Bing Crosby – Way Back Home

Bing Crosby – Way Back Home
Compilation album by Bing Crosby
Released 1951
Recorded 1944, 1949-50
Genre Popular
Length 24:12
Label Decca
Bing Crosby chronology
Collectors' Classics
(1950)Collectors' Classics1950		 Way Back Home
(1951)		 Bing and the Dixieland Bands
(1951)Bing and the Dixieland Bands1951

Bing Crosby – Way Back Home is a Decca Records compilation 78rpm album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby featuring sentimental and homely songs .

Background

Bing Crosby had enjoyed unprecedented success during the 1940s but his discography indicates that the hits were becoming less frequent. His record company - Decca - had enthusiastically embraced the relatively new vinyl long-playing discs by putting out many albums of his songs to counter the reduction in hit singles. This particular album was one of the last to be issued in all three formats of 78rpm and 45rpm albums as well as a 10” LP. Two of the songs had already been hits with "Just a Prayer Away" reaching the No. 4 spot and "'Way Back Home" charting also.[1]

Reception

Billboard did not review the album but it had reviewed many of the separate single issues.

‘Way Back Home If it hadn’t been for “Mule Train,” this one would have swept at once. As it is, its success has only been delayed a bit. Song, an oldie, is a natural, and the Bing-Waring team do it mightily.[2]

The Iowa Indian Song Bing makes strong medicine, with the Waring council whooping and tom-toming.[2]

My Own Bit of Land Bing spreads warmth and a homey flavor in warbling this pleasing chunk of homespun philosophy. Fine for the family trade.[3]

Just a Prayer Away — My Mother’s Waltz There is plenty of vocal and instrumental embellishment to the spinning of these sides. But it’s still to the credit of Bing Crosby that it is entirely his chanting that makes this couplet a desired one. For “Just a Prayer Away,” singing the ballad at a moderately slow tempo, the Ken Darby Singers blend their voices with the organology of Ethel Smith and Victor Young’s orchestra. Miss Smith’s organ playing is pronounced throughout, and the entire company adds up to a simple setting that heightens Bing’s simplicity in selling a song. Just as fitting and attractive is the setting created for Crosby’s chanting of Dave Franklin’s “My Mother’s Waltz,” rich in sentimental melodic and lyrical content, and sure to find immediate response among the three-quarter-time fans. For the phonos, “Just a Prayer Away” packs most of the nickel appeal where the fans are content to give a listen.[4]

The Last Mile Home Bing evokes plenty of nostalgia with this warm rendition of a sentimental tune. Fine production backing.[5]

The Meadows of Heaven Crosby and a chorus work over a pretty plug melody for attractive results.[6]

Track listing

The songs were featured on a four-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-826.[7]

Side Title Recording date Writer Performed with Time
Disc 1: (24800)
A. "'Way Back Home" June 17, 1949 Tom Waring, Al Lewis Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians 3:11
B. "The Iowa Indian Song (I-O-WUH)" June 17, 1949 Meredith Willson Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians 3:13
Disc 2: (27441)
A. "My Own Bit of Land" December 22, 1949 Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney The Ken Darby Singers and rhythm accompaniment 3:09
B. "Early American" June 23, 1950 Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke Victor Young and his Orchestra 2:44
Disc 3: (27442)
A. "Just a Prayer Away" July 24, 1944 Dave Kapp, Charles Tobias Ethel Smith (organ), Victor Young and his Orchestra, and the Ken Darby Singers 3:00
B. "My Mother's Waltz" July 24, 1944 Dave Franklin Ethel Smith (organ), Victor Young and his Orchestra, and the Ken Darby Singers 2:48
Disc 4: (27443)
A. "The Meadows of Heaven" May 11, 1949 Joseph Meyer, Joseph McCarthy Victor Young and his Orchestra, and the Ken Lane Singers 3:14
B. "The Last Mile Home" May 11, 1949 Walter Kent, Walton Farrar Victor Young and his Orchestra, and the Ken Lane Singers 2:53

The songs were also featured on a four-disc, 45 rpm album set, catalog number 9-204.

LP release

The songs were also featured on a 10" LP album, Decca DL 5310 issued in 1951. Side 1

  1. "’Way Back Home"
  2. "The Iowa Indian Song (I-O-WUH)”
  3. "My Own Bit of Land"
  4. "Early American"

Side 2

  1. "Just a Prayer Away”
  2. "My Mother’s Waltz”
  3. "The Meadows of Heaven”
  4. "The Last Mile Home"

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  2. 1 2 "Billboard". Billboard. December 3, 1949.
  3. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. May 26, 1951.
  4. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. March 31, 1945.
  5. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. September 3, 1949.
  6. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard. November 5, 1949.
  7. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
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