Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around was Bing Crosby's fourth album for Decca and his fifth LP, recorded and originally released in 1956 on vinyl as Decca DL 8352. This was a concept album of sorts, as Bing covered some of his musical rivals' big hits, such as Al Jolson's "April Showers" and Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa". The jazz historian Will Friedwald wrote that the album "was essentially Crosby's way of acknowledging that he wasn't the only male singer to create hits and standards". Crosby
Harry Warner April 1927, the Big Five studios (First National, Paramount, MGM, Universal, and Producers Distributing) had put the Warners in financial ruin, and Western Electric renewed the Warner's Vitaphone contract with terms that it was no longer exclusive and that other film company's could test sound with Western Electric as well; the Warners were even forced to sell some of their stock to Harry Cohn, the head of the independent film company Columbia Pictures. Eventually, Harry agreed to accept Sam's demands to continue with Vitaphone productions, and the studio soon began production of the first talkie, "The Jazz Singer"; soon after