Bing Crosby Discography: Labels, No. 1 Hits and Key LPs

Bing Crosby recorded more than almost any singer of his time, so a Bing Crosby discography is best read by era. Wikipedia's Bing Crosby discography counts 71 studio albums, 307 compilation albums and 409 singles. His main biography on Wikipedia puts his chart record at 396 chart singles, roughly 41 of them No. 1, with at least one new chart single every year from 1931 to 1954 and 24 separate popular singles in 1939 alone.

BING magazine, whose online discography is the most detailed on the web, counts 383 recordings in the top 30, 41 No. 1s in the USA and 23 Gold and Platinum records. Its database is split into studio recordings, radio shows, film recordings and CD and LP issues, which is useful when you are trying to work out whether a track on a compilation came from a studio session or a broadcast.

The label on a Crosby record tells you roughly when it was made. BING magazine divides his studio work into three periods:

• Pre-Decca years, to 1934. Brunswick was his main label before Decca; Wikipedia also lists Columbia and RCA Victor among the labels he recorded for. This period includes his years with Paul Whiteman and the Rhythm Boys.
• Decca years, 1934 to 1955. He signed with Jack Kapp's new Decca company in late 1934 (Wikipedia). Nearly all the famous hits, including White Christmas, are Decca recordings.
• Post-Decca years, 1956 to 1977. Wikipedia's list of his labels also includes Capitol, Verve, Reprise and United Artists.

There are also V-Discs, records made for the US armed forces during the Second World War, which BING magazine lists separately.

Crosby recorded White Christmas on 29 May 1942 at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles. It was issued as Decca 18429 A, a 10-inch 78, on 30 July 1942 as part of a six-disc album of songs from the film Holiday Inn. It spent eleven weeks at No. 1 that year and returned to No. 1 in the 1945 and 1946 holiday seasons (Wikipedia, White Christmas).

The 1942 master wore out from constant use, so Crosby re-recorded the song on 19 March 1947. You can recognise the 1947 version by the flutes and celesta added at the beginning. Guinness credits Crosby's recording with at least 50 million copies worldwide, and Wikipedia calls it the best-selling single of all time.

For a collector this means two things. A 78 or LP with the flutes and celesta intro carries the 1947 recording, whatever the label says about the song's history. And because the record sold in the tens of millions, ordinary copies are common; condition decides what one is worth.

Crosby's best-known album started as a set of 78s. Merry Christmas first appeared in 1945 as Decca A-403, ten previously released songs on five 78 rpm discs. It became a 10-inch LP in 1949 (Decca DL-5019) and a 12-inch LP in 1955 (Decca DL-8128), and the 1955 track listing has not changed since. Across its releases it spent 39 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard pop albums chart and is certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA (Wikipedia, Merry Christmas).

The catalogue numbers are the quickest way to date a copy: A-403 is the 78 album, DL-5019 the 10-inch LP, DL-8128 the 12-inch LP. Anything else is a later reissue or a compilation.

Usually not much, for the same reason most 78s are cheap: they were pressed in huge numbers. Crosby sold an estimated 300 million to 1 billion records (Wikipedia), and his Decca hits were mass-market releases. Our 78 rpm records value page explains why popular Decca and Brunswick releases sit at the common end of the market.

What can be worth more is condition and completeness: a 78 album set with all its discs and the original book-style binder, an early Brunswick side in high grade, or a first-issue LP with its sleeve intact. Check the catalogue number against the eras above, then grade the disc on the vinyl grading scale. A photo of the label in the app identifies the record.