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''Bing: A Musical Autobiography'' was Bing Crosby's fourth Decca vinyl LP, recorded and originally released in 1954. The album was released as both a set of five 12" LPs (DX-151) with 89 songs and a set of seventeen 45-rpm EPs (ED-1700), also with 89 songs, each for $27.50. Both box sets came in a hinged box with a jeweler's lock and key and included a 24-page discography. Decca released the individual LPs separately starting in 1958. Crosby, in a retirement mood by 1954, got together with Buddy Cole and his Trio, a small group formed from members of the John Scott Trotter Orchestra, and re-recorded many of his early hits between April and June 1954. The original Decca masters were used for his hits starting with the 1938 recording of "Small Fry." and the original Decca masters are annotated in the listing below with the year of the recording. Crosby's narration smoothly links each track. Most of the new recordings were done at the American Legion Hall in Palm Springs, California. A September 1954 Decca advertisement for ''A Musical Autobiography'' described it as "the most-talked about () the fastest-selling record album in history." NBC's radio network aired a two-hour tribute to Crosby that promoted the album on Sept. 26, 1954, at 6 p.m. Crosby's prose memoir, ''Call Me Lucky'', was published in June 1953 by Simon & Schuster. It was written with Pete Martin. The LPs were originally issued as automatic couplings which would enable the five LPs to be played on an autochanger record player in chronological sequence. For instance, within album set DX-151, LP no. DL 8072 contained sides 1 and 10, DL 8073 sides 2 and 9, DL 8074 sides 3 and 8, DL 8075 sides 4 and 7, DL 8076 sides 5 and 6. The Musical Autobiography tracks were reissued as a four CD set in Japan in 1992 without change from the original 5 LPs (MCA (Japan) CD: MVCM24003). Avid Entertainment in the UK released a four disc set in 2005 but with the addition of a quantity of film soundtrack and film promotional material from the 1930s. (AVID (UK) CD: AMBX 147 (AMSC 825).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Crosby/crosby1bDecca.html )〕 == Reception== In an enthusiastic review of the set, John S. Wilson writing in the New York Times, commented; "The first half of the program in which Crosby talks about his early days and sings his early hits is an unalloyed joy, a field day for nostalgians. In view of complaints that have been made off and on for the past fifteen years that the Crosby voice was gone, that he no longer had the old touch, it is a particular pleasure to hear these early songs recorded within the past year, sung with all the old Crosby ease and charm...This is an exceptional collection of recordings, the summation of a landmark in American popular music and well worth the asking price." Allmusic's John Bush called ''A Musical Autobiography'' "the most laborious exercise in Crosby's entire career, narrating a career history and re-recording dozens of songs." It was also issued to commemorate Decca's 20th anniversary. Billboard reported, "Decca's merchandising displays consist of a life like window or floor display of Bing Crosby, mounted on an easel and with Crosby holding a copy of his musical autobiography titled simple, 'Bing.' This set ... is the firm's big push for the fall." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bing: A Musical Autobiography」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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