I’ve got one of those cheapo compilation CDs “Christmas with Bing Crosby” and it doesn’t have complete recording information. I think I’ve figured out the date of recording for all the tracks except for “Silver Bells” with Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald. Anyone have any idea what year it might have been recorded? Most of the tracks represent Crosby’s most noted recording of the songs in question, so I’m guessing that’s true for this one as well.
No Crosby fans here?
I was doing some digging in AllMusic for both Crosby & Fitzgerald (I don’t have a version of their duet of this song myself), but couldn’t come up with much info. It appears the song was only included in subsequent reissues and compilations, so it was difficult for me to determine when the original recording might’ve taken place (Crosby’s first known version of the song appears to be from the '40s, but since both he and Ella had careers spanning decades beyond then, that doesn’t really narrow things down much).
Thanks for the effort, Archive Guy. I had similar troubles.