Performance career Bing Crosby

1 performance career

1.1 years
1.2 rhythm boys
1.3 success solo singer
1.4 white christmas
1.5 motion pictures
1.6 television

performance career
early years

in 1923, crosby invited join new band composed of high school students few years younger himself. al rinker, miles rinker, james heaton, claire pritchard , robert pritchard, along drummer crosby, formed musicaladers, performed @ dances both high school students , club-goers. group performed on spokane radio station khq, disbanded after 2 years. crosby , al rinker obtained work @ clemmer theatre in spokane (now known bing crosby theater). crosby member of vocal trio called 3 harmony aces al rinker accompanying on piano pit, entertain between films. bing , al continued @ clemmer theatre several months 3 other men – wee georgie crittenden, frank mcbride , lloyd grinnell – , billed clemmer trio or clemmer entertainers depending performed.

in october 1925, crosby , partner al rinker, brother of singer mildred bailey, decided seek fame in california. traveled los angeles met mildred bailey. introduced them show business contacts, , fanchon , marco time agency hired them thirteen weeks revue called syncopation idea, starting @ boulevard theater in los angeles , on loew s circuit. each earned $75 week. bing , al rinker began minor part of syncopation idea , there started develop entertainers. had lively , individual style , particularly popular college students. after syncopation idea closed, bing , al worked in morrissey music hall revue. further honed skills morrissey, , blossomed when subsequently had chance present own independent act, , spotted paul whiteman organization. @ time, felt whiteman needed different , entertaining break musical selections, , crosby , rinker filled requirement. after less year in full-time show business, had become part of 1 of biggest names in entertainment world. hired $150 week in 1926, debuted whiteman on december 6 @ tivoli theatre in chicago. first recording, in october 1926, ve got girl, don clark s orchestra, columbia-issued record did them no vocal favors, inadvertently recorded @ speed slower should have been, increased singers pitch when played @ 78 rpm. throughout career, crosby credited mildred bailey getting him first important job in entertainment business.

the rhythm boys

initial successes whiteman followed disaster when reached new york , while whiteman must have thought of letting them go. possibly bing might have been retained whiteman using him solo performer on record, prospects rinker must have been bleak. however, addition of pianist , aspiring songwriter harry barris made difference act , rhythm boys born. additional voice meant boys heard more in large new york theaters , became real success. year touring whiteman performing , recording musicians bix beiderbecke, jack teagarden, tommy dorsey, jimmy dorsey, eddie lang , hoagy carmichael, provided valuable experience , sent out on tour alone. has been written escapades of 3 men during period , living life full. despite of this, bing continuing develop , when rhythm boys rejoined whiteman troupe in 1929, had matured considerably performer. in demand solo artist on record , radio.

crosby became star attraction of rhythm boys, , in 1928 had first number 1 hit whiteman orchestra, jazz-influenced rendition of ol man river . in 1929, rhythm boys appeared in film king of jazz whiteman bing s growing dissatisfaction whiteman led rhythm boys leaving organization. joined gus arnheim orchestra performing nightly in coconut grove of ambassador hotel. singing arnheim orchestra, bing s solos began steal show, while rhythm boys act gradually became redundant. harry barris wrote several of crosby s subsequent hits including @ command , surrender dear , , wrap troubles in dreams . in months of 1931, solo recording contract came bing s way, mack sennett signed him make film shorts , break rhythm boys became inevitable. bing had married dixie lee in september 1930 , after threatened divorce in march 1931, started apply himself career. gramophone records in 1931 broke new ground powerful , emotional singing started change face of popular music forever.

their low salaries @ cocoanut grove of ambassador hotel had led rhythm boys walk out, causing union problems bing. bing s brother, everett, interested bill paley of cbs in brother , paley beckoned bing come new york. settlement reached ambassador hotel , bing made first solo national radio broadcast in september 1931 , went on star @ new york paramount theatre.

success solo singer

crosby in 1932

on september 2, 1931, crosby made solo radio debut. before end of year, signed both brunswick records , cbs radio. doing weekly 15-minute radio broadcast, crosby became huge hit. songs out of , 1 more chance , @ command , found million dollar baby (in 5 , ten cent store) among best selling songs of 1931.

as 1930s unfolded, crosby became leading singer in america. ten of top 50 songs 1931 featured crosby, either solo or others. so-called battle of baritones singing star russ columbo proved short-lived, replaced slogan bing king . crosby played lead in series of sound-era musical comedy short films mack sennett, signed paramount , starred in first full-length feature, 1932 s big broadcast, first of 55 films in received top billing. appear in 79 pictures, , signed long-term deal jack kapp s new record company decca in late 1934.

his first commercial sponsor on radio cremo cigars , increasingly fame spread nationwide. after long run in new york, bing went hollywood film big broadcast , personal appearances, records, , radio work substantially increased impact. success of first full-length film brought him contract paramount , began regular pattern of making 3 films year. on radio, fronted own show woodbury soap 2 seasons , gradually live appearances dwindled. records produced hit after hit @ time when record sales in decline because of depression. critically acclaimed audio engineer steve hoffman once stated: way, bing saved record business in 1934 when agreed support decca founder jack kapp s crazy idea of lowering price of singles dollar 35 cents , getting royalty records sold instead of flat fee. bing s name , artistry saved recording industry. other artists signed decca after bing did. without him, jack kapp wouldn t have had chance in hell of making decca work , great depression have wiped out phonograph records good. social life hectic, first son gary born in 1933 twin boys following in 1934. 1936, d replaced former boss, paul whiteman, host of prestigious nbc radio program kraft music hall, weekly radio program remained next ten years. blue of night (meets gold of day), showcased 1 of then-trademark whistling interludes, became theme song , signature tune.

also in 1936, crosby exercised option paramount make film out-of-house. signed one-picture agreement columbia, crosby dreamt of having icon , friend louis armstrong, african-american, largely influenced singing style, in screen adaptation of peacock feather called pennies heaven. crosby talked harry cohn matter, disagreed saying: ... no reason entail expense of flying him in , having no desire negotiate armstrong s crude, mob-linked devoted manager, joe glaser. bing threatened walk out on film , refused discuss cohn. armstrong s musical scenes, along comical dialogue well, heightened career. bing had armstrong made high billing alongside white co-stars, 1 of first times ever black performer in wide-audience film. starred himself in many more films come , had large appreciation bing s unracist views, thanking him in later years.

crosby s much-imitated style helped take popular singing beyond kind of belting associated boisterous performers al jolson , billy murray, had been obliged reach seats in new york theaters without aid of microphone. henry pleasants noted in great american popular singers, new had entered american music, style might called singing in american conversational ease. new sound led popular epithet crooner .

during second world war, crosby made numerous live appearances before american troops fighting in european theater. learned how pronounce german written scripts , read propaganda broadcasts intended german forces. nickname der bingle common among crosby s german listeners , came used english-speaking fans. in poll of u.s. troops @ close of world war ii, crosby topped list person had done g.i. morale, ahead of president franklin delano roosevelt, general dwight eisenhower, , bob hope.

the june 18, 1945, issue of life magazine stated: america s number 1 star, bing crosby, has won more fans, made more money entertainer in history. today kind of national institution. state: in all, 60,000,000 crosby disks have been marketed since made first record in 1931. biggest best seller white christmas, 2,000,000 impressions of have been sold in u.s. , 250,000 in great britain. go on say: 9 out of ten singers , bandleaders listen crosby s broadcasts each thursday night , follow lead. day after sings song on air – song – 50,000 copies of sold throughout u.s. time , again crosby has taken new or unknown ballad, has given known in trade circles big goose , made hit single-handed , overnight. , precisely future holds crosby neither family nor friends can conjecture. has achieved greater popularity, made more money, attracted vaster audiences other entertainer in history. , star still in ascendant. contract decca runs until 1955. contract paramount runs until 1954. records made ten years ago selling better ever before. nation s appetite crosby s voice , personality appears insatiable. soldiers overseas , foreigners has become kind of symbol of america, of amiable, humorous citizen of free land. crosby, however, seldom bothers contemplate future. 1 thing, enjoys hearing himself sing, , if ever day should dawn when public wearies of him, complacently go right on singing – himself.

white christmas


crosby , marjorie reynolds in holiday inn (1942)

the biggest hit song of crosby s career recording of irving berlin s white christmas, introduced on christmas day radio broadcast in 1941. (a copy of recording radio program owned estate of bing crosby , loaned cbs sunday morning december 25, 2011, program.) song appeared in 1942 movie holiday inn. record hit charts on october 3, 1942, , rose no. 1 on october 31, stayed 11 weeks. holiday perennial, song repeatedly re-released decca, charting 16 times. topped charts again in 1945 , third time in january 1947. song remains bestselling single of time. according guinness world records, recording of white christmas has sold on 100 million copies around world, @ least 50 million sales singles. recording popular obliged re-record in 1947 using same musicians , backup singers; original 1942 master had become damaged due frequent use in pressing additional singles. though 2 versions similar, 1947 recording familiar today. after death in 1977, song re-released , reached no. 5 position in uk singles chart in december 1977. crosby dismissive of role in song s success, saying jackdaw cleft palate have sung successfully.

motion pictures



crosby bob hope in road bali (1952)

crosby starred bob hope , dorothy lamour in 7 road musical comedies between 1940 , 1962, cementing crosby , hope on-and-off duo, despite never officially declaring team in sense laurel , hardy or dean martin , jerry lewis teams. series consists of road singapore (1940), road zanzibar (1941), road morocco (1942), road utopia (1946), road rio (1947), road bali (1952), , road hong kong (1962). when appeared solo, crosby , hope made note of other in comically insulting fashion. performed many times on stage, radio, film, , television.

crosby in road singapore

in 1949 disney animated film adventures of ichabod , mr. toad, crosby provided narration , song vocals legend of sleepy hollow segment, , again in october 1977 animated disney film many adventures of ichabod , winnie pooh.

in 1960, starred in high time, collegiate comedy fabian forte , tuesday weld predicted emerging gap between him , new young generation of musicians , actors had begun careers after wwii. following year, crosby , hope reunited 1 more road movie, road hong kong, teamed them younger joan collins , peter sellers. collins used in place of longtime partner dorothy lamour, whom crosby felt getting old role, though hope refused movie without her, , instead made cameo appearance. shortly before death in 1977, had planned road film in he, hope, , lamour search fountain of youth.

he won academy award best actor going way in 1944 , nominated 1945 sequel, bells of st. mary s. received critical acclaim performance alcoholic entertainer in country girl , received third academy award nomination.

television


crosby , family in christmas special, 1974

the fireside theater (1950) first television production. series of 26-minute shows filmed @ hal roach studios rather performed live on air. telefilms syndicated individual television stations. frequent guest on musical variety shows of 1950s , 1960s. associated abc s hollywood palace. show s first , frequent guest host , appeared annually on christmas edition wife kathryn , younger children. in 1970s, made 2 late appearances on flip wilson show, singing duets comedian. last tv appearance christmas special filmed in london in september 1977 , aired weeks after death. on special recorded duet of little drummer boy , peace on earth rock star david bowie. duet released in 1982 single 45-rpm record , reached no. 3 in uk singles charts. has since become staple of holiday radio , final popular hit of crosby s career. @ end of 20th century, tv guide listed crosby-bowie duet 1 of 25 memorable musical moments of 20th-century television.

bing crosby productions, affiliated desilu studios , later cbs television studios, produced number of television series, including crosby s own unsuccessful abc sitcom bing crosby show in 1964–1965 season (with co-stars beverly garland , frank mchugh). company produced 2 abc medical dramas, ben casey (1961–1966) , breaking point (1963–1964), popular hogan s heroes (1965–1971) military comedy on cbs, lesser-known show slattery s people (1964–1965).