Our Common Heritage
1947 studio album by Bing Crosby and others
Our Common Heritage – Great Poems Celebrating Milestones in the History of America Released Original 78 album: 1947
12” LP DL9072: 1959 Recorded 1943–1946 Genre Poetry Label Decca
Our Common Heritage – Great Poems Celebrating Milestones in the History of America is a Decca Records album of phonograph records by various artists celebrating American ideals and patriotic themes. The album was edited, with notes, by Louis Untermeyer ; original music and sound effects were composed by Victor Young and Lehman Engel with the Jean Neilson Verse Choir. Artists reading are Brian Donlevy , Agnes Moorehead , Fredric March , Walter Huston , Pat O'Brien , and Bing Crosby .[ 1]
Reception
Howard Taubman , writing in The New York Times heralded the release of the album. “With considerable beating of the drums, Decca has issued an album called “Our Common Heritage” (eight 10 inch records). It contains sixteen poems commemorating “milestones in the history of America.” Jack Kapp , president of Decca is keynoting the campaign for this album [and writes] “Who else but Bing Crosby, who symbolises America to the world, should read The Star-Spangled Banner? And who else should make it a living experience, read as we believe Francis Scott Key felt it?” Who else, indeed? Unless of course, it should occur to you that you could read it for yourself....If it makes American ideals shine more brightly for them to hear Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien and the others dramatize them, only a bounder would disagree with Mr. Kapp.”[ 2]
Track listing
These songs were featured on an 8-disc, 78 rpm album set, Decca Album No. A-536 .
Disc 1: (40030)
"The American Flag", (Joseph Rodman Drake ), recorded December 17, 1945 by Brian Donlevy with Victor Young and His Orchestra.[ 3] “Columbus", (Joaquin Miller ), recorded December 17, 1945 by Brian Donlevy with Victor Young and His Orchestra.[ 3]
Disc 2: (40031)
"Barbara Frietchie", (John Greenleaf Whittier ), recorded January 23, 1946 by Agnes Moorehead with Victor Young and His Orchestra.[ 3] “Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers", (Felicia Dorothea Hemans ) recorded January 23, 1946 by Agnes Moorehead with Victor Young and His Orchestra.[ 3]
Disc 3: (40032)
Disc 4: (40033)
Disc 5: (40034)
Disc 6: (40035)
Disc 7: (40036)
"Nancy Hanks" (Rosemary Benét), recorded January 23, 1946 by Agnes Moorehead with Victor Young and His Orchestra.[ 3] “Lincoln, Man of the People" (Edwin Markham ), recorded May 16, 1946 by Walter Huston and the Lehman Engel Orchestra.[ 3]
Disc 8: (40037)
LP release
The album was re-released as a 12” LP (DL 9072) in 1959.[ 5]
LP track listing
SIDE ONE
“Columbus"
"The American Flag”
“Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers"
"Barbara Frietchie"
"Paul Revere’s Ride"
"Paul Revere’s Ride"
“Warren’s Address to American Soldiers (June 17, 1775) / Concord Hymn"
"Hail Columbia"
SIDE TWO
“America”
“Sheridan’s Ride"
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
“Old Ironsides
"Nancy Hanks"
“Lincoln, Man of the People"
“O Captain! My Captain!"
"Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight"
References
Albums
Music of Hawaii (1939)
Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. One (1939)
Patriotic Songs for Children (1939)
Cowboy Songs (Bing Crosby's first solo album) (1939)
Victor Herbert Melodies, Vol. Two (1939)
George Gershwin Songs, Vol. One (1939)
Ballad for Americans (Bing Crosby's first solo studio album)(1940)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs (1940)
Christmas Music (1940)
Star Dust (1940)
Hawaii Calls (1941)
Small Fry (1941)
Crosbyana (1941)
Under Western Skies (1941)
Song Hits from Holiday Inn (w/ Fred Astaire ) (1942)
Merry Christmas (1945)
Selections from Going My Way (1945)
Selections from The Bells of St. Mary's (1946)
Don't Fence Me In (w/ The Andrews Sisters ) (1946)
The Happy Prince (1946)
Selections from Road to Utopia (1946)
Bing Crosby – Stephen Foster (1946)
What We So Proudly Hail (1946)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. One (1946)
Favorite Hawaiian Songs, Vol. Two (1946)
Blue Skies (w/ Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin ) (1946)
Bing Crosby – Jerome Kern (1946)
St. Patrick's Day (1947)
Bing Crosby – Victor Herbert (1947)
Cowboy Songs, Vol. One (1947)
Selections from Welcome Stranger (1947)
Our Common Heritage (1947)
El Bingo (1947)
The Small One (1947)
The Man Without a Country (1947)
Drifting and Dreaming (1947)
Blue of the Night (1948)
Selections from Showboat (1948)
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
St. Valentine's Day (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters (1948)
Selections from Road to Rio (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Heywood, Louis Jordan (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows (1948)
Cowboy Songs, Vol. Two (1948)
Auld Lang Syne (1948)
Bing Crosby Sings Cole Porter Songs (1949)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin (1949)
South Pacific (1949)
Christmas Greetings (1949)
Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
Top o' the Morning / Emperor Waltz (1950)
Songs from Mr. Music (w/ Dorothy Kirsten and The Andrews Sisters ) (1950)
Go West Young Man (w/ The Andrews Sisters ) (1950)
Collectors' Classics, Vols. 1–8 (1951)
Way Back Home (1951)
Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from... (1951)
Bing and the Dixieland Bands (1951)
Yours Is My Heart Alone (1951)
Country Style (1951)
Beloved Hymns (1951)
Bing and Connee (w/ Connee Boswell ) (1952)
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1952)
Themes and Songs from The Quiet Man (w/ Victor Young ) (1952)
Selections from the Paramount Picture "Just for You" (w/ Jane Wyman and The Andrews Sisters ) (1952)
Road to Bali (w/ Bob Hope and Peggy Lee ) (1952)
Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris (1953)
Some Fine Old Chestnuts (1954)
Bing Sings the Hits (1954)
Selections from White Christmas (w/ Peggy Lee and Danny Kaye ) (1954)
Bing: A Musical Autobiography (1954)
The Country Girl / Little Boy Lost (1955)
Merry Christmas (later version of 1945 78rpm album) (1955)
Shillelaghs and Shamrocks (1956)
Home on the Range (1956)
Blue Hawaii (1956)
High Tor (w/ Julie Andrews and Everett Sloane ) (1956)
A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World (1956)
Anything Goes (w/ Donald O'Connor , Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmaire ) (1956)
High Society (w/ Frank Sinatra , Grace Kelly , and Louis Armstrong ) (1956)
Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around (1956)
Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (1956)
Bing with a Beat (1957)
A Christmas Story (1957)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1957)
New Tricks (1957)
The Bible Story of Christmas (1957)
Never Be Afraid (1958)
Jack B. Nimble – A Mother Goose Fantasy (1958)
Fancy Meeting You Here ( w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1958)
Around the World with Bing! (1958)
Bing in Paris (1958)
That Christmas Feeling (1958)
In a Little Spanish Town (1958)
Bing’s Buddies and Beaus (1959)
Say One for Me (w/ Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner ) (1959)
How the West Was Won (w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1960)
Join Bing and Sing Along (1960)
Bing & Satchmo (w/ Louis Armstrong ) (1960)
Songs of Christmas (1960)
101 Gang Songs (1961)
El Señor Bing (1961)
My Golden Favorites (1961)
The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Bing's Hollywood (set of 15 albums) (1962)
On the Happy Side (1962)
I Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962)
Holiday in Europe (1962)
Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (1963)
Return to Paradise Islands (1964)
America, I Hear You Singing (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring ) (1964)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (w/ Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , and Sammy Davis Jr. ) (1964)
12 Songs of Christmas (w/ Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring ) (1964)
Bing Crosby Sings the Great Country Hits (1965)
That Travelin' Two-Beat (w/ Rosemary Clooney ) (1965)
The Summit (w/ Dean Martin , Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. ) (1966)
Bing Crosby's Treasury – The Songs I Love (1966)
Bing Crosby and The Columbus Boychoir Sing Family Christmas Favorites (w/ The Columbus Boychoir ) (1967)
Thoroughly Modern Bing (1968)
Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love (1968 version) (1968)
Hey Jude/Hey Bing! (1969)
Goldilocks (1970)
A Time to Be Jolly (1971)
Bing 'n' Basie (w/ Count Basie ) (1972)
Rhythm on the Range (1972)
I’ll Sing You a Song of the Islands (1972)
A Southern Memoir (1975)
That's What Life Is All About (1975)
A Couple of Song and Dance Men (w/ Fred Astaire ) (1975)
Tom Sawyer (1976)
At My Time of Life (1976)
Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium (1976)
Feels Good, Feels Right (1976)
Beautiful Memories (1977)
Bingo Viejo (1977)
Seasons (Bing Crosby's last studio album released during his lifetime) (1977)
A Little Bit of Irish (posthumous edition, recorded in 1966) (1993)
Bing Crosby: The Voice of Christmas (1998)
On the Sentimental Side (posthumous edition, recorded in 1962; Bing Crosby's latest studio album) (2010)
Family Related