Bing Crosby

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Jim McLean
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 05:36 AM

An old Scottish joke: What's the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney?
Bing sings but Walt disnae.
Sorry!!,Jim Mclean

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 29 Sep 02 - 01:58 PM

Interesting. I don't recall a single thread about a non-folk singer attracting this many posts. I may be proven wrong by Joe Offer, or some other astute Mudcat historian, but that's the way it seems to me just from memory.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Brían
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 11:11 PM

I was fascinated about how he remained so popular without performing live, a fact most of his fans didn't seem to realize. He appeared everywhere. He seemed to have a good understanding of how to use the media. I am also interested how technology helped drive taste-tenors could be heard clearly over bands in acoustic recordings, electronic recordings favored baritones.

I have a friend who grew up in Galway who describes his music career as "Throwing the guitar in back of the pick-up truck and not caring what song Bing was singing on the radio...

It demonstrates Bing's influence on the other side of the pond as well.

Bían

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Gary
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 09:35 AM

While we're at it. Let's not forget Groucho Marx, who had the misfortune to die a few days before Elvis in 1977. He is all but forgotten by the general public. Arguably more influential than Elvis/Bing or Snake-atra.

Let's hear it for a new Marxist Revolution!!!!!

G

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 09:33 AM

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: paddymac
Date: 28 Sep 02 - 09:27 AM

Brian - I also heard the NPR bit. The point I recall was that Bing was credited as being the the first performer to essentially make his singing career via micophones and recording. The program went on to say that he rarely made live performances. I have always liked his singing, and that of many others as well. I think of Bing's version of "Galway Bay" as solid rebel stuff for its time and place.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Brían
Date: 27 Sep 02 - 09:59 PM

I heard a story from Rick Karr on Morning Edition on NPR this morning about the advent of electrical recording and the advent of baritones, who replaced tenors in popular music, especially Bing Crosby:NPR. The feature Bing Crosby singing MUDDY WATER, which is a song which is heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong.

Brían

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 12:52 AM

And one of mine, too, Mudlark. I was but a lad when the "Road" pictures were making their rounds of the theaters, but I thought they were pretty great then. I'm sure if I were to see one now, I'd probably thing they were pretty dated, but for the time, they gave us just what we needed. Escape. And we had it so much better here in the U. S. than in other countries.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Gloredhel
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 12:04 AM

I like Bing's style ok, and there's some songs I can't imagine anyone singing better, but Cole, Astaire, and Sinatra are above him on my list. (Astaire was not great at carring a tune, but he was pretty good at carrying a song.)

I won't put Bing down though: I go to Crosby Center every day to check my mailbox. (I happen to be attending his alma mater.)

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Mudlark
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 11:32 PM

Ah, Doug, one of my favorite 40's tunes...and it sounds surprisingly good on a dulcimer...

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 07:33 PM

I think, Brian, you may have struck a chord (so to speak). I do think Frank had an edge on Bing when it came to "swing." But on a romantic ballad, I think Bing, crooning to Dorothy Lamour in one of those Road Movies, couldn't be beat. Moooooonlight Becomes you, it goes with your hair ...

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Brían
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 11:27 AM

Bing was an open admirer of Louis Armstrong. He owes much of his vocal style to Louis. I still think Frank Sinatra when he was "on". Although I don't like everything he did, I prefer Frank to Bing any day. He could really swing.
Heck, maybe that little bit of eye-talian in me...

Brían

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: M.Ted
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 09:28 AM

That's not how they got the riff-raff out of the Port Authority Terminal--they did it the old fashioned way, with nightsticks--

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Geordie
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 08:12 AM

Although Bing is a sentimental favourite..I have to say that Lous Armstong is one of my idols..and with Ella , he is fabulous. I was also pleased to see someone mention Fred Astaire, I think he has always been under rated. Interesting thread..thanks all.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Brían
Date: 23 Sep 02 - 08:03 PM

I am not an authority on voice, but I do have a friend who sang soprano in choirs through junior high school but now definitely sings in a bass range. Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners was supposed to have been a boy soprano.

Brían

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Joe_F
Date: 23 Sep 02 - 07:42 PM

I am told that to get the riffraff out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York, they resorted to playing Mozart. Whether Crosby would have sufficed, I can't say.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: C-flat
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 01:32 PM

To follow up on what Alinact says, on Tyneside, a problem with youths hanging around on the Metro platforms was cured by playing the "wrong" sort of music over the public adress system. It seems they couldn't bear to lose thieir "street cred" by appearing to be listening to the likes of Bing Crosby and Max Bygraves.
It certainly adds a new slant to "Zero Tolerance"
C-flat.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 01:08 PM

Genie: That's an interesting question you pose about voice change. I wish Alice would respond but she may not be into Bing Crosby. I suspect she could answer your question though. I've heard early recordings of Bing Crosby and I agree, his voice was much higher in the early days. I wonder if the quality of recording equipment of that day could have anything to do with it?

Doug

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: allanwill
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 12:08 PM

Our local shopping mall had a problem with the local youth population hanging round one of the entrances doing things that local youth populations do these days.

Management determined this was all very unseemly and unsightly and figured out a way to disperse the mob - play Bing Crosby music through a loudspeaker situated right where they congregated.

They disappeared quicker than you can say "White Christmas"

Allan

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Genie
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 07:41 PM

BWL, You said, "Bing ...single-handedly wrested the popular male vocal away from the tenors and handed it to the baritones." Interesting point.

Today on NPR I heard an old jazz/ragtime song sung by what was clearly a tenor voice, and was very surprised when the announcer afterwards identified it as that of Bing Crosby in 1929! I knew boys' voices changed in adolescence, but is it common for a male singer's voice to change pitch so dramatically from early adulthood to middle age?

Genie

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Genie
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 07:38 PM

BWL, You said, "Bing ...single-handedly wrested the popular male vocal away from the tenors and handed it to the baritones." Interesting point.

Today on NPR I heard an old jazz/ragtime song sung by what was clearly a tenor voice, and was very surprised when the announcer afterwards identified it as that of Bing Crosby in 1929! I knew boys' voices changed in adolescence, but is it common for a male singer's voice to change pitch so dramatically from early adulthood to middle age?

Genie

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 07:30 PM

I liked Nat King Cole, and never heard another version of "Mona Lisa," I liked better than his. "Route 66," either.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: M.Ted
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 04:22 PM

Nat King Cole was a great jazz pianist, but not a real vocalist at all--His voice was pleasant, but he had very limited dynamic range and was not that hot when it came to holding a pitch--He was very appealing on a certain sort of pop song though--Oscar Moore, who was his guitarist and a talent of equal calibre, left the Nat King Cole Trio when it became apparent that it had stopped being a jazz combo and started being the back up for a pop star--

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Mark Clark
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 02:52 PM

You take Sal and I'll take Jane,
They're both good lookin' but they ain't the same,
It's tight like that...

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: C-flat
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 01:49 PM

I meant to add that I always favoured Sinatra(at his best) over Crosby but the king of the crooners, for me, was Nat King Cole.
C-flat

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: C-flat
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 01:40 PM

Aside from being Bings' sideman Eddie Lang was also a close friend. It was Bing who persuaded Eddie to undergo the routine tonsillectomy which killed him.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: ard mhacha
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 01:10 PM

Yes I know the imperialist zion wrote it, but bloody Frankie boy still lingers in my mind, "those Burma broads" God help us. Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 11:22 AM

Actually, the person who should turn in his grave over Sinatra's mutilating of "The Road to Mandalay" is Rudyard Kipling, who wrote the bloody poem and didn't deserve to have that done to it.

Guest

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: ard mhacha
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 11:17 AM

Doug R I have to agree with you, it was penance listen to Sinatra sing "Old man river", as I pointed out in another thread Sinatras version of "The Road to Mandalay" must go down as the worst song I have ever heard, Poor old Peter Dawson must have turned in his grave. Ard Mhacha.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 06:23 AM

A point of interest to any Mudcatters who are fans of good guitar-playing: whether you like Bing's singing or not, you can always listen out for Eddie Lang. He often worked in Bing's accompanying bands.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 03:23 AM

I didn't know Sinatra EVER sang an Irish song. He butchered "Old Man River" though. Talk about crooning!

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: leprechaun
Date: 19 Sep 02 - 01:04 AM

Bing sang a lot more Irish songs than Frank Sinatra.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 09:41 PM

Mebbe so, CraigS, but I never had a problem hearing him.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: CraigS
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 08:05 PM

The Ink Spots sounded gentle, but they breathed louder than Perry Como sang!

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 07:43 PM

Mebbe so, CraigS, but I still liked Como. "To Each His Own", as the Ink Spots sang.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 06:00 PM

I'm reminded yet again of the James Keelaghan song...

"Who dies? Everyone dies..."

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: CraigS
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 05:12 PM

Sinatra had better timing in the jazz sense, Crosby had the better voice, but both respected each other. No-one mentioned the master of timing, Nat King Cole. On the other hand- PERRY COMO????? If he'd stood half an inch from the microphone he'd have been inaudible - crooning was his limit! I'll never forget the smell of the sweat from under your armpit ...

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 04:50 PM

Obviously, that should be "centennial" above, not that other thing I typed.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 04:34 PM

Take heart folks. The current trend (at least on NPR) seems to be to celebrate an artist's body of work during the centinial year of his birth. Well, Bing would have been 100 next May, 2 so we'll probably hear a lot of Bing on public radio next year.

(Elvis won't reach his 100th birthday until 2035. Unfortunately, that puts the 50th anniversary of his death and the 100th anniversary of his birth just three years apart. Fortunately, it's pretty damned unlikely I'll be around to have to "celebrate" either one.)

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 04:06 PM

Hey Kevin! We found something! :>)

I see nothing untoward in observing the death anniversary of anyone, and Tom, I thank you for bringing this to our attention.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Mudlark
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:57 PM

Crosby si, Sinatra...no.

I met Bing Crosby once, when I was a kid, coming out of a TV studio. I was on my way in, with my dog Mike, to do pet tricks on a children's show. My folks, huge Crosby fans, my dog and I were on our way up the stairs, Crosby was coming down (very appropriate, given the reverence in which my folks held him that he was above us!). My mother nearly fainted, and was quite put out that he made a fuss of me and Mike and merely nodded at her.

Memories of MIke and me performing are very hazy but seeing Bing Crosby come down those steps? Clear as a bell. After he died a lot was said about what a jerk he was, bad father, etc. but he sure was nice to me.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:44 PM

I knew we agreed on some things, Doug. Bing Crosby I can listen to with enjoyment. Frank Sinatra, no. Maybe it's a blind spot, but I just never could see the appeal. As Miss Jean Brodie put it "For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like."

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:27 PM

Clinton - The church also marks the anniversary of Saint's by the day of their death. I think we tend to celebrate, or remember, both birth and death. Circumstances surrounding deaths vary with each individual, but birth is more of a set procedure with only a few variations on the theme. I think we tend to remember someone's passing as a way of saying goodbye and celebrating their appearance on this planet.

I believe celebrating birthday's are more of a modern tradition.

I can remember where I was when I heard about Bing's death and being upset, but I have vague memories of Elvis - and that was just a week or so apart.

Ron

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Harry Basnett
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:21 PM

My father was a massive Bing Crosby fan...I was brought up listening to Bing and inherited the 78's when my father passed away. Fond memories.

All the best........Harry Basnett.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:09 PM

The one who might surprise you, though, for the number of hits is a dance man--Fred Astaire. He was right up there and I understand outsold Der Bing on numerous occasions.

SRS

Subject: Birth Vs. Death...
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 03:08 PM

Wouldn't it make more sense to mark the anniversary of someones BIRTH instead of his dead???

Always seemed kinda morbid and skewed to me...

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 02:40 PM

give me Russ Colombo

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: DougR
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 02:38 PM

I agree with you Ron. I was young when Sinatra was most popular, and I never could understand why there was so much adultation for him. I thought Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, and Dick Haymes sang circles around him.

DougR

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 01:58 PM

Sinatra, in my opinion, was more about image than music. I saw him in concert once and was very bored. Granted it was in Sinatra's later years, but I never saw the appeal.

Give me Bing or Al Jolson!

Ron

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From:
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 11:11 AM

Sinatra and Bing are/were great singers. I won't choose between them. I still think either are much more deserving of adulation than Elvis. (I do like some of his singing/songs).

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 10:30 AM

Yes, Bing was a great one. The man single-handedly wrested the popular male vocal away from the tenors and handed it to the baritones.

But the Elvis anniversary crap is another beastie altogether. The post-mortem Elvis, the idea of Elvis-as-icon, is, after all, a media creation. So it's natural that the media should pull out all the stops in celebration of the anniversary of the death of Elvis-the-man, because it is also a celebration of the birth of Elvis-the-icon. Hell, a lot of tabloids owe a large amount of their success over the last twenty-five years to the man's death. It's normal for them to promote their own baby.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: mack/misophist
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 10:04 AM

Yes, a good singer but as much as I dislike him as a person, Sinatra was head and shoulders above him. A pretty voice is unnecessary, look at Lady Day. Intonation and phrasing, Sinatra had the patent on them.

Subject: RE: Bing Crosby
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 08:16 AM

Nice one Tom. Bing was surely one of the greatest singers ever.

Subject: Bing Crosby
From: Tam the bam fraeSaltcoatsScotland
Date: 18 Sep 02 - 05:37 AM

Hello there,

I thought that I might tell that it was 25 years ago that Bing Crosby Died.

I mean we here in Britian was treated to an Elvis week, to mark the 25th year of the death of Elvis, and yet Bing Crosby or another singer called Marc Bolan of T-rex was never mentioned.

I thought that I might tell you that

Tom