1977 studio album by Bing Crosby
Seasons is a 1977 album by Bing Crosby which was issued by Polydor Records under catalogue No. 2442 151. It was the final studio album completed before Crosby's death on October 14, 1977; it was released posthumously, and was marketed with the tagline "The Closing Chapter". Crosby was backed by Pete Moore and his Orchestra and the Johnny Evans Singers. Moore also did all the arrangements for the album, which was recorded at CBS Studios, Whitfield Street, London on September 12,13 & 14 1977[ 1] - except for one song "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" which was recorded at United Western Recorders , Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood on January 19, 1976. This song was also produced by Ken Barnes and arranged by Pete Moore.[ 2]
2010 re-issue The album was released on CD for the first time in 2010 by Collectors' Choice Music (catalogue No. CCM2104), featuring several previously unreleased bonus tracks.[ 3]
Tracks 13-17 were poetry readings by Crosby recorded on September 14, 1977, for charitable purposes and for issue to the various Crosby fan clubs but they remained unissued until the Collectors' Choice CD in 2010.[ 4]
Tracks 18-25 were taken from Bing's final recording session at the BBC's Maida Vale studios, London on 11 October 1977 with the Gordon Rose Orchestra. The arrangements were by Alan Cohen. This was for a radio show which was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on December 27, 1977. The BBC LP REB 398 - ‘Bing - The Final Chapter’ captures this final performance.[ 5]
Reception The album entered the UK album charts in December 1977 and remained there for seven weeks with a peak position of #25.
Variety commented: "If it were merely that this is the last recording Bing Crosby ever made, it would be more than enough reason to run and buy it. But it also happens to be a marvelous representation of the later Crosby years."[ 6]
Billboard reviewed it and said: "This album is billed as the last commercial recording by the beloved crooner, who died one month after recording these tracks. This is a concept album in that it contains 12 songs which either deal with a specific time of the year or more generally on the passing of time. Excellent mix of rousing sing-along numbers like “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “Sleigh Ride” (which feature some high-stepping female background singers) with more sophisticated, elusive melodies like “Autumn in New York.”"[ 7]
Track listing Side one Side two
Track listing (2010 re-issue)Title Writer(s) 1. "Seasons" Gilbert Bécaud , Ken Barnes 3:10 2. "On the Very First Day of the Year" Pete Moore , Ken Barnes 2:18 3. "June in January " Ralph Rainger , Leo Robin 2:55 4. "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" Frank Loesser 2:58 5. "April Showers " Buddy DeSylva , Louis Silvers 2:28 6. "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" Richard Rodgers , Oscar Hammerstein II 3:17 7. "In the Good Old Summer Time " George Evans , Ren Shields 2:45 8. "Summer Wind " Heinz Meier, Johnny Mercer 3:50 9. "Autumn in New York " Vernon Duke 3:26 10. "September Song " Kurt Weill , Maxwell Anderson 3:50 11. "Sleigh Ride " Leroy Anderson , Mitchell Parish 3:10 12. "Yesterday When I Was Young " Charles Aznavour , Herbert Kretzmer 3:23 13. "Around the Corner" Anonymous 1:17 14. "If— " Rudyard Kipling 1:49 15. "The Singers" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1:22 16. "Lucy Gray " William Wordsworth 3:23 17. "The Slave's Dream" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2:03 18. "Feels Good, Feels Right" Ken Welch, Mitzi Welch 2:36 19. "Nevertheless " Harry Ruby , Bert Kalmar 2:56 20. "The Only Way to Go" Marvin Hamlisch , Tim Rice 2:56 21. "Summer Wind " Heinz Meier, Johnny Mercer 4:16 22. "The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful" Dana Suesse , Irving Kahal , Billy Rose 3:50 23. "There's Nothing That I Haven't Sung About" Lyn Duddy, Jerry Bresler 3:39 24. "As Time Goes By " Herman Hupfeld 3:11 25. "Once in a While " Michael Edwards , Bud Green 2:53
Charts
References
^ "A Bing Crosby Discography" . BING magazine . International Club Crosby. Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
^ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part Five: 1961-1977 ed.). John Joyce. pp. 234– 240.
^ "Allmusic" . Allmusic.com . Retrieved August 10, 2015 .
^ "BING magazine" . BING magazine . Retrieved August 10, 2015 .
^ "BING magazine" . BING magazine . Retrieved August 10, 2015 .
^ "Variety". Variety . December 28, 1977.
^ "Billboard". Billboard . December 17, 1977.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 77. ISBN 0-646-11917-6 .
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