CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Songs of the Depression: Boom, Bust & New Deal

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date November 23, 1998
If you're even considering this superb box set, you probably don't have to be sold on the idea of owning four cds worth of pop from the 1930s. As you can see from the track list, these songs range from million sellers like Bing Crosby's reading of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" to a rare early version of Cole Porter's now standard "Love for Sale" to songs people haven't heard for 70 years. The bulk of the songs are from 1929 to 1933, with about 20% coming from later in the decade. They are mostly Tin Pan Alley pop, sometimes by the cream of that crop (Gershwin, Porter, Arlen, Berlin, etc). Each track is well annotated, with a paragraph or two on the performers, writers, and performance. Often, you get a brief analysis about the music ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Songs of the Depression: Boom, Bust and the New Deal

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date January 26, 1999
If you're even considering this superb box set, you probably don't have to be sold on the idea of owning four cds worth of pop from the 1930s. As you can see from the track list, these songs range from million sellers like Bing Crosby's reading of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" to a rare early version of Cole Porter's now standard "Love for Sale" to songs people haven't heard for 70 years. The bulk of the songs are from 1929 to 1933, with about 20% coming from later in the decade. They are mostly Tin Pan Alley pop, sometimes by the cream of that crop (Gershwin, Porter, Arlen, Berlin, etc). Each track is well annotated, with a paragraph or two on the performers, writers, and performance. Often, you get a brief analysis about the music and the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series)

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
from: Sony

Release Date October 19, 2004
Of course there should have been much more. I remember there been a Metropolian Opera series called CAST ALBUMS- 100 YEARS that was put out for a limited time only and had like five volumes.
As Peter Filichia noted they left out SHE LOVES ME, BRIGADOON and SWEENEY TODD. Also nothing from PACIFIC OVERTURES, BIG RIVER, CHESS, CRAZY FOR YOU, JEKYLL & HYDE, TITANIC, THE SCARLET
PIMPERNEL, FOOTLOOSE- THE MUSICAL, THE FULL MONTY, URINTOWN...
But they couldn't have put it all. I would have done without Lee Remick's
"Anyone Can Whistle", because the show was a flop. I guess because it was Sondheim's first "serious" show...

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Somethin' Stupid

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date April 08, 2003
Of course there should have been much more. I remember there been a Metropolian Opera series called CAST ALBUMS- 100 YEARS that was put out for a limited time only and had like five volumes.
As Peter Filichia noted they left out SHE LOVES ME, BRIGADOON and SWEENEY TODD. Also nothing from PACIFIC OVERTURES, BIG RIVER, CHESS, CRAZY FOR YOU, JEKYLL & HYDE, TITANIC, THE SCARLET
PIMPERNEL, FOOTLOOSE- THE MUSICAL, THE FULL MONTY, URINTOWN...
But they couldn't have put it all. I would have done without Lee Remick's
"Anyone Can Whistle", because the show was a flop. I guess because it was Sondheim's first "serious" show...

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Great Vocalists

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date October 29, 2001
Of course there should have been much more. I remember there been a Metropolian Opera series called CAST ALBUMS- 100 YEARS that was put out for a limited time only and had like five volumes.
As Peter Filichia noted they left out SHE LOVES ME, BRIGADOON and SWEENEY TODD. Also nothing from PACIFIC OVERTURES, BIG RIVER, CHESS, CRAZY FOR YOU, JEKYLL & HYDE, TITANIC, THE SCARLET
PIMPERNEL, FOOTLOOSE- THE MUSICAL, THE FULL MONTY, URINTOWN...
But they couldn't have put it all. I would have done without Lee Remick's
"Anyone Can Whistle", because the show was a flop. I guess because it was Sondheim's first "serious" show...

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date September 25, 2001
In the Golden Days of the esoteric LP, the New World label concentrated on American music. Among its best sellers was a single LP titled "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime: American Song During the Great Depression." Most happily, it is again available on CD (80270-2). Using only original recordings of the era, the producers have included 16 numbers. Most of them, naturally, lean towards the pessimistic: the title song, "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "All in Down and Out Blues," and "The Coal Loading Machine." Just as naturally, there are songs of either ignoring reality ("We're in the Money," "On the Good Ship Lollypop," "Love Walked In") or hoping for better times around the corner ("The White Cliffs of Dover").

Among the singers, we have Bing ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Pennies from Heaven

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date May 09, 2000
In the Golden Days of the esoteric LP, the New World label concentrated on American music. Among its best sellers was a single LP titled "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime: American Song During the Great Depression." Most happily, it is again available on CD (80270-2). Using only original recordings of the era, the producers have included 16 numbers. Most of them, naturally, lean towards the pessimistic: the title song, "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "All in Down and Out Blues," and "The Coal Loading Machine." Just as naturally, there are songs of either ignoring reality ("We're in the Money," "On the Good Ship Lollypop," "Love Walked In") or hoping for better times around the corner ("The White Cliffs of Dover").

Among the singers, we have Bing ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date October 12, 1999
This is an impressive collection-- a century's worth of great music. 26 discs, covering many different genres.

And while there is plenty of variety here, it is very much weighted to the modern era. Only eight of the 26 discs contain pre-1950 material, and of those eight, most contain only about half-a-disc's worth of pre-1950 material. It is certainly true that fewer recordings were made in the early days of the technology, but to call it a "Soundtrack for a Century" and ignore half the century seems very misguided.

What would have made a much more interesting collection would have been a set that looked at the most popular recordings of each era and genre. Since there are six discs of "pop" music here, why not divide the discs ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Pop Music: The Early Years 1890-1950

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date October 12, 1999
Got this item for an older Aunt and she was thrilled with the early songs.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Hits of '33

Search: Brother- Can You Spare A Dime- Bing Crosby
by: Various Artists

Release Date September 24, 1996
This Living Era series from ASV Ltd. of London first came out in 1996 and although, like all the others in the series, many of the artists will be more familiar to British listeners, there is no denying the consistent quality of both the sound reproduction (remarkable considering these are 75 years old!) and the performances, even if some are totally unfamiliar to North American audiences.

In this volume covering 1933, tracks 2, 4, 6, 7 and 17 were not hits in North America that year by any artist. In the case of I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, the Dorsey Brothers had a # 20 with it in 1934, and in 1936, by which time they had split, Tommy recorded it again, taking it to # 8 after which it became his familiar theme song.

Those that were hits ... Read More: