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1976 studio album by Bing Crosby
Tom Sawyer is a 3-LP box set containing a reading by Bing Crosby of an abridged version of Mark Twain ’s classic story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . It was recorded for Argo Records (UK) on September 3 and 5, 1975[1] at Argo Studios, 115 Fulham Road, London.
Background music in the natural breaks in the story was composed by David T. Reilly and played by his father Tommy Reilly on the harmonica.[2]
The album has never been issued on CD.
Background [ edit ]
Executive producer Geoff Milne described the background in a magazine article after Crosby’s death. “Argo wanted to do something to commemorate the American Bicentennial celebrations, and it seemed a good idea to do Tom Sawyer - we all agreed that the only person who could relate the story was Bing Crosby…The recordings were done in two sessions, one lasting four hours and the other two and one-half hours...It was interesting to watch him in the studios. He was on his feet throughout the sessions. And he didn’t just read Tom Sawyer, he was actually acting the parts. His voice took on different tones and characters. He put a lot into it and I believe that it comes across in the records.”[3]
Most of the sound effects on the album were done by Geoff Milne himself – the sound in the cave for instance was achieved by recording a dripping tap in the Decca washroom and then doctoring the effect appropriately.[4]
Reception [ edit ]
Mary Postgate writing in the UK publication, the Gramophone liked the box set. "This abridged version of a well-loved story is one of the most enjoyable sets to have come my way in recent years. It was a master stroke to get Bing Crosby to read it, for the ‘Old Groaner’ has a devastatingly charming manner, compounded of a relaxed and sympathetic delivery and a lovely speaking voice. The vocal cords that kept him at the very top in music and musical films for so many years are just as velvety now...Crosby’s masterly reading needs little help. Delicate, dry, humorous but never whimsical or condescending, he is one of the most delightful readers Argo has offered us. The quality of the sound is exceptionally fine. Highly recommended."[5]
Crosby researcher and author Fred Reynolds summed the album up saying, "the exploits of Tom, living with his Aunt Polly in a small town on the Missouri, and his companion Huckleberry Finn are refreshingly recaptured in Crosby’s reading. . . . Bing’s expressive narrative and his dialect voicing of the characters enhance an impressive and entertaining story."[6]
Track listing [ edit ]
SIDE ONE
Tom Escapes from Aunt Polly
The new boy
Whitewash!
Becky Thatcher is admired
Huckleberry Finn
At School
Tom Meets Becky
SIDE TWO
An engagement
Tom and Huck in the graveyard
Muff Potter and Injun Joe
The murder
A solemn oath
Pain-killer!
Becky rejects Tom
SIDE THREE
Tom, Huck and Joe Harper run away
Jackson's Island
Supper and homesickness
Exploring the Island
Have the boys drowned?
The Storm
A Resurrection
Tom and Amy Lawrence
A blotted spelling book and a torn picture.
SIDE FOUR
Mr. Dobbins discovers the books
Muff Potter in jail
The Trial
Injun Joe escapes
Digging for Treasure
The haunted house
Injun Joe returns
SIDE FIVE
The Temperance Tavern
Injun Joe's 'Number Two'
The Picnic
McDougal's Cave
Huck saves the Widow Douglas
Tom and Becky are lost
At Church
The Searchers
SIDE SIX
In the cave
Injun Joe returns
The children are found
Tom and Huck explore the cave
The Treasure
A Party
Huck is introduced into society
References [ edit ]
^ "A Bing Crosby Discography" . BING magazine . International Club Crosby. Retrieved May 28, 2017 .
^ Bishop, Bert (June 1976). "BING magazine". BING magazine . #42 : 7.
^ "Woman's Realm". Woman's Realm . 1977.
^ Macfarlane, Malcolm (2005). "BING magazine". BING magazine . #140 .
^ Postgate, Mary (May 1976). "The Gramophone". The Gramophone .
^ Reynolds, Fred. The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (Part 5: 1961-1977 ed.). John Joyce. p. 188.
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
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