Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz

Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz
Studio album by Bing Crosby. Ann Blyth
Released	1950
Recorded	1947, 1949
Genre	Popular
Label	Decca
Bing Crosby chronology
Ichabod - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949) Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz (1950) Songs from Mr. Music (1950)

Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz is a Decca Records studio album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby of songs from his movies Top o' the Morning and The Emperor Waltz, catalog number DL 5272.

Background

Bing Crosby had recorded the songs from his film “Top o’ the Morning” in May and June 1949 and these were released on two separate 78 records to tie in with the film’s premiere on August 31, 1949. Following the development of the vinyl LP record by Columbia Records in 1948, Decca issued a plethora of Crosby albums in that format. Many were simply reissues of earlier 78rpm albums but Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz appears to be the first 10” LP not to have been issued as a 78rpm album. As the four songs from “Top o’ the Morning” only filled one side of the LP, Decca added the four songs from the successful “Bing Crosby – The Emperor Waltz 78 rpm album to complete the record.

Reception

Billboard reviewed the songs from “Top o’ the Morning” when they were issued as singles saying:^[1]

Oh, ‘Tis Sweet to Think
Bing and the fem lead from “Top o’ the Morning” do an art song—lyrics by Thomas Moore—charmingly. Not for the masses.
The Donovans
More from the score—and as Irish as Barry Fitzgerald’s phiz. Special stuff—may appeal in the Gaelic nabes.
You’re in Love with Someone
A Burke-Van Heusen pop from “Top o’ the Morning” gets the tender treatment from Bing.
Top o’ the Morning
Irish and quaint as all get-out is the title tune, a small lesson in Gaelic a la Berlitz.

Track listing

Side 1

1. “You're in Love with Someone”, (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke), recorded May 10, 1949 with Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Jeff Alexander Chorus.^[2]
2. “Top o' the Morning”, (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke), recorded June 21, 1949 with Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Jeff Alexander Chorus.^[2]
3. “Oh, 'Tis Sweet to Think”, (Thomas Moore) recorded May 31, 1949 with Ann Blyth and Simon Rady and His Orchestra.^[2]
4. “The Donovans”, (Alicia Adélaide Needham / Walter Kent / Francis Fahy) recorded June 21, 1949 with Victor Young and His Orchestra, and the Jeff Alexander Chorus.^[2]

Side 2

1. "Friendly Mountains", (Johnny Burke), recorded March 17, 1947 with Victor Young and His Orchestra ^[2]
2. “The Kiss in Your Eyes", (Richard Heuberger, Johnny Burke), recorded January 17, 1947 with Victor Young and His Orchestra ^[2]
3. "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame”, (Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Ralph Erwin) recorded January 17, 1947 with Victor Young and His Orchestra.^[2]
4. “Emperor Waltz", (Johann Strauss, Johnny Burke), recorded March 17, 1947 with Victor Young and His Orchestra.^[2]

References

1. "Billboard". Billboard. September 17, 1949.
2. "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved November 26, 2015.