Christmas Greetings (album)

Crosby had recorded Christmas songs for the first time in 1935 and he had a huge hit with "Silent Night" that year. In 1942, he recorded "White Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm discs from the film Holiday Inn. In 1943, he recorded three more songs with a holiday theme – "Jingle Bells", "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas". All of these songs were huge hits and the issue of a 78 rpm set called Merry Christmas in 1945 firmly cemented Crosby’s association with the Christmas season. The Merry Christmas album has been available in one form or another ever since 1945 and in 1949 Decca decided to issue the Christmas Greetings album to complement this.

Reception

Billboard reviewed the album saying: "Crosby single-handed has something of a corner on the Christmas market with his 'Merry Christmas' album and 'White Christmas'. This new album should widen that corner even more, for Bing is at his best and has the benefit of some top-notch support in the disposition of this collection of a couple of new seasonal pops and a group of familiar carols. A top-notch seasonal package which should stand out head-and-shoulders in sales over most any other new Christmas entry."^[1]

The album peaked at No. 4 in Billboard's best-selling albums chart for the week ending December 30, 1949. His Merry Christmas album was in first place.^[2]

Track listing

The songs were featured on a 3-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album A-715.

Disc 1: (24658)

"Here Comes Santa Claus",.
"Twelve Days of Christmas",

Disc 2: (24659)

"You're All I Want for Christmas",
"The First Nowell",

Disc 3: (24670)

"Christmas Carols - Part I", (Deck the Halls, Away in a Manger, I Saw Three Ships),
"Christmas Carols - Part ll", (Good King Wenceslas, We Three Kings of Orient Are, Angels We Have Heard on High),

LP track listing

The 1949 10-inch LP album issue^[3] Decca DL 5020 consisted of Decca A-715 (details above) plus two additional songs "The Christmas Song" and "O Fir Tree Dark".

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performed with	Length
1.	"Here Comes Santa Claus" (May 10, 1949)	Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman	The Andrews Sisters and Vic Schoen and His Orchestra	3:00
2.	"Twelve Days of Christmas" (May 10, 1949)	Frederic Austin	The Andrews Sisters and Vic Schoen and His Orchestra	3:21
3.	"You're All I Want for Christmas" (May 11, 1949)	Seger Ellis, Glenn Moore	Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Ken Lane Singers	3:08
4.	"The First Nowell" (May 11, 1949)	Traditional	Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Ken Lane Singers	2:31

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performed with	Length
1.	"Christmas Carols - Part I": "Deck the Halls" " Away in a Manger" "I Saw Three Ships" (May 31, 1949)	Thomas Oliphant William J. Kirkpatrick, James Ramsey Murray Traditional	Simon Rady and His Orchestra and choir	3:22
2.	"Christmas Carols - Part ll": "Good King Wenceslas" "We Three Kings of Orient Are" "Angels We Have Heard on High" (May 31, 1949)	John Mason Neale John Henry Hopkins Jr. James Chadwick	Simon Rady and His Orchestra and choir	3:17
3.	"The Christmas Song" (March 19, 1947)	Robert Wells, Mel Tormé	John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, and the Ken Darby Singers	2:52
4.	"O Fir Tree Dark" (March 28, 1947)	N. F. S. Grundtvig, Carl Christian Nicolaj Balle	Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Ken Darby Singers	3:00

^[4]

45 rpm releases

The album was also issued as catalog number 9-66 in the form of three 45 rpm vinyl discs in 1950 with identical tracks to the 78 rpm release A-715. Subsequently, it was issued on two EP records numbered ED 561 which included the two extra songs on the 10-inch LP.

References

↑ "Billboard". Billboard. November 19, 1949. p. 38.
↑ "Billboard". Billboard. January 7, 1950. p. 24.
↑ "BSN Pubs". BSN Pubs.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved November 23, 2015.

v t e Bing Crosby
Discography Filmography
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 78 rpm 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	Dixie Lee (first wife) Gary Crosby (son) Dennis Crosby (son) Phillip Crosby (son) Lindsay Crosby (son) Kathryn Crosby (second wife) Harry Crosby (son) Mary Crosby (daughter) Nathaniel Crosby (son) Denise Crosby (granddaughter) Larry Crosby (brother) Bob Crosby (brother)
Related	Songs Bing Crosby recorded multiple times A Tribute to Bing Crosby
Category

Authority control databases	MusicBrainz release group

LP track listing

45 rpm releases

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