bing crosby white christmas

what is the difference between the 1942 and the 1947
recorded versions?

Brian W,

Where can I find the 1942 on CD?

I think it's only available on this comp from MCA, Disc 1, track 5.

https://www.discogs.com/Bing-Crosby-The-Voice-Of-Christmas-T he-Complete-Decca-Christmas-Songbook/release/5605164">

I think the 1947 version is pretty much on every xmas comp right?

I ask because I always thought the 1955 top 10 version was the 1947 version on CD, and that is what I have in my collection.

Paul you care to step in on this one? Maybe you have more insight into this.


Edited by PopArchivist

Aaron is right, the 1942 version is on "Now That's
What I Call Christmas," and it probably has the best
sound quality of any of them, too. A new transfer
from an excellent condition 78 owned by some
Australian collector was first issued on "Very Best of
Bing Crosby Christmas," but it was marred by heavy
noise reduction. "Now That's What I Call Christmas"
is the same transfer without the overuse of noise
reduction, and it sounds better, to me.

The version on the Bing Crosby CDs "The Voice of
Christmas" and "Bing's Gold Records," from the mid-
90s, were the first issues of the 1942 version on CD
(legally), but both were transfered from a pretty poor
condition source.

However, "Voice of Christmas" also has an alternate
1942 take that was commercially released in 1946 only,
(presumably because of the wearing out of the single
version's metal master; the next year they'd record
the new version), which is almost identical to the
1942 version except Bing screws up the last line and
says "May all Christmases be white" instead of "all
YOUR Christmases.")

Edited by Brian W.

After Bing recorded the new version in 1947, the original 1942 version would not be issued again until it appeared on the box set, His Legendary Masters 1931-1957 in 1993 (some 46 years later!). I don't know what source they used, but it's from a pretty worn out disc with lots of distortion in the vocals. I'll have to check out the disc Brian recommends.

All 45 pressings use the 1947 recording. I don't believe the 1942 version has ever been issued on a 12-inch LP. The database presents Pat's exhaustive research into which version appears on which CD.

When the box set came out in 1993, I was stunned to learn that the version I'd been hearing on the radio all these years was not the original recording. Even Joel Whitburn seems to have been unaware of the two different recordings, since his publications released prior to 1993, including Pop Memories 1890-1954, make no mention of the two different versions.