Bing Crosby "Merry Christmas" RE CD (1961/1998)

Details: Bing Crosby, Merry Christmas, previously owned copy in fantastic condition. Classic reissue and holiday album release. Promo copy, drill in back UPC.

Description: "Decca issued a second edition in this format in 1947, catalog Decca A-550, consisting of four 78s, omitting recordings of "Danny Boy" and "Let's Start the New Year Right" from the previous release, and including new recordings of "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" from March 19, 1947. This recording of "White Christmas", heard on every subsequent pressing, is actually a re-recording of the song as, in an unprecedented occurrence, the 1942 master had actually worn out and was no longer usable. Decca and Crosby undertook the remake with the same orchestra and chorus, in an attempt to re-create the original May 1942 recording as closely as possible. The original recording of "White Christmas" to this date, has never been stamped on LP records or 45 rpm singles but has appeared in a few holiday compilation albums on CD.

The 1955 vinyl LP configuration is the one extant to date, consisting of the entirety of Decca A-550 plus four additional tracks. The Andrews Sisters, often Crosby's recording partners in the 1940s, are featured on the tracks "Jingle Bells", "Mele Kalikimaka", and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". After the original cast recording to Oklahoma!, also from Decca Records, released in 1943, the 1955 album configuration has been continually in print longer than any other album in the history of the United States. 

In 1986 Merry Christmas was transferred to compact disc, MCAD-31143, and included the same twelve songs in their original mono mixes. Universal Music Group (successor to MCA Records) changed the name of the album to White Christmas, keeping the contents and the catalog number unchanged. A new mono re-master was made in 1992 and reissued in 1995. It was further reissued in 1998, now with catalog number B0017220-02. This is the one available at present. Note that it still says MCAD 31143 on the disc."

Grade: NM (Cover/CD)

CD TRACK LISTING:

1. Silent Night
2. Adeste Fideles (Oh Come, All Ye Faithful)
3. White Christmas
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. Faith Of Our Fathers
6. I'll Be Home For Christmas
7. Jingle Bells
8. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
9. Silver Bells
10. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas
11. Christmas In Killarney
12. Mele Kalikimaka