Bing Crosby remains one of the most successful recording artists and film stars of all time, with record sales estimated in the hundreds of millions worldwide. He was totally appealing. His relaxed, likable, `regular guy next door´ charm made it all look easy. Fourteen songs that he introduced in his films were nominated for Oscars, four of which won. He recorded over 1700 songs, 368 of which made the charts and 42 hit Number 1, including his biggest selling singles, `White Christmas´ and `Silent Night.´ His wide repertoire covered show tunes, film music, country & western songs, patriotic standards, religious hymns, holiday favourites, and ethnic ballads (most notably Irish and Hawaiian). The breadth of material was not threatening to audiences because he put his own indelible stamp on each song he recorded, appealing to many different audiences while still not endangering his own fan base. He was among the first actually to read songs, making them his own by interpreting the lyrics and emphasizing words or phrases to emphasize what he thought best. This first volume in Naxos’s survey of the very earliest songs recorded by Bing Crosby concentrates on the many fine examples of his work with the bandleader Paul Whiteman, such as ‘Pretty Lips’, ‘Magnolia’, and ‘Mississippi Mud’. Also included is an early example of Bing’s work in Hollywood as a member of the ‘The Three Rhythm Boys’ , ‘Them There Eyes’. Even at this early stage in his career, the classic hallmarks of Bing Crosby’s inimitable singing are fully on display.