Armstrong, Louis / Crosby, Bing Bing & Satchmo LP Vinyl

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing of this 1960 collaboration between the music greats, proposed and financed by Bing Crosby himself. Crosby wanted everything to be perfect, and looked for a well balanced and cohesive album instead of a collection of separate songs with roughly arranged duets. The talented Billy May was called in to do the arrangements, and Johnny Mercer acted as a kind of producer, adding supplementary lyrics to nearly all of the songs and even singing a single uncredited line on 'Lazy River'. Mercer's new lyrics gave unity to the album as a whole, creating the impression of a whole stage show rather than a compilation of individual performances. The album marked Louis Armstrong's only collaboration ever with Billy May.

1. Muskrat Ramble (Kid Ory-Ray Gilbert) 3:04 2. Sugar (Pinkard-Alexander-Mitchell-Bergman) 5:13 3. The Preacher (Horace Silver) 2:21 4. Dardanella (Fisher-Bernard-Black) 2:50 5. Let's Sing Like a Dixieland Band (Alan Bergman) 2:22 6. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (Creamer-Layton) 3:09 7. Brother Bill (Louis Armstrong) 3:01 8. Little Ol' Tune (Johnny Mercer) 3:07 9. At the Jazz Band Ball (Edwards-Larocca-Mercer-Ragas-Sbarbaro-Shields) 3:03 10. Rocky Mountain Moon (Johnny Mercer) 3:43 11. Lazy River (Carmichael-Arodin) 3:49 12. Bye Bye Blues (Hamm-Bennett-Lown-Gray) 3:14 13. Now You Has Jazz (Cole Porter) 4:13*