Decca Records release Bing at Christmas, featuring classic recordings of Bing Crosby's most famous festive hits with orchestral accompaniment from the London Symphony Orchestra. Included on the album is Crosby’s biggest hit, the 1942 Decca recording of ‘White Christmas’ by American composer and lyricist Irving Berlin. The song resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II and had a huge impact on the lives of both young soldiers serving in the forces, as well as their families back home...

You can't have Christmas without a bit of Bing. But the old, hissy, mono recordings can leave younger generations cringing. Scrubbing up the original songs and employing the London Symphony Orchestra was a stroke of genius, giving some of his classic songs a new lease of life.

Among the fourteen remastered tracks (39 min, 15 sec) on Bing at Christmas are new arrangements of ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas’, ‘The Christmas Song’ and ‘Little Drummer Boy’, on which David Bowie joins in a duet recorded in September 1977, just a month before Crosby died.

The packaging includes a slipcase over the plastic CD case as well as a booklet that includes rare photos of Bing and family as well as movie posters and record covers.

And if you don't get on with these reworkings (bah, humbug!), there are plenty of original recording albums out there. Decca aptly illustrate how you can improve on perfection?

Track listing:

01. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
02. Sleigh Ride
03. Let it Snow
04. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
05. I’ll Be Home for Christmas
06. Jingle Bells - (feat. The Puppini Sisters)
07. Do You Hear What I Hear?
08. The Christmas Song (feat The Tenors)
09. White Christmas (feat. Pentatonix)
10. Little Drummer Boy (feat. David Bowie)
11. Twelve Days of Christmas (feat. The Puppini Sisters)
12. Winter Wonderland
13. White Christmas (Bing solo)
14. Christmas Song (Bing solo)

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Darren Rea