''Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer'' is a Decca Records compilation album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby,

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...

and Johnny Mercer.

Background

Bing Crosby had enjoyed unprecedented success during the 1940s with his

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

showing six No. 1 hits in 1944 alone. His films such as ''

Going My Way ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest tak ...

'' and ''

The Bells of St. Mary's ''The Bells of St. Mary's'' (1945) is an American musical comedy-drama film, produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Dudley Nichols and based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a priest ...

'' were huge successes as were the

Road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

films he made with

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

. On radio, his '' Kraft Music Hall'' and ''

Philco Radio Time ''Philco Radio Time'' was an old-time radio radio series starring entertainer Bing Crosby. The series ran over ABC Radio with episodes airing from October 16, 1946–June 1, 1949. The series also was syndicated for a period of time over th ...

'' shows were very popular. Decca Records built on this by issuing a number of

78rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

sets, some featuring freshly recorded material and others utilizing Crosby's back catalogue. Ten of these sets were released in 1946, nine in 1947 and nine more in 1948.
''Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer'' includes several songs which had already been hits – "Small Fry" and "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean" – had charted in 1938 and "Yah-Ta-Ta, Yah-Ta-Ta" reached No. 5 in 1945.

Reception

The reviewer for Billboard said: :Second in series of Decca packages with triple-talent peg featuring der Bingle's former vocal wax compatriots. All disks are former single releases but album as a whole should appeal to all who are Crosby fans (who ain't). Particularly valuable and as rhythmically appealing as when they first came out are the Mercer team-ups with Gallagher-Shean version of "Mr. Crosby and Mr. Mercer"; "Small Fry," "On Behalf of the Visiting Firemen." In fact whole album sparkles with the xairy, wunnerful Crosby touch.

Track listing

These songs were featured on a five 10" 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-631.

References

{{Bing Crosby Bing Crosby compilation albums Decca Records compilation albums 1948 compilation albums Vocal duet albums