep " "Jacob's Ladder "* "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen " "Roll, Jordan, Roll " Traditional Traditional Traditional TraditionalCharles Wesley 3:24 5. "O Sole Mio " "Funiculì, Funiculà " "My Grandfather's Clock " ""Keemo Kimo" Giovanni Capurro , Eduardo di Capua Luigi Denza , Edward Oxenford Henry Clay Work Traditional3:43 6. "Sweet Genevieve" "Santa Lucia " "In the Evening by the Moonlight" "Goodnight, Ladies " Henry TuckerTeodoro Cottrau James A. Bland Edwin Pearce Christy 3:33 Total length: 20:30
*Non-Bing – orchestra and chorus only
References
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 Related