From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
101 Gang Songs
Studio album by
Bing Crosby
Released1961 (1961)
RecordedDecember 20–28, 1960
Genre Vocal
Length1:21:52
Label Warner Bros.
ProducerSimon Rady
Bing Crosby chronology
Songs of Christmas
(1960) 		101 Gang Songs
(1961) 		El Señor Bing
(1961)

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 wote "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
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
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 Daniels
George 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. Allen		2:56
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
Traditional
James A. Bland
Traditional		3:12
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
Traditional
Harry McClintock
Traditional
Septimus Winner		3:31
6." Annie Laurie"
" Loch Lomond"
" Bluebells of Scotland"
" Comin' Thro' the Rye"		William Douglas
Traditional
Dora Jordan
Robert Burns		3:01
Total length:20:01
Part One – Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1." Hello! Ma Baby"
" The Girl I Left Behind Me"
" (Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey"
" Wait for the Wagon"
" Row, Row, Row Your Boat*"		 Joseph E. Howard, Ida Emerson
Traditional
Hughie Cannon
Traditional
Traditional		3:19
2." Sweet Adeline"
" On Top of Old Smoky"
" Down in the Valley"
" In the Good Old Summer Time*"		Richard H. Gerard, Harry Armstrong
Traditional
Traditional
George Evans, Ren Shields		3:36
3." This Old Man"
" Schnitzelbank"
" Pop Goes the Weasel"
" Careless Love"		Traditional
Traditional
Traditional
Traditional		3:11
4." Li'l Liza Jane"
" Cindy"
" Where Did You Get That Hat?"
"So Long Mary"
" Three Blind Mice"		Traditional
Traditional
Joseph J. Sullivan
George M. Cohan
Traditional		3:22
5." Anchors Aweigh"
" Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"
" Blow the Man Down"
" For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"		 Charles A. Zimmermann, Alfred Hart Miles
George F. Root
Traditional
Traditional		2:46
6." Love's Old Sweet Song"
" Kathleen Mavourneen*"
" Juanita"		 James Lynam Molloy, G. Clifton Bingham
Frederick Crouch, Marion Crawford
Caroline Norton		3:51
Total length:20:05
Part Two – Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."My Wild Irish Rose"
"Come Back to Erin"
"Killarney"
" The Minstrel Boy"		 Chauncey Olcott
Claribel
Michael William Balfe, Edmund Falconer
Thomas Moore		3:42
2." In the Gloaming"
"Stars of the Summer Night"*
"Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming"		 Annie Fortescue Harrison, Meta Orred
Isaac B. Woodbury
Stephen Foster		3:35
3." Little Annie Rooney"
" Du, du liegst mir im Herzen"
" Ach Du Lieber Augustine"
" Lovely Evening"
" Goodnight to You All"		Michael Nolan
Theobald Boehm
Marx Augustin
Traditional
Traditional		3:25
4." She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain"
"Our Boys Will Shine Tonight"
" The Gospel Train"
"Walk Together Children"
" The Nut-Brown Maid"		Traditional
Traditional
Traditional
Traditional
Traditional		3:23
5." Casey Jones"
" Polly Wolly Doodle"
" The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo"
" I've Been Working on the Railroad"
" Asleep in the Deep"		Eddie Newton, Wallace Saunders, T. Lawrence Seibert
Traditional
Fred Gilbert
Traditional
Arthur J. Lamb, Henry W. Petrie		3:55
6." The Battle Hymn of the Republic"
" America" (chorus only)
" When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
" America the Beautiful"		 William Steffe, Julia Ward Howe
Samuel Francis Smith
Louis Lambert
Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward		3:16
Total length:21:16
Part Two – Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
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"		Traditional
Stephen 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
Traditional
Joseph 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
Traditional
Charles 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
Traditional		3:43
6."Sweet Genevieve"
" Santa Lucia"
"In the Evening by the Moonlight"
" Goodnight, Ladies"		Henry Tucker
Teodoro Cottrau
James A. Bland
Edwin Pearce Christy		3:33
Total length:20:30

*Non-Bing – orchestra and chorus only

References

  1. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "bingcrosby.com". bingcrosby.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  3. ^ "Sepia Records". Sepia Records. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  4. ^ Reynolds, Fred (1986). The Crosby Collection 1926–1977. Gateshead, UK: John Joyce. p. 316.
  5. ^ "Album reviews". Variety. August 2, 1961. p. 82. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via Archive.org.
  6. ^ High Fidelity. Vol. 10, no. 7–12. 1961. {{ cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= ( help)
Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=101_Gang_Songs&oldid=1168843850"