Chapter 7
Transcription and
Transformation, 1946–1949
The period began with
headlines on the front page of Variety magazine’s first issue of 1946
illustrating the extent of Bing’s success.
Bing’s
Bangup Box Office in ’45
400G
from Decca Records alone
No other figure on
the show business horizon has managed to parlay his multiple pix-radio-music
talents into the gross yearly earnings wrapped up by Bing Crosby during 1945.
That he’s the hottest guy in show biz today is reflected in the unprecedented
royalties (more than $400,000) from the 1945 sale of Decca records. Add to that
the current jockeying among every top advertising agency in the business and
the top bankrollers in radio to latch on to Der Bingle’s radio services in the
wake of his Kraft Music Hall divorce, plus the record four-week grosses racked
up by the Radio City Music Hall, N.Y., for his current starrer, “Bells of St.
Mary’s” (those 7:30 a.m. lines of customers circling the Rockefeller Center
theater building have been one of the top attractions for New York holiday
oglers) and you can credit El Bingo with copping, hands down, all laurels for
emerging the one-man industry in show biz today.
As
Decca’s all-time disk grosser, the Groaner has recorded during the year
virtually every pop song that struck the public’s fancy. It’s by far the top
royalty slice to any disk performer in modern times, and maybe of all time,
with the current Crosby fan wave making him even potentially bigger in ‘46. . .
.
Crosby
is said to have a royalty deal with Decca which gives him 10% of the retail
price of every record sold (his disks retail at 50c). On that basis, the 400G
royalty total indicates that some 8,000,000 of Der Bingle’s needlings went
across the counter and into jukeboxes in 1945. That’s considerably in excess of
the number he must sell in order to earn the $300,000 he’s said to be
guaranteed annually by Decca.
(Variety,
January 2, 1946)
While this sounded
marvelous, it was also true to say that Bing was increasingly beset by
difficulties all around him. The issues at home with Dixie’s drinking were
continuing, he may well have been engaged in an extramarital relationship with
Joan Caulfield and his health was affected by his kidney stone problems. He was
locked into a legal dispute with Kraft, his singing was reflecting the
uncertainties in his life and, incredibly bearing in mind his income, he had
cash flow considerations to worry about too.
The long-running
Kraft contract duly ended after the legal battle as Bing fought to have the
right to record (or “transcribe” to use the jargon of the times) his radio show
in the same way that he had previously recorded broadcasts for the armed
forces. He moved to Philco in 1946 and problems emerged not only with the
recorded show, but also with Bing’s voice, which had fallen from its previous
high standards. However, Bing came back strongly in 1947 after his troubles and
he regained his vocal prowess, albeit with a narrower range in a lower key. His
record sales were aided considerably by Decca issuing 36 albums of his
songs during the years 1946-49. Many were repackages of earlier
releases although some contained new recordings. Initially issued as
78rpm albums they were also released as 10" long-playing vinyl records when that
format was introduced during the late 1940s.
The
Philco show achieved good ratings although the impact of television was
becoming apparent. A switch to Chesterfield in 1949 kept Bing in the forefront
as a radio star, but the medium was undoubtedly starting to lose out to
television as the decade ended.
Although Bing’s
income had indeed been enormous during the 1940s, his net income had not been
well managed by his brother Everett and on his attorney’s recommendation, he
recruited an accountant called Basil Grillo from Arthur Andersen to restructure
his financial situation and find more tax effective ways of earning money.
During the war, the special income tax levied on American citizens to fund war
production and mobilization had taken over 90 percent of Bing’s income and
although tax levels reduced, they were never to return to prewar levels. He
sold his interest in the Del Mar Turf Club and rolled the funds over into a
share of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. His home at Rancho Santa Fe was
sold and he increased the size of his working cattle ranch in Nevada. In 1949,
he raised a large sum of money when changing radio company from ABC to CBS and
he went on to invest lucratively in oil wells.
Bing spent a
considerable amount of his time away from his Holmby Hills home and he and
Dixie were infrequently seen together although the myth of the happy marriage
was maintained. He tried to spend periods with his sons whenever possible and
each summer he took them to his ranch at Elko, Nevada, and then on to a holiday
home at Hayden Lake, Idaho.
After being
suspended during the war, his annual golf tournament was relaunched at Pebble
Beach in 1947.
Commercially the
1940s belonged to Bing but, after the war, it was apparent that the huge
pressures on him from various sources had transformed him into a more
introverted personality and he started to avoid live appearances and social
events. A trip to Vancouver in 1948 brought him back into contact with a large
unruly crowd again and the local press carried a perceptive article, which was
probably fairly close to the truth. The article is reprinted courtesy of The
Vancouver Sun.
Bing
Puzzled Over Mass Hero–Worship
Man
Forced into Limelight Glare Prefers Shadows of Private Life
Bing
loves ‘em individually; but collectively people are perhaps his greatest
problem. His life, say those who know Harry Lillis Crosby, is one long pursuit
to “get away by himself and be natural.”
Semi-retiring,
genuinely friendly, taken aback by crowds, “a man of more depth than most
people give him credit for”—that’s Bing, say his friends. And yet few
personalities on the Canadian-American scene are so surely calculated to draw
crowds wherever they go. That’s Bing’s quandary. The whole show company
traveling with him are well aware of his allergy for crowds, though few admit
it. Hence the public find this company, constantly “running interference” for
him.
Bing,
meanwhile, keeps as few formal appointments as possible, although he is always
punctual when committed, sings and jokes his programs, then runs “to get away
from it all.” Then he is likely to show up a few minutes later at a boys’ club,
or on a sandlot pitching the ball with the kids.
“He
realizes the responsibility grown-ups have to youth. That’s why he’s here,”
said one of his company.
“People
love Crosby. But when they show it in such large numbers he seems actually a
little frightened. Bing likes people too. But he doesn’t like crowds.”
But
crowd conscious or not, he is still the day-to-day quarry of a relentless horde
of idolizing youngsters who want his autograph, wide-eyed women who want to
“just pinch him,” men who tell him they think they have a voice, etc. In
Vancouver, something new has been added. An English inventor traveled all the
way here from the Old Country to see Bing. He wants the crooner to sponsor the
manufacture of a new-type auto trailer. Life’s like that for Bing “a little guy
who likes people, but not crowds.”
(Bill Ryan, The
Vancouver Sun, Wednesday, September 22, 1948)
However, despite
all of his problems, Bing generally managed to continue to maintain his public
image of the easygoing crooner, and as a film star, he was the top box office
performer for a record five years. This, allied to his vast record sales, his
highly-rated radio shows and the constant publicity made him, arguably, still
the most famous man in the world for most of the period.
In 1949, $100 was
equivalent to $721 in the year 2000.
January 2, Wednesday.
John O'Melveny and Everett Crosby join Bing in New York. Bing sends a
telegram to J. Walter Thompson stating that he will not return to the
Kraft program on January 3 as requested. In the early afternoon, he
goes for a brisk walk and meets the Barsa girls (two young fans) and
takes them for a frankfurter at Howard Johnson's.
January 3, Thursday. Kraft
files suit against Bing, as he will not complete his Kraft Music Hall
commitments. The process server hands Bing the summons as he opens the door to
his New York hotel suite. It is revealed that Bing has been receiving $5,000 a
show since 1939.
January 5, Saturday. Bing
attends the opening night of the revival of Show Boat at the Ziegfeld
Theater in New York.
January 7, Monday.
Dixie’s
mother, Nora Matilda Scarbrough Wyatt, dies from a heart attack in
Santa Monica at the age of 63. There is a private service at 2 p.m. at
Pierce Brothers, Beverley Hills on January 10 and she is buried at
the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles the same day.
January 9, Wednesday.
Rumors about Bing's relationship with Joan Caulfield are starting to
circulate and in an effort to calm these, he writes to Hedda Hopper
stating that he and Joan have a very firm friendship and that there is
nothing clandestine about the relationship. However, around this time he
goes to see Archbishop Spellman and tells him of his marital
unhappiness. Spelllman makes it clear that divorce is out of the
question and recommends that Dixie is put into a sanatorium as soon as
possible.
January 12, Saturday. After
indications that the dispute between Bing and Kraft was to be settled amicably,
John Kraft changes his mind and decides to go to court.
Round And ‘Round Kraft
And Crosby
Dispute between Bing Crosby and
Kraft Foods over former’s desire to ease out of his Kraft Music Hall contract
which seemed likely to be settled amicably, last week, after several huddles
between representatives of both principals will now go to court due to a
reported, last minute, change of heart on Saturday (12th) by John Kraft. As a
result, Crosby’s attorneys are now preparing an answer to Kraft’s application
for an injunction.
Kraft
claimed Crosby has reneged on a 1937 contract which it states runs on until
1950. The Groaner, however, maintains that last summer when he gave notice to
quit, he was merely taking advantage of California’s seven-year employee law
which says an employee can’t make a contract beyond seven years. In its
application for injunction, Kraft acknowledges the Crosby statute but maintains
that Crosby was not an employee but an independent contractor. This claim is
based on the fact that Crosby himself picked the four songs which he sang on
the Music Hall program each week. Crosby denies he’s a contractor, pointing out
that he hired no one for the program, merely presented himself and used Kraft
scripts handed to him. He also maintains that his weekly Kraft pay check had US
Withholding Tax deducted from it, proving that he was an employee.
Furthermore,
according to Crosby, Kraft Foods promised that they wouldn’t go to court over
the matter but would sit down and discuss it first. Crosby or his manager
brother, Everett were in constant touch with Kraft or their agency, J. Walter
Thompson. They came East, three weeks ago, after John Kraft, in Chicago, phoned
them to do so, to thrash the matter out, then the injunction application was
filed. Despite this, according to Crosby, the two sides met amicably. Crosby
offered to do two broadcasts while Kraft countered with a request for
twenty-six broadcasts before they would release him. Crosby came up to six,
Kraft replying it would take the six now, with five more guest shots, next
Fall. Crosby countered with an offer to do thirteen broadcasts and two guest
shots, next Fall; whereupon, according to Crosby, Kraft reps asked for thirteen
now and four guest shots in the Fall. This was the situation last Thursday.
On
Friday, after consultation with John Kraft, in Chicago, according to Crosby,
their offer was withdrawn. Kraft reverting to their original for twenty-six
broadcasts, whereupon Crosby decided to go to court.
(Variety, January 16, 1946)
January 14, Monday. The annual
Photoplay Gold Medal Awards formal banquet takes place in the Palm Room of the
Beverly Hills Hotel. Bing has won the Gold Medal for the most popular actor of
1945 as determined by the Gallup Poll of America's moviegoers. As he is still
in New York, his mother accepts the award on his behalf.
January 15, Tuesday. Bing
attends a party at Eddie Condon’s apartment in Washington Square, which goes on
until the early hours.
January 16, Wednesday. (10:00
a.m.) The Eddie Condon band meets to rehearse with Bing at Condon’s apartment
in New York. At 3:15 p.m., Bing arrives at the Decca’s Studio A in New York and
between 3:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., he records three songs with Eddie Condon,
including “After You’ve Gone.” A different pianist is used for each song with
Joe Bushkin accompanying Bing on “Personality.” The latter song enters the Billboard
best-sellers chart for three weeks and peaks at No. 9.
The old studio clock had just struck
3 p.m. Condon’s barefoot-boys-with-shoes-on were on hand but showing visible
signs of strain at the early hour. Decca types hustled—keeping a sharp eye on
the door. At about 3:15 p.m. the Crosby arrived. Stripped of his bright yellow
scarf, tweed coat, and inner-lined battle jacket, he was left naked in a brown
felt hat, bright red checked shirt, brown slacks, and the sort of shoes
ordinarily seen in the Alps at this time of year. Came 3:45, and in rushed
Condon. No taxis, he said.
“Blue
and Broken-Hearted,” the first number to be waxed, didn’t go so well. A large
blue screen-like sound absorber stood between Bing and the boys. Kicking it
aside, he commented: “Got to see if anybody’s alive out there.” Another
run-through or two and, at his question: “Will this be the deathless disk?
Shall we, men?” the side joined history.
“After You’ve Gone,” went rather quickly. Although trouble loomed when Jack
Kapp, president of Decca and Crosby-adviser-extraordinary on record policy,
walked in and asked if “Wild Bill” Davison’s trumpet ought to stay so dirty.
“You go back to the board of directors if you make one more remark,” Crosby
said. “I’ve flown these boys in at great expense. Eddie flew in without a
plane.”
The
clock was falling away from 5 when the group assailed “Personality,” a sock
potential from “Road to Utopia.” Since Dorothy Lamour sings it in the picture,
Bing had never seen the music. But no matter. He smoked his pipe (“the kinda
singing I do, you can’t hurt your voice”), achieved one of his rare grimaces at
what he called Newsweek’s “nostril shots”, and the side was done. Exit the Crosby—fast.
(Newsweek, January 28, 1946)
January 21,
Monday. Bing
records “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Pine Top’s Boogie
Woogie” with
Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra. Hampton subsequently announces that
he will give half of his royalties from the recordings to the Sister
Kenny Foundation in which Bing is heavily involved. Bing goes to see
the New York opening of Nellie
Bly at the Adelphi, Broadway. Marilyn Maxwell has been replaced by Joy
Hodges and the play has been extensively revised. The reviews are again poor
and a “notice to close” is posted after the first week. The show closes after
sixteen performances on February 2. Bing is reported to have lost $50,000 on the production.
On the Sunny Side of the Street
It’s only because of the combination of the Groaner and the Hamp that the side is bound to attract undue attention, both in coin boxes and across the counter at the retail marts. And while Crosby’s chant may not be in the groove, Hampton’s music definitely is. Moreover, the vibe pounding maestro provides some of the lyrical joshing that Crosby fails to deliver. Flipover is a solid eight-beat rider in the classic “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” which features Hampton’s flash knuckling of one or two fingers on the keyboard while Crosby staggers thru a prepared script with stop-and-go boogie woogie exhortations.
(Billboard, June 14, 1947)
NELLIE BLY
Story Synopsis
Frank Jordan, managing editor of the
New York Herald, is excited by the threat of a promotional beat staged
by the New York World. The World assigns a reporter, Nellie Bly,
to circle the globe in an attempt to beat the eighty-day record of Jules Verne.
Jordan of the Herald engages Phineas T. Fogarty, who has been working as
a “stable boy for the Hoboken Ferry,” to race Nellie. To be sure Phineas
doesn’t loaf on the job, Jordan goes along and manages to fall in love with
Miss Bly before the evening is well started.
Review
It is reliably reported that the
musical show, Spring in Brazil, which failed on the road to the tune of
300,000 dollars and was not brought to New York, suffered from so much
rewriting that by the time it reached Chicago the only line remaining from the
original book was properly enough, “Good God, what an awful mess!” The
insistence of the grimly vengeful leading comedian, Milton Berle, is said to
have been responsible for its retention, a compromise having being effected
with the show’s understandably obdurate producer in the elimination of the
qualifying adjective “awful.”
It is
also reliably reported that this Nellie Bly, which was nevertheless
brought into New York and failed to the same 300,000 dollar tune, underwent so
much outside rewriting that the original authors, the Messrs. Ryskind and
Herzig, wrathfully severed all connection with it on the road when the
management declined to permit them to incorporate the line from Spring in
Brazil. Just what the natal shape of the show was, I have no direct
means of knowing, but it may be allowed from first-hand observation that one of
the two dozen or so final troubles with it was that most of the people
connected with it did not seem to know in the least what they were talking
about. . . . Mr. Cantor, co-producer of
the show, who supplied the major portion of the 300,000 dollars wasted on it,
is further said to have been infected to the point of inserting into it divers
additional humors which he esteemed as irresistible novelties and which
amplified Mr. Moore’s notion of sumptuous belly-laughs. As examples of their
unsurpassed novelty may be cited a scene in which Mr. Moore was disguised as a
harem siren and was made love to by an actor who believed that he was a female;
another in which Mr. Moore stuffed his laundry into his bosom and observed that
if he was going to drown in the sea he might as well get it washed free; still
another in which Mr. Moore proclaimed that if he was lying to his female
companion might St. Patrick send down a bolt of lightning and strike him, with
the bolt promptly serving as a blackout; another still in which the desperately
seasick and undone Mr. Moore was told “You give up too easily,” with his
retort, “I’ll say I do!”; another yet in which Mr. Moore, carrying a pail of
beer, was apprised that “It has a head on it” and his inquiry, “Is it anybody I
know?” and such jocosities as “There’s a south south-easter blowing from the
north-west.” . . . Nellie Bly found itself in the unfortunate
predicament of going around the world backwards.
(George Jean Nathan, from The
Theatre Book of the Year, 1945-1946)
January 22, Tuesday. Records
with the Jay Blackton Orchestra in New York including the songs from Nellie
Bly. Bing is in poor voice but his version of “They Say It’s Wonderful”
reaches the Billboard Best-Sellers lists and spends four weeks in the
charts with a peak position of No. 12.
January 24, Thursday. Everett Crosby announces that a settlement has been reached with Kraft Foods Co. following out-of-court negotiations. Bing leaves by train for the West Coast.
Ed Sullivan Speaking
What
persuaded Bing Crosby to drop from the air? Why did he suddenly
decide that he’d do one program a month, instead of one a week? Everybody has
guessed at the reason. Instead of guessing, I asked “The Groaner” how the
litigation with Kraft started.
“It’s
simple, Ed,” said Crosby. “I got the idea as a result of those ‘Command
Performance’ broadcasts we did for the troops overseas. It dawned on me then
that the proper way to do a broadcast was to first play it before a studio
audience, and learn from them what jokes to cut out, what songs to sing. Then
when the thing is letter perfect, put it on a record. If the first record isn’t
top-notch, well — break it, and make another record until you get exactly the
pace you want. You rarely get a perfect studio broadcast to send out over the air.
I think that a recorded program is the answer and correction of all the human
errors that are inevitable in a studio broadcast.”
Before he
left New York and went back to the Coast, Crosby made at least a
dozen records for Decca’s shrewd, able Jack Kapp. . . . Largely, they were
Irish records. One of them you’ll be hearing is “Dear Old Donegal,”
which Bing made with the Jesters and a hot band fronted by Bob
Haggart. This number happens to be Pat O’Brien’s favorite, and Pat sings it at
the drop of a shillalah. So Kapp and Bing determined that at some
point in the lyric, they’d have to work in a reference to their pal, O’Brien.
When you hear the record, as Bing reels off a list of Irish names,
you’ll hear one phrase: “And Pat O’Brien showed up late.”
Just how
many records Crosby has made since he first plattered “I Love You
Truly” and “Just A’Wearyin’ For You” back in 1934 would require a staff of
CPAs. I asked Kapp, instead, what records had won the greatest sales. Out in
front is Bing’s Decca platter of “White Christmas,” which sold 2,500,000 in
this country, plus 500,000 abroad. Second would be “Silent Night,” with a sale
of 2,000,000.
(Ed Sullivan, Modern Screen,
April 1946)
January 25, Friday. Bing tops
the list of nominees for the “Best Actor” Oscar for his role in the film The
Bells of St. Mary’s. The results are to be announced on March 7.
January 28, Monday. Bing arrives back in California on the Santa Fe Super Chief having played gin rummy all the way from Chicago to Pasadena with Spike Jones. On his return, he tells Dixie that unless she stops drinking, he will seek a legal separation and her partial custody of the children will depend on her ability to take care of them properly.
Wearing a screaming
cravat and looking as if he were on the rough end of 30-day diet, Bing Crosby stepped
from the Super Chief into the bright California sunshine at the Santa Fe depot
in Pasadena yesterday morning. Bing, who likes a riot of color in his attire (the
tie would indicate that he has a strong preference for pink), was returning
from a six-weeks’ stay in New York. He arrived at 8:45 a.m., which may have something
to do with his wan appearance. No doubt about it, though, Der Bingle has lost
weight, and it shows up mostly in his face, which is no longer round.
(Bill Bird, Pasadena Independent, January 29, 1946)
…a field day in
(Daily Variety, January 30, 1946)
January 31, Thursday. Bing makes an appeal for contributions for the Sister Kenny Campaign, which is still struggling to reach its $5m target.
February 1, Friday. Bing
attends a meeting with Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett regarding the
forthcoming Emperor Waltz film. Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke are
also present. Wilder indicates that he thought that some of the songs
written for recent Crosby films were weak. A problem arises with the proposed
inclusion of “I Kiss Your Hand, Madame” but eventually agreement is reached.
February 4, Monday. Bing and
Bob Hope are featured on the cover of Life magazine.
February 5, Tuesday.
Bing replies to his friend Father Corkery's letter about the situation
with Dixie. Corkery had also ruled out divorce and suggested that Dixie
had treatment. Bing indicates that he is reluctant to place Dixie into
a sanatorium.
Dear
Frank,
Mother
called me just before I left New York and told me there was some chance your
Los Angeles visit might be extended a day or so. I was hopeful of finding you
here upon my arrival, but I can well appreciate that more important and vital affairs
called you to Spokane.
I’m glad
you took appointments to meet my wife and children, even if the visit had its
unpleasant aspects. She was once a wonderful girl, and basically, is still a
highly moral person. Unfortunately this appetite is a little too strong for her
and has produced a split personality. The history of her case, of course, would
take much more time than I would care to devote to it in a letter, and when you
return in April (as you indicate you intend) I’ll supply the dreary details. I
have no definite plans. This kind of a situation defeats planning. All I really
know is that it’s impossible for me to do the amount of work my responsibilities
require me to do, and abide this kind of a life at home.
I saw
Cardinal Spellman in New York, and he told me the most important thing was to
put her in a sanitarium at once. That the children should not be daily witnesses
to what generally transpires. But she would have to be placed there by force,
and being a very proud person, I am sure would not long survive such a move. Or
if she survived, past experience hardly provides hope that she would be cured.
Since
returning home, I've taken one step. I have told her that unless she improves I
shall have to arrange a legal separation, and her partial custody of the
children will depend on her ability to take care of them properly. This has
frightened her some, and some improvement can be noted. The local newshawks
have long heard the rumblings and smell a story - as a result every step must
be carefully taken, and every precaution employed. I propose
to go along on this line a few weeks and see what develops. I don’t start a
picture for about a month, and am thus able to spend a great deal of time at
home, which is a good thing, even if sometimes unpleasant.
It’s
constantly amazing to me what a tough time these Crosby boys have with their
wives. I guess our mother, by her example, led us to expect too much. I know I
spoiled Dixie for the first eight years of our marriage. She had too much
leisure, too much money, and lacked the background or experience to handle it.
I’ll
look forward to your visit in April.
Your
friend,
Bing
February 7, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show in NBC Studio B in
Hollywood. (6:00–6:30 p.m.) Bing returns to the Kraft Music Hall radio program for thirteen shows
under a compromise to break the contract. Ken Carpenter, the Charioteers, Eddy
Duchin, Frank Morgan, and John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra continue as
regulars on the show. Audience share for the season overall for the Kraft Music
Hall is 17.5 pushing the show down to twentieth position in the ratings. Bing’s
absence for several months had obviously had an impact. The top evening show for
the season is Fibber McGee & Molly with 30.8.
THE
Bing Crosby, a man who walks alone, walked back
into his radio program in characteristic style this week. After months of
arguments and a law suit, Bing came back to his old stand at the Music Hall.
More than the usual number of songpluggers–about 45–were at NBC studios to
press their tunes on him. He walked right through then, tossing a nonchalant
greeting to those he knew.
He sauntered
into studio B, waved a casual “Hi kids” as though he had been gone 15 minutes
and sat down on a stool by his microphone. The rehearsal began and things
looked normal in the Music Hall again. Bing had his regular loud sports shirt
hanging over his slacks and the pencil was tucked under his hat. John Scott
Trotter supplied a downbeat and the world’s most famous voice began to wave its
charm.
(Bob Thomas, Hollywood Citizen News,
February 9, 1946)
Bing Crosby slid back into his old,
Thursday night NBC slot, last week (7th) and once more everything’s as it
should be on Kraft Music Hall. His belated entry into the ’46 programming
sweepstakes automatically provided nighttime radio with a hypo. A half-hour
with El Bingo and it’s easy to understand why his sponsor made a super
production and a federal court case out of his exit threat.
The
Crosby style provides for a final thirteen week, smash semester for the Groaner
on Kraft Music Hall, after which he’s privileged to talk terms with anybody but
latest reports have it, that it is strictly within the realm of possibility
that Crosby will be back again on the Kraft bandwagon, next season with the
sponsor taking a cue from Texaco, willing to toss in a couple of cheese
factories or anything his heart desires which would appear to be to Kraft’s
advantage. Make no mistake about it, Crosby’s still got what it takes. It was
demonstrated, last Thursday, when he moved in on Kraft with a naturalness that
belied the months-old, bitter entanglements. Introduced as a guy just back from
vacation, he bantered and sang his way through the Kraft session with the same
casualness, ease and showmanship that have trademarked his picture-radio
career, in recent years. “Aren’t You Glad You’re You”; “I Can’t Begin To Tell
You”; “Personality” (from the Crosby/Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour Road to Utopia
pic) and “These Foolish Things.” With his knack for keeping the palaver
rolling, here were the sock ingredients for a “boff” Crosby turn. As presently
set up, however, the Kraft showcase is top heavy with talent and not without
its imperfections. For instance, there is Frank Morgan who’s been holding down
the spot since the start of the season; he’s committed to Kraft until June
which takes him right through the thirteen week period with Crosby. It’s
strictly a clash in personalities, there’s a discordant note about his
brashness that isn’t attuned to the Crosby tempo. Fortunately, the
scriptwriters were not over-sensitive in minimizing his contribution. On the
other hand, Eddy Duchin, also a regular on the show, since his recent return to
civvies, blended harmoniously into the stanza. In fact, the Crosby/Duchin
parlay shapes up as a natural, this season, next season, with or without the
Kraft auspices. His pianistics on ‘Where Or When’ and ‘It Might As Well Be
Spring’ was top drawer and complemented the Crosby mood. The Charioteers and
John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra gave an assist that was all in the show’s favor
and Ken Carpenter is still turning over those Kraft commercials, smoothly.
(Variety, February 13, 1946)
February 9, Saturday. Bing is the host for 450 wounded veterans at The Masquers dinner.
February 13, Wednesday. He receives the Picturegoer
Gold Medal Award from David Niven at the Paramount studios. The award by the British magazine Picturegoer is for Bing being voted "Britain's most popular star in 1945".
Bing, at least 20lbs lighter from
the combined effects of arthritis and worry – he has been going through
troubles apart from professional ones, and these are all his own business –
couldn’t take his eyes off the Gold Cup as it rested on the luncheon table
ready for the various guests…He is, however, a buoyant personality and a great
natural wit, and it is all the more regrettable to find him a bit off beam. His
health is improving, however. There is nothing seriously wrong, and everyone
hopes that other conditions around him may soon clear up so that he can feel
his own happy, carefree self again.
February 14, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show in NBC Studio B in
Hollywood. (6:00–6:30 p.m.) Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests
include Les Paul. A song from the rehearsal is issued on V-Disc.
February 19, Tuesday. Press
reports state that Gary Crosby (age twelve) is taking off some weight at Terry
Hunt’s.
February 21, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Frank Morgan and Eddy Duchin are guests.
February 27, Wednesday.
Transcribes a special Command Performance Show for Army Day at the CBS Playhouse on Vine Street with Bob Hope,
Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis and the Andrews Sisters. Harry Von Zell
in the announcer and the show is broadcast on April 6. Elsewhere, Bing’s film Road
to Utopia has its New York premiere at the Paramount and goes on to take
$4.5 million in rental income in its initial release period.
That was a great command
performance for Army Day with Bette Davis, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Frank
Sinatra all on stage ribbing one another at one time. The C.B.S Playhouse on
Vine St. was packed. Others taking part in the big affair were Dinah Shore, who
emceed; Jimmy Durante, who had much fun with big words; Spike Jones, Meredith
Willson, Harry Von Zell, et al. Producer Art Van Horn was receiving plaudits.
(The Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1946)
Not since Charlie Chaplin was prospecting for gold
in a Hollywood-made Alaska many long years ago has so much howling humor been
swirled with so much artificial snow as it is in “Road to Utopia,” which came
to the Paramount yesterday. And not since “Road to Morocco” have Bing (Damon)
Crosby and Bob (Pythias) Hope been so crazily mixed up in madness as they are
in this current vagrancy. For the latest of Paramount’s “Road” shows, in which
the Messrs. Crosby and Hope again have as fellow-traveler the indestructible
Dorothy Lamour, is a blizzard of fractious sport and clowning, a whirlwind of
gags and travesty, a snowdrift of suffocating nonsense—and that is said without
consulting a press book.
There is no point in telling anybody what sort of
humor to expect when the Messrs. Hope and Crosby are turned loose together in a
show. Their style of slugging each other with verbal discourtesies is quite as familiar
as ice cream—at least to the patrons of films. And their can-you-top-this vein
of jesting runs straight through our national attitude. The only difference, in
this case, is that their style seems more refined, their timing a little more
expert, their insults a little more acute. Bing and Bob have apparently been
needling each other for so long that they naturally stitch along a pattern
which shapes the personalities of both.
And the personalities of the rascals—Bing the
debonair blade and Bob the bumbling show-off—are fully defined in this tale of
a couple of vaudeville grifters caught in a race for an Alaskan gold mine. Mr.
Hope is the chicken-hearted partner who wants to go back to New York; Mr.
Crosby is the adventurer who wants to woo fortune in the mining camps. And
that’s why (despite Bob’s demurrers) they find themselves in roaring Skagway,
holding a secret map to a gold mine which is really Miss Lamour’s by rights,
mistaken for two desperadoes and caught blindly between two villainous gangs.
Out of this lurid situation the Messrs. Crosby and
Hope—with the help of the boys at Paramount—have ripped a titanic burlesque of
brawny adventure pictures and of movies in general, indeed. A “Road” show is
always an occasion for the cut-ups to have a marvelous time and in this case
the comic inventors (stars and writers and director) ran wild. The late Robert
Benchley is employed as a sort of commentator on the film, who pops in the
frame at odd moments to give a goofy explanation of the cinema craft. Actors
from other pictures walk across the sets and the Messrs. Hope and Crosby
several times address the audience. And, of course, the whole nature of the
action is in the grand style of ha-ha ridicule.
But where this sort of clowning might be juvenile
and monotonous in other hands it has rich comic quality in the smooth paws of
the gentlemen involved. To catalogue gags is boring, so we reluctantly won’t do
so—other than to say the flow of same in this picture is abundant and
sustaining to the end. Also the boys manage neatly to clean up a few poolroom
jokes which have a particular subtlety, at least for the wise guys in the back.
Several songs are also brought into the picture by the Messrs. Crosby and Hope
and Miss Lamour in one or another combination, all of them handled pleasantly.
We understand this picture was made a few years
ago and is just now released. The reason? They were waiting till the
laugh-ceiling was off. Now look out for inflation. It will skyrocket laughter
throughout the land.
(Bosley Crowther, New York Times, February 28, 1946)
The highly successful
Crosby-Hope-Lamour “Road” series under the Paramount banner comes to attention
once again in “Road to Utopia,” a zany laugh-getter which digresses somewhat
from pattern by gently kidding the picture business and throwing in unique
little touches, all with a view to tickling the risibilities. Very big
boxoffice results assured . . .
Though this one is rich in laughs and fast, the songs turned out for it are not
of heavy caliber. Crosby and Hope’s “Put It There Pal” is on the novelty side
and cute. Crosby single, “Welcome to My Dreams” and Miss Lamour’s number in a
saloon setting, “My Personality” is nothing to get excited over. Quite good,
however, is her “Would You.”
(Variety, December 5, 1945)
Gorgeous fun is provided by the
famous two of the former “Road” films. This one takes them to the frozen wastes
of Alaska, and is told in a flashback as the film opens with Bob Hope and
Dorothy Lamour an old married couple enjoying a visit from dashing old bachelor
Bing Crosby. Bob and Bing are entertainers who have to make a quick exit from
the port where they are performing, and pose as a pair of tough bad men, with
plenty of trouble resulting from their theft of a map. It is packed with bright
lines, comic situations, and unexpected laughs. Don’t miss it.
(Picture Show, December 29,
1945)
Mel Frank was responsible for a “Utopia” line which became a movie classic. In ‘Road to Utopia’, Hope and Crosby have to act tough to impress the local bad guys. They saunter up to a bar in the mining town, and the local heavy asks, “What’ll you have?”
“Oh, a couple of fingers of rotgut,” growls Crosby.
“What’s yours?” asks Douglas Dumbrille.
“I’ll take a
lemonade,” squeaks Hope in a high pitched voice before responding to a nudge by
(Randall G. Mielke, Road to Box Office)
February 28, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Martha Tilton and
Jerry Colonna. A song from the rehearsal is issued on V-Disc.
March 7, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Lina Romay. Later,
having been nominated again for the Oscar as “Best Actor” for The Bells of
St. Mary’s, Bing loses out to Ray Milland (for his performance in The
Lost Weekend) at the Academy Awards ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The
Bells of St. Mary’s has also been nominated as “Best Picture” but The
Lost Weekend is the winner. Similarly, Leo McCarey, who had been nominated
for “Best Director” for The Bells of St. Mary’s, loses to Billy Wilder
for The Lost Weekend. Ingrid Bergman is nominated as “Best Actress” for The
Bells of St. Mary’s but she is beaten by Joan Crawford for Mildred
Pierce. Robert Emmett Dolan’s nomination for “Best Scoring of a Dramatic or
Comedy Picture” is unsuccessful too as Miklos Rozsa wins for Spellbound.
Two of Bing’s songs (“Ac-cent-chu-ate the Positive” and “Aren’t You Glad You’re
You”) are nominated as “Best Film Song” of 1945, but the winner is “It Might As
Well Be Spring” from State Fair. Bing is supposed to sing his two songs
at the ceremony but he pulls out at the last moment.
March 8, Friday. The Crosby Investment Corporation
obtains a court injunction against Bing's brother Ted claiming that he had failed to live up to a contract agreement.
BING ENJOINS HIS BROTHER FROM SELLING STOCK
Washington, March 10. - Bing Crosby got a
temporary injunction in Federal District Court here Friday to prevent his
brother Ted from selling 100 shares of stock in Bing’s Del Mar Turf Club
(Daily Variety, March 11, 1946)
March 9, Saturday. Bing is
at Santa Anita to see War Knight win the Santa Anita Handicap in a
photo-finish.
March 10, Sunday. Starting at 1 p.m., Bing and Bob Hope tee off on the new Long Beach Naval Hospital
pitch and putt course. Jerry Colonna and Tony Romano are also in the foursome
whilst Frances Langford keeps the score. Bing has a 28, Hope a 29. A crowd of 3,000 watches the event.
March 13, Wednesday.
Ted Crosby says that he has been damaged to the extent of $10,000 by
the suit brought against him by the Crosby Investment Corporation. He
states that it is "an unfortunate family affair which has no place in
court."
March (undated). Has dinner with the Russell Havenstrites at the Beverly Hills Club.
March 14, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Frank Morgan guests. A song from the rehearsal is issued
on V-Disc.
March 16, Friday. Has tickets to hear soprano Marjorie Lawrence sing at the Philharmonic Auditorium but it is not known whether he actually attended.
March–May. Films Welcome Stranger with Barry Fitzgerald and Joan Caulfield. The director is Elliot Nugent. Robert Emmett Dolan handles the musical score and Joseph J. Lilley looks after the vocal arrangements. Location shots are filmed at Munz Lakes in the northern Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County.
March 21, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Cully Richards and
the Slim Gaillard Trio. A song from the rehearsal is issued on V-Disc.
“I would stand in line only to see Bing
Crosby,” an out-of-town woman back of us was overheard to say as we waited for
NBC’s Studio B’s doors to open for Music Hall. I wonder if she thought the same
after the miserable performance he gave. Crosby didn’t seem to be putting
anything into his songs–not even good tonal quality at times. He should keep
two things in mind–the debt he owes the public for its loyalty and the fact
that one comes down hill much faster than one goes up. The perfect spot on
Music Hall was the song by the Charioteers. Eddy Duchin’s piano playing was
smooth, the comedy, mediocre. The Slim Gaillard Trio probably was more
interesting to see in action than it was to hear over the air. Its number was
novel, at any rate. There was a lack of warmth, a feeling of something being
missing from the Music Hall.
(Zuma Palmer, Hollywood Citizen News,
March 25, 1946)
March 22, Friday. (6:00–9:00
p.m.) Bing records "Oh, But I Do" and "A Gal in Calico" in Hollywood with John Scott Trotter and his
Orchestra but both songs are unsatisfactory and are not issued.
March 28, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Georgia Gibbs.
March 29, Friday.
The first day of the first peacetime baseball season for five years. Lieutenant Gov. Fred Houser was
supposed to waft the first pitch to Bing at Gilmore Field but bad weather prevents it
and it is rearranged for the next day.
March 30, Saturday. Starting at 8:15 p.m., Lieutenant Gov. Houser duly makes the first pitch to Bing. Later, Bing
and Dixie attend a party at the Clover Club on Hollywood Boulevard, which is
hosted by Cary Grant, James Stewart, Eddy Duchin and John MacClain.
The four hosts,
all dressed in tails, formed a receiving line. Mike Romanoff’s food ranged from
green turtle soup to oysters, crab, shrimp, trout, chicken, stuffed turkey,
roast ribs of beef, ham, coq au vin, boned squab, vegetables and salads, and
numerous desserts. At five in the morning, 250 guests were still there, sitting
on the floor and listening to Bing Crosby sing every song he ever knew, to the
accompaniment of Hoagy Carmichael.
(Peter Duchin, writing in his book, A Ghost of a Chance)
The last to go
home at eight a.m. were Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien. Eloise, Pat’s wife, couldn’t come to
the party because of the expected baby — and when Pat saw what time it was, he
insisted that Bing come home with him.
(Modern Screen, July 1946)
March 31, Sunday. Bing and Leo McCarey help out at the Garden Charity Bazaar given by Mrs. Bob Hope for Immaculate Heart College. They are put in charge of the religious booth
April 4, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Georgia Gibbs.
During the day, Bing and other stars send a telegram to Washington objecting to
a new bill intended to curb the activities of James C. Petrillo, president of
the American Federation of Musicians. They felt that it covered too much other
ground and would restrict the labor rights of all radio workers.
April 6,
Saturday. Dixie is
reported to be in hospital with the flu. Earlier press reports had
suggested that she was entering hospital for a major operation.
April 7, Sunday. Attends a garden fair and buffet supper at Bob Hope's home for the benefit of destitute children.
April 11, Thursday. (11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.) Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Marilyn Maxwell and the Les Paul Trio.
It’s now Prof.
Trotter, if you please. Music Hall’s plump and affable conductor is now
instructing a weekly class in radio orchestration at University of Southern
California. But he won’t let the dignity of his new title prevent his joining
Bing Crosby and Eddy Duchin in warm welcome to Marilyn Maxwell when the songstress
goes visiting at 9 p.m.
(The Miami Herald, 11th April, 1946)
April (undated). Bing
and Barry Fitzgerald are photographed receiving smallpox vaccinations
following reports of increasing cases of the disease in Hollywood.
April 15, Monday. Filming of
Abie’s Irish Rose commences. This is the second film made by Bing Crosby
Productions and it stars Joanne Dru and Richard Norris. Edward Sutherland is
the director and John Scott Trotter is in charge of the music. Everett Crosby
has not put proper financing in place for the film and at the outset, they
cannot meet the payroll costs. Faced with this crisis, Bing hires Basil Grillo
to run Bing Crosby Productions. Grillo subsequently reorganizes all the Crosby
business activities and Bing Crosby Enterprises is formed. Everett Crosby’s
influence on his brother’s business matters recedes.
Everett was just about persona
non-grata over the “Abie’s Irish Rose” fiasco but he took Grillo to Paramount
and faced his brother down, the last of many significant things he did for Bing
Crosby.
The two
argued heatedly, during a break in filming, and enough of the conversation was
audible for Grillo to realize Crosby regarded him as merely the latest in a
long line of “geniuses” supposed to “fix everything.” As Grillo remembered the
scene, Crosby seemed abruptly to give in. He walked off the set and over to
where Grillo stood, extending his hand and offering an apology for the broken
appointments.
“He turned
on that friggin’ Irish charm and I was his forever,” Grillo said. The brief
meeting began a 30-year relationship and when it was over, Grillo would
describe Crosby as:
“The
finest human being I have ever known.”
“Abie’s Irish Rose” became Grillo’s first priority. Crosby was worried about
the situation finding its way into the newspapers and asked him to talk with
Sutherland whom he had known since his days at the Cocoanut Grove. Sutherland
also had directed him in “Mississippi” in 1935. The director agreed to proceed
without pay until financing could be put in place. Grillo then made the same
plea to Joanne Dru who also agreed. He telephoned the news to The Singer,
pointing out Sutherland and Dru’s cooperation did no more than win a little
time. He suggested the simplest solution might be for Crosby to personally
finance the picture. Crosby exploded and banged the phone in his ear.
Ultimately,
Grillo was able to negotiate a loan for $370,000 from Society First National
Bank of Los Angeles and the film about a Jewish boy and a Catholic girl was
released amid mild controversy in 1946.
(Norman Wolfe, Troubadour: Bing
Crosby and the Birth of Pop Singing)
April 17, Wednesday. Completes the sale of his 35 percent interest in the Del Mar track for a reported $481,000 and soon sells the home at Rancho Santa Fe and his stables. His brother Ted sues him over the Del Mar sale. Elsewhere,
April 18, Thursday.
(11:00–2:00, 4:30–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Trudy Erwin and the
Kraft Choral Club.
Well, Crosby’s back and Kraft has
got him--at least until May. After getting off to a somewhat dispirited start,
Bing has swung back into his free and easy method of entertaining, with
informality the keynote. He heckles the orchestra, the announcer, the guests,
and even makes fun of himself with well-timed ad libs that require more than
casual listening to catch all of the fun that goes on. His singing on the air
has improved since his vacation, even as it has on records; his backing from
John Scott Trotter and band isn’t as good as the Haggart, Heywood, etc. he’s
had on records, but he sounds as though he’s enjoying it and that produces fine
Crosby singing.
Regulars are the Charioteers who sing spirituals inoffensively, Eddy Duchin who
makes with a bit of comedy and some strictly unhep piano solos, Ken Carpenter
who plays straight man to Bing plus doing the commercials (accompanied by
remarks from Bing), and the fancy work of Les Paul, who occasionally rounds up
his trio for some really find plucking.
It’s
too bad if Bing is unhappy, as rumours riot, about a live show; it doesn’t seem
as though this spontaneity could be carried into a transcription studio and
come out equally merry. It’s anybody’s guess as to Bing’s sponsor for next
fall, but with Crosby at his best it should be mellow stuff.
(Metronome, May 1946)
April 20, Saturday. Decca has issued a 6-disc 78rpm album set by Bing called Don't Fence Me In and it reaches the No. 2 spot in Billboard's best-selling popular albums chart on this day.
April 21, Easter Sunday. Dixie Lee and
her four sons are in Carson City, Nevada during the morning on their way to Bing’s Elko
ranch. Mrs. Crosby and the quartet of hearty youngsters had breakfast at the
Senator and did some shopping. (12:00 noon–1:00 p.m.) Bing is on Can You Tie That, a radio program over station
The occasion was a
clothing drive for Catholic Charities, and the seven tons collected just about
measure up to the amount of hilarity served up on the discs. Hope and Crosby
jitterbugged their way through the first record played, Les Brown's "Good
Blues Tonight," and each gave it 95. Ella Logan judged it at 67, and Dave
Dexter granted it a tepid 59. At this announcement, Hope and Crosby got up to
leave. "You can tell we're from the country," commented Bob sadly.
Second record played was "Who's Sorry Now?" by a singer named Bing
Crosby. Crosby leaned back and listened in rapt attention with occasional
murmurings of "Beautiful—beautiful. Turn it up." Hope's first comment
was, "Well, I don't follow the singers much!" But he thought it was
nice that Eddie Heywood let his father sing with the band. "After careful
consideration, I give it six and one half points!" he decided. From singer
Shirley Ross, Jarvis borrowed an old record on which she and Hope shared the
vocal, "Two Sleepy People" (now scheduled for release). A stunned
Hope recovered to find that on nostalgia value alone even hard-to-get Dexter
had given him a satisfactory score. One of the highlights of the show was the
presentation to Crosby of a gigantic picture of Frank Sinatra. Bing countered
by giving Bob an even greater enlargement of Red Skelton. Jarvis admits that
throughout the program, the boys kept him laughing so hard that he forgot about
emceeing. "It should have been television," he sighed. "I've
never had so much fun in all my life!"
(Joan Buchanan, Radio Life, June 23, 1946, pages 7-8)
April 22, Monday. Bing attends Bob Murphy’s annual Sportsmen’s dinner with his brother Larry, Bob Hope and Joe E. Brown.
April 24, Wednesday. Bing is
part of a syndicate that files an application for a 1946–47 franchise in the
National Hockey League.
April 25, Thursday. Does not
appear on the Kraft Music Hall broadcast and is said to have gone to San
Francisco for a benefit performance. Frank Morgan deputizes for him. The book Bing
by his brothers Ted and Larry, which was originally published in 1937, is
brought up-to-date and republished as The Story of Bing Crosby
with a
foreword by Bob Hope. Ted Crosby is now shown as sole author. It sells
24,936 copies in the six months after publication, producing $450 in
royalties on top of a $2,000 advance.
May 2, Thursday.
(10:00–2:00, 3:30–5:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing returns to the Kraft Music Hall show on NBC. Guests include Joe
Frisco and Peggy Lee.
Bing Crosby, celebrating his
birthday on the Kraft Music Hall over NBC on Thursday night (2nd), came up with
one of the most hilarious shows in the soon to be concluded series. Evidently,
ad-libbing most of the way, Crosby broke up the show several times with aside
remarks to the studio audience and his guest stars, Peggy Lee and Joe Frisco.
The hilarity was topped during the last five minutes when Bob Hope appeared
unexpectedly with Bing’s birthday cake and the two let go with some unmatched
witticisms. Sore spot to some listeners occurred however, when the crooner went
off the deep end with a gag line to Eddy Duchin—“Fan your fanny over to the
pianny and waft some music this way.” It might have been better if Crosby,
heretofore, lauded for the cleanness of his shows and for “priest” roles he’s
portrayed in pictures had remembered that some parents object to their kids
listening to such stuff on the radio.
(Variety, May 8, 1946)
Selling records was only half of the equation for a popular singer in
Peggy Lee’s early
days. In postwar America, it was radio
that dictated the success of
records. No artist could be declared
major until she or
he appeared on a network
radio show. And no one had a network
radio show to rival
the Kraft Music Hall.
On May 12,
1946, (sic) Peggy Lee took to the NBC airwaves and sang “I Don’t Know Enough About You,” not only
for an immense audience—a few years earlier, the Kraft
show had boasted a staggering fifty million listeners—but
for the show’s host, the most beloved performer in the history of
American popular culture.
When
Peggy stepped in front of the microphone that night, it was
with the introduction and imprimatur
of Bing Crosby, the reigning
god of song. It was the first
of some fifty appearances she would make on
Crosby’s shows over the next decade, a time during which
Crosby would become a close
friend and ally. Crosby’s love for
Peggy Lee’s music,
and for Peggy
Lee the woman, was perhaps the single most important factor in the blossoming of her career—and how could it have been otherwise? As an artist, she was following a trail into pop-jazz that no woman had trod, but that Bing Crosby had not only discovered,
but mapped. It
was with Bing
Crosby’s sensibilities that Peggy Lee truly identified, on every band of the
spectrum.
(Fever – The Life
and Music of Miss Peggy Lee, pages 146-7)
Bing was always so protective and so
sensitive during my early days of nerves and self-consciousness. Just before
air time on one of my first Kraft programs, he found me standing rigid outside
the studio at NBC and asked me what he could do to help. I managed to say,
“When you introduce me, would you please not leave me out there on the stage
alone? Would you stand where I can see your feet?” From then on he always
casually leant on a speaker or piano to give me the support I needed to learn
about being at ease on stage.
You have to love a man like
that. He offered everything—money, cars, his own blood, and even volunteered to
babysit with our little daughter, Nicki, while David was so sick in hospital.
(Miss Peggy Lee—An Autobiography,
pages 105–106)
May 7, Tuesday.
(6:15–8:50 p.m.) Records four songs with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra
in Hollywood, including “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and “A Gal in Calico”.
The latter song reaches the No. 8 position in the Billboard Best-Seller lists,
spending six weeks in the charts.
A GAL IN CALICO. Bing Crosby, with the Calico Kids and John Scott
Trailer’s Orchestra Decca 23739. A bright and breezy rhythm ditty from the
movie “The Time, the Place and the Girl,” contagion is added to the chant in
the dittying design of Der Bingle who sings it free and easy, with vocal
assist from the Calico Kids to heighten the appeal of the spin. Flipover is
also from the same screen score, with Crosby chanting it alone and with
persuasion from the slow ballad “Oh, But I Do.”
(Billboard, December 7, 1946)
May 9, Thursday.
(10:00–2:30, 3:30–5:00 p.m.) Rehearses for his Kraft show. (6:00–6:30 p.m.)
Bing’s final broadcast as host on the Kraft Music Hall. The guests are
Dorothy Claire and Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
The
last airing (May 9) was a surprisingly subdued, if not to say mild, offering.
No fanfares, no frills, no balloons going up, no bells. After all those
hundreds of others, the listener might have expected something more appropriate
than (Ken): “Well, Bing, this is getaway night on the old Kraft Music Hall”:
(Bing): “That’s what it is, Ken.”
A bit
later, Duchin tells Bing, “I want to wish you a happy
vacation and - no kidding - thanks for everything.” At the moment before the
close, Bing speaks directly to his audience. “I want to thank you all from the
bottom of my heart for your tolerance and loyalty for this show.” This time,
the applause runs on and on, then under Ken’s sign-off. Trotter’s orchestra
carries all of it into yesterday with a few bars of the swing arrangement of
HAIL KMH!
(Vernon Wesley Taylor, Hail KMH! The
Crosby Voice, February 1986)
May 10, Friday. (5:00–9:00 p.m.) Records “Route 66” and “South America Take It Away” with the Andrews Sisters and Vic Schoen and his Orchestra.
May 15, Wednesday.
(6:00–9:30 p.m.) Records “Pretending” and “Gotta Get Me Somebody to Love” with
Les Paul and his Trio.
It is a sad, thankless, and sometimes presumptuous task to have to report that a champion has slipped up. If the champ happens to be a great one—personally as well as professionally—the task becomes inordinately difficult.
Bing Crosby has become that kind of champ. He has been the non-pareil, the unprocessed cheese kid. From the days of “Just One More Chance,” down through the abundantly talented years, he has been wonderful, with a special kind of purity in his appeal. Of late, though, his seeming disinterest has become more and more apparent, until now it can no longer be ignored.
In the entertainment business, though, you think twice before you criticize an idol, for if it is kind of amusing to say that so-and-so has a clothespin on his nose, it is almost lese majeste to suggest that a Crosby is not what he used to be. But be that as it may, the evidence is too stark. The Groaner, although his manner still has that incomparable kind of relaxation, no longer imparts the verve, the dash of his early disking, and if you think otherwise, listen to his newest releases.
Crosby’s “Pretending” and “Gotta Get Me Somebody to Love” (Decca 23661)
are so inferior that you are apt to mistrust your own judgment when you hear
them for the first time. You are apt to suspect that something is wrong with
your phonograph. But you find out it isn’t your phonograph at all. Bing
is accompanied by Les Paul and his trio (an effective background) and the faces
should have been good. Five years ago, they might have been magnificent.
Both tunes (“Gotta Get Me” is from Duel in the Sun) are the lazy sort of
thing which Bing used to do better than anyone else. But he sings them so
indifferently that you cannot ignore the gloomy conclusion that Bing has
slipped. Sinatra, Haymes, Como, Buddy Clark and a few others are cutting him.
If it sounds unduly harsh on him to say this, it would be harsher on the others
to keep it quiet.
(George Frazier, Variety, October 2, 1946)
…Sheer routine are Pretending
and Gotta
get me somebody to love from the film "Duel in the Sun". (03800).
(The Gramophone,
December 1947)
Bing Crosby Named in Composer’s Suit
on Song “Pretending”
Don A. Marion, composer, today asked for return
of the song “Pretending,” claiming it had earned $250,000 since it was
illegally appropriated by two other song writers. Mario’s suit for an
accounting and an injunction, filed yesterday, also naming Bing Crosby and Andy
Russell, Kate Smith and recording and radio companies for singing and selling
the song without his permission. He said the song he composed in 1930 was
stolen from him by Al Sherman, listed on the published version as composer of
the melody, and Al Synes, credited with writing the lyrics.
(Hollywood Citizen News, January 7,
1947)
May 17, Friday. The Woman’s Home Companion poll names Bing as the leading male film star. He is similarly named for the next four years. Meanwhile, Bing finishes prerecording songs for The Emperor Waltz.
May 17…The morning was devoted to sets. Lunched at the commissary and went to the sound stage where Bing recorded “The Kiss in Your Eyes” magnificently. He made eleven takes of it, which is unusual for him. Usually he gets a song in three…
(From the diaries of Charles Brackett, as reproduced in It’s the Pictures That Got Small, page 289)
May 21, Tuesday.
Bing had planned to stay with Spike Spackman in Ketchum, Idaho for the
opening day of the fishing season on the Wood River but he is held up
in Hollywood by business and says he will not be able to get to Idaho
until June 1. Dixie and Mr. & Mrs. Eacret have been staying with
Mr. Spackman and they return to Elko.
May 31, Friday. Joan Fontaine and Roland Culver arrive at Jasper Park to join the crew filming The Emperor Waltz. Bing is still on holiday.
June 1, Saturday. Decca has issued a 4-disc 78rpm album set called Bing Crosby - Stephen Foster and Billboard reviews it on this day.
It was expected that sooner or later Bing Crosby would make an album of Stephen Foster tunes. Crosby does full justice to the popular composer’s music.
June 3,
Monday. Bing is at Hugh Bradford’s Alturas Lake Ranch at Hailey, Idaho and
he writes to Bill Morrow.
Dear Bill,
We leave here today for Spokane and
then on up to the location at Jasper Park. Had a great time here with Spike
& Dolly, the Eacrets, Ralph Smith and Vic Hunter. Quite a bit of ad-lib
drinking went on and yesterday, by noon, Spike was leaning back quite a bit. We
caught 80 red-fish yesterday morning and spent the afternoon dredging the
bottom with some choice ??? trying to shake up a big one, but no luck. Too
early I guess. I hope your plans have developed so you can come up to Nevada
and on up here about mid-June. Johnny has several places cased for you and the
Wild Horse Dam and the lake fishing will be available. Just phone or wire him
at Tuscarora where and when to meet you.
I
should hear something from Kapp by the time I reach Jasper and I hope, for the
benefit of all concerned, it is something favorable. If not we can apply some
pressure in the rite spot. The General Motors transcribed show is very hot rite
now for about September opening. I propose the following lineup.
Glen Wheaton - Producer
Bill Morrow - Writer
Trotter - Band & choir
Les Paul - guitar accompaniment,
occasional specialties.
Skitch Henderson - Piano solo and
accompaniment.
Charioteers, Specialties,
accompanist Peggy Lee, or some ?? with a similar delivery.
Crosby
This
will be a package arrangement with possibly first four shows live and maybe one
or two others during the year, at our option. It should be an easy show for you
to write - with Wheaton doing documentary material - and such guests as we use,
being of a type suitable for humor.
Jack
tells me he is going to Mammoth on the 15th., so you got yourself a nice
parley, Mammoth to Nevada to Sun Valley. I’ll see you probably around July 1st
and we can discuss the foregoing at that time.
Take
care of all the local grummet (?) in my absence.
Bing
June 4, Tuesday. Bing arrives in Spokane by car from Sun Valley, Idaho and complains about the poor road conditions, having had four tire blowouts. He then calls in at the Athletic Round Table before playing a friendly game of golf at the Country Club with Roy Moe (local pro), Bud Ward, and Vic Hunter (a Hollywood advertising executive who is traveling with Bing). Subsequently, Bing is persuaded by the Athletic Round Table to stay on and play in a benefit golf match with Bob Hope later in the week, as Hope will be putting on a show in the Gonzaga stadium on Thursday.
June 5, Wednesday. Bob
Hope flies into Spokane during the evening and gets together with Bing
straightaway. They go into the Desert Hotel and entertain the Athletic Round
Table before Bob leaves to rehearse his show planned for the next night.
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby nearly put
the Athletic Round Table out of business last night—or at least they tried.
The
famed twosome showed up at the Desert Hotel club unexpectedly about 9, donned
waiters’ uniforms and went to work behind the bar.
“Anybody want a drink?” yelled Hope.
And
customers immediately swamped the bar. Crosby and Hope promptly started handing
away the club’s bottled goods—until the stock, at least all that was handy, was
exhausted. The two then took off the jackets, autographed anything from blank
checks to membership cards, and left.
(Spokane Daily Chronicle,
June 6, 1946)
June 6, Thursday. Bing
calls in at Gonzaga University and at the Athletic Round Table, he joins in
briefly with the Gonzaga Quartet who are rehearsing. At noon, Bing is the guest
at a Gonzaga High School class of 1920 reunion at the Spokane Hotel. Starting
at 1:00 p.m., Bing and Bud Ward play Bob Hope and Neil Christian (the local
professional) at the Downriver golf course, Spokane, before a crowd of 2,500.
The match, which is designed to raise money for the
June 7, Friday. Bing lands a 16lb Rainbow trout while fishing at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho with Vic Hunter and then leaves for Jasper Park, Alberta.
June 8, Saturday (evening). Arrives in Jasper Park over the
Banff-Jasper highway to film The Emperor Waltz with Joan Fontaine,
Roland Culver, and Richard Haydn. The director is Billy Wilder with Victor
Young in charge of the musical score and Joseph J. Lilley handling the vocal
arrangements. Young is subsequently nominated for an Oscar for “Best Scoring of
a Musical Picture” in 1948 but loses to Brian Easdale for The Red Shoes.
Bing is paid $125,000 for the picture. The location scenes are filmed at Jasper
Park in five weeks during May / June. The weather is often too poor for filming
and this gives Bing the opportunity to play plenty of golf on the Jasper Park
Lodge course. In addition, he fishes at Maligne Lake during the period in
question. Bing stays in the cabin called Squirrel’s Cage at the Jasper Park
Lodge during the filming. The studio work is completed in Hollywood by
September 20, with Bing working until 1:00 a.m. some nights because of a
threatened studio shutdown. The movie costs $4 million, some $1.2 million over
budget. Because of a backlog at the studio, the film is not released until May
1948.
“I did The Emperor Waltz
after coming back from the war, from Germany, where I was stationed in
Frankfurt…It came out in ’48. We held it back as long as we could. We shot it
in 1946, because I know that we were in the Canadian Alps, where I shot a lot
of stuff, and we were celebrating my fortieth birthday. And I had made two grim
pictures, Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend…It came out of a
bravado gesture that I made in a meeting of the front office. They did not have
a good picture for Bing Crosby. And I just said, “Why don’t we just make a
musical?”
“But it was not really a musical, because a musical is a thing
where people, instead of talking, they sing to each other. The songs are plot
scenes, and they sing. And I started fumbling around there for a plot, and that
was kind of it, well, the dog, and it was just kind of ach. We had to go
to Canada with that thing, for the Alpines. It was supposed to pass as the
Austrian Alps, except there were many villages in the Austrian Alps. In Canada,
there was just snow. And we were not very happy with Joan Fontaine, she didn’t
have the part. We had nothing. I was just kind of improvising there. The less
time you consume in analyzing The Emperor Waltz, you know, the better.
There’s nothing to explain, there’s nothing to read into that thing. The
picture was just…nothing. We were doing kind of little tricks that a good
magician would have maybe been able to get something more out of than I did. I
just had come back from Germany, from the war, from the job that I was doing
there. And I was in the mood kind of to do something gay, and when they brought
up Crosby. I jumped in with this idea…it was a favor for Paramount. No good
deed goes unpunished.”
Crowe assesses The Emperor Waltz. “The movie is
fascinating today, almost riveting, in how aggressively un-Wilder it is. For
that reason, it stands alone and apart from all his other work. And still there
is a jewel: Crosby’s musical number, “The Kiss in Your Eyes.””
(Billy
Wilder, speaking to Cameron Crowe, Conversations with Wilder)
In the book, Nobody’s
Perfect: Billy Wilder: A Personal Biography, Joan Fontaine is quoted as saying:
“Crosby wasn’t very courteous to me. I remember he
didn’t stand up when we were introduced. I thought “Poor Dorothy Lamour!”
This man didn’t have respect. Maybe he treated her better. There was never the
usual costar rapport. I never enjoyed his songs after working with him. I was a
star at that time, but he treated me like he’d never heard of me. I should have
brought my sarong. Crosby’s personality was what you might have expected from
the Emperor Francis Joseph. He was the Emperor of Paramount. Bing Crosby
had the power over Billy Wilder. Paramount would certainly have replaced Mr.
Wilder, and Mr. Brackett, too, any day if Crosby had wanted it. It wasn’t
that he had anything against Mr. Wilder. He just didn’t pay much attention to
him. He told me once that he had some trouble understanding his funny
accent…Crosby was directing himself, and he had writers working on what he
said, and sometimes he didn’t pay any attention to the Wilder - Brackett words,
or even the words of his own writers. He said it as he felt it at
the moment.”
…“Bing Crosby operated for himself, not for the
group or the film,” Wilder said. “He was a big star, the biggest, and he
thought he knew what was good for him. He did. He sensed what his audience
expected and he knew how to deliver that. The picture didn’t come out what I
wanted, but that wasn’t Crosby’s fault. It was mine.”
(Nobody’s Perfect: Billy Wilder: A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler pp. 134-135)
My job involves breaking the scripts down into wardrobe
changes, having artists make sketches of the clothes, and then submitting said
sketches to Bing, who usually looks them over, then stamps his okay on them,
which is his fingerprint.
However, it took some fast-selling before he
fingerprinted one of them for “The Emperor Waltz.” In this picture, Bing
portrays a salesman who has a phonograph concession in Austria and spends most
of the film contriving to sell the Emperor one. In so doing, Bing falls for a
Countess, Joan Fontaine. In the big “Yodel” number, Bing has to wear a
yodelling outfit highlighted by some loud green leather shorts.
Bing took one look at the Tyrolean trousers and almost
reneged. “Say . . . this material shortage situation must be getting pretty
serious,” he observed. He wanted them lowered a little below the knees. No
self-respecting phonograph salesman would pursue a Countess in an ensemble like
that, he said. But he finally fingerprinted them in.
(Mickey Cohen, Photoplay,
September 1946).
June 9, Sunday. Bing plays on the Jasper Park Lodge golf course.
June 15, Saturday. At a colorful ceremony on the veranda of Jasper Park Lodge, Bing is made an honorary member of the Edmonton Highland Games Association, one of the largest Scottish organizations in Canada.
June 17, Monday. Bing is at the practice tee at the Jasper Park Lodge course when he is interrupted by eight-year-old Linda Wightman, the daughter of the local bakery owner, and presented with a picture of two bears taking a bath in Lac Beauvert. That evening Bing calls at the girl’s home and chats with the family, leaving a parcel for Linda containing a large picture of himself, which is inscribed “With love to my little pal, Linda, from Bing Crosby.”
June 24, Monday. The tired old bus carrying the Spokane Indians
baseball club across Snoqualmie Pass around 8 p.m. on a rain-slickened highway
in Western Washington crashes and nine players are killed.
June 30, Sunday. The crew
filming The Emperor Waltz leaves Jasper Park to return to Hollywood. Bing calls in for lunch at Lake Louise lodge for lunch on his way south.
July 1, Monday. Bing arrives in Spokane. Says that the bad weather in Jasper meant that they
only shot on six days. Golfs with Bud Ward and Curly Hueston at Indian
Canyon.
July 2, Tuesday. Still in Spokane, Bing purchases $2,500 worth of tickets for a benefit baseball game in aid of the families of the nine Spokane Indians players killed in the bus crash on June 24. He specifies that his tickets should be given to convalescent and other servicemen. The Oakland Oaks play the Seattle Rainiers in the exhibition game in Spokane on July 8 and 6,000 fans attend.
July (undated). Bing fishes at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho (near Spokane). During his visit, he stays at the Hotel Hope.
July 3, Wednesday. Leaves Spokane for Boise, Idaho where he calls in to see Sib Kleffner, an operator of a sporting goods store, and gives him $11.04 to pass on to Matt Hally, the Idaho Highway Director, in respect of a debt which Bing has owed him since college days in 1924.
July (undated). At his Elko,
Nevada, ranch.
July 6, Saturday. Billboard magazine announces the results of its 8th. annual college poll of favorite male singers. Bing is top with 559 votes followed by Sinatra (462) and Como (341).
July 8, Monday. Filming of The
Emperor Waltz continues at Paramount Studios. Billy Wilder is in constant
pain with kidney stones.
July 10, Wednesday. Bing is
back in Hollywood. During his absence, the Rosary Confraternity of Greece has appealed
to Bing for help in providing rosaries for 50,000 Greek Catholics following his
Family Rosary broadcast. He arranges for 10,000 rosaries to be sent to Greece.
July 13, Saturday.
(8:00–10:50 a.m.) Bing records “Lullaby” and “Where My Caravan Has Rested” with
Jascha Heifetz (violin) and the Victor Young Orchestra. Later in the day, a
birthday party is held at Bing’s Malibu home for all four of his children in
accordance with their usual custom. In all 33 children attend.
Crosby’s other disk this week is in
the nature of a stunt. Jack Kapp, Decca’s wily boss, long ago conceived the
novelty value of coupling The Groaner with other Decca contractees e.g. the
merry Andrews, Louis Jordan, Eddie (“I Hate Publicity”) Condon, etc. Now Kapp
has Jascha Heifetz fiddling obbligatos to Bing’s renditions of “Where My
Caravan Has Rested” and “Lullaby” (from “Jocelyn”) on Decca 40012. It is not
disclosing any military secret to say that Heifetz—even if, on this, he’s no
Heifetz—takes the honors. Crosby sounds tired, disinterested, and,
incidentally, badly advised not to rest his caravan.
(George Frazier, Variety,
October 2, 1946)
The groaner goes concert with this
cutting. And with no less a Strad scratcher than Jascha Heifetz tearing off the
obbligatos as well as stringing in a bit of the theme himself, Bing Crosby
gives with some real lullabying for both of these standard songs. “Lullaby”
from Godard’s “Jocelyn” and “Where My Caravan Has Rested” is the classic chant
of Herman Lohr and Edward Teschemacher. Victor Young brings up the orchestral
background for the desired effect. Crosby crowds will like these better for
home spinning.
(Billboard, October 12, 1946)
July 14,
Sunday. (Starting at 10:00 a.m.) Plays in
Frank Borzage’s Invitational Motion Picture Golf Tournament at the
California
Country Club with Eddie Sutherland, Eddie Mannix and George Marshall. Bing has a poor round, recording an 82. A crowd
of 3000 watches the event, which is in aid of the AWVS. Other
stars taking part include Don Ameche, Randolph Scott, Bob Hope, Nigel
Bruce,
Ken Murray, Mickey Rooney, Bob Crosby and Johnny Weissmuller. Some of
the
action is included in a novelty newsreel called Rough But Hopeful
produced by Courneya-Hyde Productions.
July 18, Thursday. (8:00
a.m.–12 noon) Records six songs from the film Blue Skies with John Scott
Trotter and his Orchestra. Decca issues them on a 78rpm album set and the album reaches the No. 2 spot in Billboard's best-selling popular record albums chart.
Don’t miss this show album. Any of
the complete score albums that Decca turns out have rotten tunes thrown in with
the good. This one is no exception - but it does have Crosby, and Astaire in
what may very well be his last wax appearance. Astaire may be no singer, but
even on wax, his personality comes through. (Decca A481)
(Downbeat, November 4, 1946)
Another winner is Bing Crosby’s
“I’ve Got My Captain Working for Me Now,” a good revue number on the subject of
every G.I.’s dream. The smart lyric is set to appropriate music, and Crosby
once again recalls the great days of the Rhythm Boys before the crooner swept
all before him. You can see what happened by turning over and hearing how “Blue
Skies,” which calls for a nice easy relaxed rhythm is dragged by the singer,
who twenty years ago might have done it to perfection.
(The Gramophone, May, 1947)
July (undated). Films a cameo role
in Bob Hope’s film My Favorite Brunette. Bing arranges for the fee of
$25,000 to be paid directly to Gonzaga University.
July 24, Wednesday.
(6:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing records three more songs from the film Blue Skies
with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra. Fred Astaire duets “A Couple of Song
and Dance Men” and Trudy Erwin joins Bing in “I’ll See You in C-U-B-A.”
July 26, Friday. Bing takes delivery of his new Dodge 6 car registration number AB 4662.
July 29, Monday. Recording session at Paramount for the 'Masque Ball' scene in Emperor Waltz. Joseph Lilley leads the orchestra.
July 31, Wednesday.
Bob Hope and Bing are photographed sending off 15-year old caddy Roger
Dunn to the National Caddy Tournament to be held at Columbus, Ohio. The
two men have sponsored Roger who will be representing Southern
California.
August 1, Thursday.
(4:00–7:05 p.m.) Records “The Things We Did Last Summer” with Jimmy Dorsey and his
Orchestra in Hollywood. Goes on to the premiere of Night and Day at Warners' Hollywood Theatre and is photographed with Alan Ladd.
August 8, Thursday. The
Dreyfuss family sells the Pittsburgh Pirates National League baseball team to a
group headed by Frank McKinney (50% holding), John Galbreath (20%) and Thomas P. Johnson (15%) for a reported $2,250,000.
Bing also has a 15 percent interest in the syndicate. It is announced that
Bing will again head the National Executive Committee of the Sister Elizabeth
Kenny Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The fund-raising drive is to begin on
November 3 with a target of $2 million.
August 9, Friday. (7:00–8:40
p.m.) Bing records “When You Make Love to Me” and “So Much in Love” with Victor
Young and his Orchestra in Hollywood.
When You Make Love to Me—FT; V. It Could Happen to You—FT;
V.
September Song—FT; V. Temptation—FT; V.
Mine—FT; V. Connecticut—FT; V.
The groaner gives out on a batch of ballads for these six sides bringing on Judy Garland for one set. (23804). And while the song selections, for the most part, are not out of the top drawer, Bing Crosby’s dittying leaves little to be desired of the lyrics. His piping plenty listenable and the spinning smoothsome, Victor Young’s music provides the lush musical background for “When You Make Love to Me” while John Scott Trotter commands the music stand for the companion “It Could Happen to you.” Trotter still on deck, Crosby spins most soothingly for “Temptation,” the scoring set to a bolero beat while mixed voices blend with the band to make for richer background color. Flipover finds lush lyricizing for “September Song,” making the lovely song sound as lovely as ever. Joined by Judy Garland, with Joseph Lilley laying down the musical background, it’s a lively pace set for “Connecticut,” dipping back to the slow ballad tempo as they share the wordage for George Gershwin’s “Mine.” While neither voice lets loose on either set of lyrics, their chanting is in good style and taste. The Crosby fans will listen to these at home.
(Billboard, February 8, 1947)
August (undated). At Bel-Air Country Club, Bing gets his first hole-in-one at the par 3 fifth hole.
August 15, Thursday.
(5:00–7:30 p.m.) Records a reading of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Old
Ironsides” with Victor Young and his Orchestra. The records are included on a Decca 78 rpm album called "Our Common Heritage".
The Star Spangled Banner—FT; V.
…Instead of singing the national anthem, he recites a meaningful poem while Victor Young provides the incidental background music that weaves around the anthem theme. It all makes for an impressive and dramatic spin.
(Billboard, September 20, 1947)
With considerable beating of the
drums, Decca has issued an album called “Our Common Heritage” (eight 10 inch
records). It contains sixteen poems commemorating “milestones in the history of
America.” Jack Kapp, president of Decca is keynoting the campaign for this
album [and writes] “Who else but Bing Crosby, who symbolises America to the
world, should read The Star-Spangled Banner? And who else should make it a
living experience, read as we believe Francis Scott Key felt it?” Who else,
indeed? Unless of course, it should occur to you that you could read it for
yourself....If it makes American ideals shine more brightly for them to hear
Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien and the others dramatize them, only a bounder would
disagree with Mr. Kapp.
(Howard Taubman, New York Times,
April 27, 1947)
Later, Bing signs a
contract with Philco Radio Corporation to perform his radio show as a
transcribed program. Bing is said to be paid a minimum of $24,000 and a maximum
of $30,000 per show depending how many stations take it. Out of this he
receives $7,500 as a salary with the remainder going to Bing Crosby Enterprises
Inc. to meet the other expenses of the show. This arrangement is tax
advantageous to Bing.
Everett Crosby, who handled the negotiations
for his brother Bing, said last night that the contract covers a three-year
period and that it would be a straight transcription show. It was learned that
Philco wanted a five-year contract and Bing a one-year deal and that Everett
Crosby negotiated the compromise three-year agreement.
(Daily Variety, August 16, 1946)
Primary change was the absence of
Carroll Carroll who had not been invited to work on the new program. Vernon
Taylor felt the reason may have been that Carroll’s writing had turned inward
in the final seasons of The Kraft Music Hall, and Crosby wanted
something fresher. There did not seem to be any animosity between the two and
Carroll made the point he had never worked for NBC or Kraft in any case. He had
always been on the J. Walter Thompson payroll and remained there.
The new
writer and coproducer was Bill Morrow, a loosely knit bachelor who played the
field with Hollywood ladies. He had written for Jack Benny and was brought on
to impart some of the brisker pacing of the Benny program. Better writer than
producer or businessman, Morrow tended to overpay for guest stars and
musicians. The program consistently ran over budget until Grillo was placed in
charge of all contracts.
(Norman Wolfe, Troubadour: Bing
Crosby and the Birth of Pop Singing)
So everything was daisy until I launched my battle for a transcribed radio hour. At
the time that warfare
was practically front-page news. There
was great opposition to the notion, not only from
Kraft, with whom I’d been for ten years, but from the
whole radio industry.
I had confidence that a show on tape would be just as satisfactory entertainment-wise as a live show, better in many ways.
There were two reasons why I wanted to transcribe my radio shows. The first, and most important one, was that it gave me a chance
to do a better
show. By using tape, I could do a thirty-five or forty-minute show, then edit it down to the twenty-six or
twenty-seven minutes the program ran. In that way, we could take out jokes, gags, or
situations that didn’t play well and finish with only the prime meat of the show; the solid stuff that played big.
We could also take out songs that didn’t sound good. It gave
us a chance to first try a recording of the songs in the afternoon without an audience, then another one in
front of a studio audience. We’d
dub the one that came off best into the final transcription. .It gave us a chance to ad lib as much as we wanted, knowing that excess ad libbing could be sliced from the final product. If I made a
mistake in singing a song or in the script, I could have some fun with it, then
retain any of the fun that sounded amusing.
A second consideration—and a mighty important one to me personally—was that it would give me
a chance to get around
the country more if I could tape in advance. If I had to go to New York, I could do two or
three shows ahead, which eliminated the necessity of transporting a cast and musicians across the
continent. If
I wanted to go fishing or hunting or play in a golf tournament, that too could be arranged.
Then, too, once
when we knew a musicians’ strike was coming off, we taped ten or twelve weeks’ shows in advance. We knocked them off in
about two weeks, working
every day and every night. This gave us a chance to stay on the air
with good shows while the strike was being settled.
But everybody
was against the idea—the networks,
the sponsors of other shows, the advertising agencies. They thought it might hurt the network financially. They felt that if entertainers were allowed to tape, they could sell to
individual stations instead of having to use the network. Then at the psychological moment
when the issue seemed in the balance, Philco said that it would be okay with them if I taped a certain number of
shows. The way it worked out, it didn’t seem to hurt the networks. To my mind,
the only things which lose impact on tape are sports events, or important news events.
(Call
Me Lucky, pages 151-152)
August 20, Tuesday. Rags
Ragland, who had toured army camps with Bing, dies at the age of forty.
August 21, Wednesday. Variety
magazine reports that Bing and Tommy Dorsey have fallen out following the
breakdown of negotiations for Bing to take part in the film The Fabulous
Dorseys. Dorsey retaliates by saying that he will not perform songs
published by the Edwin H. Morris and Burke-Van Heusen publishing firm as Bing
has an interest in this.
August 22, Thursday.
(3:30–7:35 p.m.) Bing records four songs with Russ Morgan and his Orchestra,
including “Among My Souvenirs” and “Does Your Heart Beat for Me?”.
Bing Crosby’s newest Decca cut
couples “My Heart Goes Crazy” with “So Would I” (both from My Heart Goes
Crazy). If not top flight Crosby, they are unquestionably superior to most
of his recent stuff. He sings carefully, feelingly, and, on the whole, rather
as if he were concerned about his sponsors renewing. Better side is “So Would
I” and you’ll be hearing it everywhere. Russ Morgan batons the accomp on
both sides.
(Variety, January 22, 1947)
Sweet Lorraine / The Things We Did
Last Summer / Among My Souvenirs / Does Your Heart Beat For Me / September Song
/ Temptation
If you have any doubts that Bing is
both losing his voice and getting increasingly sloppy about his singing
listen to these six sides and come away a little sick at the residue
(relatively speaking) of a good binger. “Lorraine” is extremely nasal in its
opening chorus of phrasing, “Things” is dead and unimaginative. “Souvenirs” is
better though the top tones wobble (“rest” for example). The tenor sax solo
(Russ Morgan accompanying) is for the books, “Me”, written by Morgan has long
been identified with him. “Song,” a reissue, is the one that will really stop
the stoutest Crosby fan in his tracks. He just has no tone in it, is
consistently off pitch, and fades to nothing on high tones. Bing is a
comparatively young man—losing his voice at his age is a result of either
incorrect over use or complete sloppiness while making these records.
(DownBeat, January 29, 1947)
“So Would I” - “My Heart
Goes Crazy”
Russ Morgan accompanies Crosby on
Decca—Dave Barbour accompanies Peggy Lee on Capitol—now you know why Capitol’s
vocal discs, by and large, are better. Why saddle Bing with this sort of thing
rather than giving him the best possible background—certainly the way he’s been
singing lately he needs it. (Decca 2374)
(DownBeat, March 12, 1947)
Bing Crosby has done “Among My Souvenirs” on Bruns. 03779 with the sinister “Temptation,” a contrasted record to interest the fans, but frankly not otherwise anything to write about.
(The Gramophone, August, 1947)
August 26, Monday. (6:00–6:30 p.m.) Bing stars in the Lady Esther Screen Guild Players radio version of The Bells of St. Mary’s on CBS with Ingrid Bergman and Joan Carroll. Wilbur Hatch leads the orchestra.
Spotting of the Bing Crosby Show for
Philco was finally cleared up, yesterday (Tuesday). Once Philco executives
completed negotiations with ABC, the Crosby ‘wax in your ears’ half-hour
production goes into the Wednesday night at ten segment on all stations, in the
East, with the Central, Mountain and Coast zones, carrying the show at 9
o’clock on the same evening. Crosby show tees off on October 16th on 211 basic
ABC Stations. In addition, 400 other Stations, around the country, are being
pacted separately to carry the program. These, of course, would include
affiliates of other webs in cities not carrying the show. Spotting of Crosby at
ten o’clock in the East and not at nine as was anticipated, is believed to have
been motivated by the Groaner’s feeling that it would be labelled as ‘spite’
work, in view of the fact that Frank Sinatra’s Old Gold Show is also heard at 9
pm on CBS.
(Variety, August 28, 1946)
September 1, Sunday.
(5:15-5:30 p.m.) Louella
Parsons returns to the air after her summer absence with Bing as her
guest. Later, Bing and Louella go on to a big party at the home of Donn Beach (of Don the Beachcomber).
…Bing Crosby, who had been on my radio show with me earlier in the
evening, wore the brightest red shirt I’ve ever seen. He looked like a fireman
on a holiday and didn’t mind the kidding he took in the least… Later, everyone sang
island songs, led by Bing Crosby. Everything considered, I think it would have
been best if we had all shut up and let Bing do the warbling.
(Louella Parsons, writing in “Party Postscripts” in Modern Screen, October 1946)
…improvement in her diction, delivery and
relaxed manner of conducting the interview with Bing Crosby. Not a line was
fluffed and the excited inflections toned down. Gone, too, was the gushy
treacle that formerly dripped from her gabby sessions with guestars if we can
excuse her “Bing, dear” as a slight reversion…
(Daily Variety, September 3, 1946)
Miss Parsons’
initial broadcast for the new season had more than usual interest; with Bing
Crosby, on hand to receive her special award for his Paramount “Blue Skies” contrib,
making what will be one of his few live appearances on the air this season. (He
also owes his ex-employer, Kraft Music Hall, a couple of guest shots). For a
briefie insert, it was crammed, with some revelatory comment. Challenging a
crack anent rumors that he was getting lazy, the Groaner gave the first off-the-cuff
explanation of his desire to transcribe his air show in the future; (1) it’ll
permit for editing similar to pix studio retakes: (2) you can pattern your
shows to the availability of guest talent: (3) you can spot the show in the
best time slots for public reception. Too, his announcement that he’s planning
an album of hymns of various religions, with proceeds to go to the National Federation
of Churches, also gave the Parsons stanza a news “exclusive.”
(Variety, September 4, 1946)
September 11, Wednesday. Whilst
completing the filming of Emperor Waltz at Paramount, Bing pays a
surprise visit to Ingrid Bergman’s set on Arch of Triumph and toasts the
box office queen on her twelfth role in U.S. pictures.
September 18, Wednesday. Using
the NBC Studio B in Hollywood, Bing rehearses for his first Philco show.
Bing Crosby will be a busy little
bee this weekend and the hive will be a mass of honey by the time he oils up
his shootin’ irons for a go at the deer and pheasant in the general vicinity
of his Elko, Nevada ranch.
(Daily Variety, September 18,
1946)
September 19, Thursday. During the morning, Bing continues to rehearse for his first show for Philco using NBC Studio B. (1:07–3:07 p.m.). Transcribes his first Philco Show with Bob Hope, which is broadcast on October 16. (3:40–5:10 p.m.). Rehearses for his second Philco show. (5:10–7:25 p.m.). Transcribes his second Philco show and this is transmitted on October 23.
Downey Did It
First
It all depends
upon who does a thing. While there’s a great fuss about Bing Crosby going
network via transcriptions (October 16), it’s been ignored that Morton Downey
has been going over the Mutual network via e.t.’s for some time without the
network falling apart or the Downey rating doing any fIipflops. Nevertheless
what happens to the Philco-Crosby show will determine in part just what Bob Hope
and a number of other stars will want to do, come the end of their present
contracts. The subject of transcriptions is a touchy one at both NBC and CBS. What
happens to the show will have a bearing on what ABC will be in the future also.
The Burl Ives show on Mutual for Philco is also transcribed. That fact hasn’t
even raised a ripple.
(Sponsor magazine, November 1946, page 2)
September 20, Friday.
(8:30–10:10 a.m.) Rehearses for another Philco Show. (10:10 a.m.–12:10 p.m.)
Records a Philco show for broadcast on October 30.
September 22, Sunday.
(8:30–10:10 p.m.) Rehearses for a Philco show. (10:10 a.m.–12:10 p.m.) Records
a Philco show which airs November 6.
September 30, Monday. A radio
program “End of the Oregon Trail” commissioned by Olympia Beer in
celebration
of its 50th Anniversary is broadcast on 26 western radio stations at
various times. Bing plays
the part of his great grandfather, Captain Nathaniel Crosby, part
operator of
Crosby Flour Co., Tumwater, Washington. He briefly sings a couple lines
of “She
Had Pearls in Her Hair”.
October 1, Tuesday.
(4:00–7:00 p.m.) In San Francisco, Bing rehearses for his evening broadcast
with Bob Hope. (7:00–7:30 p.m.) Bing guests on the Bob Hope radio show on NBC
with Carole Richards. Jerry Colonna and Vera Vague are also in attendance with
Desi Arnaz leading the orchestra. The show is broadcast from the American
League Convention in Marine Memorial Park, San Francisco.
After Fibber and
Molly” came Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as his guest. The repartee between these
two was priceless, and dotted with genuine ad lib stuff with the funny man and
the groaner vieing to run each other down. Hope’s quip, “It’s not too late to replace
you, Bing, with an old cracked transcription,” perhaps was the funniest of all.
(Allen Rich, Valley Times, October 3, 1946)
October 5/6, Saturday / Sunday. Attends a dinner party in his honor given by Dr. & Mrs. Charles Crocker at Pebble Beach.
October 7, Monday. For the
second time in the year, Bing appears on the cover of Life magazine,
this time with Joan Caulfield with whom he is said to have a very close
relationship.
October 8, Tuesday. (12:00
noon –2:00 p.m.) In KFWB Studio 4, Bing and Ezio Pinza rehearse for a Philco
show. (2:14–4:15 p.m.) Records the Philco show with Ezio Pinza which is
broadcast on November 13. (6:00–7:45 p.m.) Rehearses for his next Philco show
with Burl Ives. (8:05–10:05 p.m.). Transcribes the show for transmission on
November 20.
October 10, Thursday. The film “The
Jolson Story” premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
October 13, Sunday. (5:00–5:30
p.m.) Paul Whiteman’s radio show on
ABC has a tribute to Bing and highlights his imminent return to the air on the same station.
October 16, Wednesday. Bing is at his ranch at Tuscarora, near Elko. Bing’s
film Blue Skies is released and in many cities, the first day’s receipts
go to the Sister Kenny Foundation. In its initial release period in the USA,
the movie takes $5.7 million in rental income making it one of the box office
successes of the year.
“Blue Skies” is another in the show biz cavalcade cycle and it’ll spell beaucoup blue skies and black ink for any exhibitor. With Crosby, Astaire and Joan Caulfield on the marquee, a wealth of Irving Berlin songs and lush Technicolor production values, this filmusical can’t miss for terrific grosses.
The cue sheet on “Blue Skies” lists 42 different song items but some of it has been excised and the rest so skilfully arranged, orchestrated and presented that the nostalgic musical cavalcade doesn’t pall. The songs are pleasantly familiar to the World War I generation and, for the youngsters, they are refreshing and solid, especially as Berlin has modernized them.
…the dialog is inclusive of such tongue-in-cheek cracks as “I like kids even better than horses” (Crosby), along with other topical innuendos on Bing’s bangtails [racing] penchant. It’s in a rather corny scene with the baby that one of the three new Berlin numbers, “Running Around in Circles (And Getting Nowhere)” is done by Crosby to Karolyn Grimes, a rather self-conscious five-year-old. (Incidentally, of the other two new Berlin numbers, “You Keep Coming Back Like a Song” and “A Serenade to an Old-Fashioned Girl,” the former is the most promising of all three new tunes).
…Certainly, for Astaire, it’s perhaps a new triumph. If he ever seriously
thought of retiring, ‘Skies’ should postpone any such ideas.
…Crosby is Crosby although a slightly heftier Bing. He’s the same troubadour,
chirping the ditties as only Crosby does even though his waistline is somewhat
more generous than behooves a juve.
(Variety, September 25, 1946)
So many screen exercises in the music-album line
have been so cluttered up with “biography” that it is a pleasure at last to see
one in which a tune-vender’s life and his music are not mutually and mawkishly
abused. Such a one is the Paramount’s current and cheerfully diverting “Blue
Skies,” which catalogues some songs of Irving Berlin without catalyzing that
gentleman’s career. And with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby as its bright
particular stars, everyone’s probity is honored by it—especially Mr. Berlin’s.
There’s a lot to be said for any picture in the
musical comedy groove which adheres to the oft-forgotten dictum that a film should
be seen as well as heard, that variety and vitality in the visual are the stuff
of which musicals are made. And when the evidence of that adherence is so
enthusiastically displayed as it is by Messrs. Astaire and Crosby in “Blue
Skies,” you may depend upon being entertained.
The story? Let’s not argue about it. It’s a
standard and harmless little thing about the casual and genial competition
between two song-and-dance men for a girl. One of them very soon gets her, but
as he is a rolling stone, his interest is slightly sporadic. On that track, it
ambles along. As a plot, it is no more elusive than the peg for “Holiday Inn,”
in which the two above-mentioned performers and Mr. Berlin’s tunes were also
combined. And the worst—or the best—to be said for it (you can tolerably take
your pick) is that it does have a few soggy moments which are quickly and
obligingly dismissed.
But it does serve as adequate hanger for some
sparkling and stimulating turns of song, dance and general fancifying to Mr.
Berlin’s familiar tunes. Best of the lot, for our wampum, is Mr. Astaire’s
electrifying dance to that ancient and honorable folk-song, “Puttin’ on the
Ritz.” Turned out in striped pants and top hat, Mr. A. makes his educated feet
talk a persuasive language that is thrilling to conjugate. The number ends with
some process-screen trickery in which a dozen or so midget Astaires back up the
tapping soloist in a beautiful surge of clickety-clicks. If this film is Mr.
A.’s swan song, as he has heartlessly announced it will be, then he has
climaxed his many years of hoofing with a properly superlative must-see.
And that’s not his only contribution. In company
with the redoubtable Bing, he doubles in song while that nipper doubles in
dance in a comedy gem, written especially for the occasion, entitled “Two
Song-and-Dance Men.” He also kicks his heels glibly in a fancy production of
the torrid “Heat Wave,” and trips through the plot and other numbers with the
elasticity of a happy rubberman.
Naturally, Mr. Crosby, as the rolling-stone
character, has his share of the spotlight and holds it with aggressive modesty.
He makes something lively, slick and novel of “Cuba,” along with Olga San Juan,
and groans with his customary competence a new hit “You Keep Coming Back Like a
Song.” Joan Caulfield, the “you” of this ditty, is most lovely and passive as
the girl who stands none too seriously or firmly between Crosby and Astaire.
And Billy De Wolfe, an obnoxious sort of person, is allowed only once to get
too much in the way.
For the rest, there are no less than twenty of Mr.
Berlin’s melodious tunes jammed here and there onto the sound-track, either as
production numbers or incidental bits. And we must say that Robert Emmett Dolan
has directed the music as distinctively as Stuart Heisler has directed the
actors—or maybe more so. That’s why they sound so good. Or maybe it’s because
they’re used as music and not as milestones in somebody’s awesome “life.”
(Bosley Crowther, The New York
Times, October 17, 1946)
(9:00–9:30 p.m.)
Bing commences his first season for Philco
Radio Time on ABC which continues at weekly intervals until June
18, 1947. This is the first major transcribed radio series and most of the shows
are recorded in Hollywood. The scripts for the shows are mainly written by Bill
Morrow who also acts as coproducer with Murdo MacKenzie. The program has an
audience rating of 16.1 during the season, which makes it one of the ABC
network’s top shows but leaves it outside the top twenty shows nationally.
Fibber McGee & Molly again top the Hooper ratings with 30.2 but they have
to share the position with Bob Hope. In addition to the 211 stations on the ABC
network, up to another 400 independent radio stations also take the show. Bob
Hope appears on the first broadcast with regulars Lina Romay, the Charioteers,
Skitch Henderson, Ken Carpenter, and John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra.
Crosby’s Clicko Wax Radio Network -
Debut For Philco History Making (Front Page Headline)
The Bing Crosby disc show for
Philco, probably the most publicized debut on record, hit the air lanes via ABC
and a flock of Indie Stations last Wednesday (16th) and make no mistake about
it, it’ll go down in industry annals as a precedent shattering event. The long
awaited ‘wax in your ears’ debut is fraught with significant undertones and
overtones. The implications from a standpoint of radio entertainment are as far
reaching as anything to hit show business since the advent of talking pictures.
The boys who have long contended that it would take no less a personality than
the Groaner (and Philco and the dealers backed them up with one of the top coin
investments in radio sponsorship) to cue a whole new pattern in broadcasting
which would invite a mass exodus of radio’s top headliners from live
broadcasting to transcribed shows have even a more solid base for argument,
today. For on the basis of Crosby’s initial show and it was a honey, you can’t
minimise the importance of that argument and what it might well do to bring
about an entire new change in NBC and CBS policy, regarding their present ban
on transcriptions.
Once
the switch-over of top names from live to transcribed shows gets under way and
that’s inevitable, the NBC/CBS brass, rather than risk the loss of their
star-studded rosters will have no other recourse but to let down the bars.
Today, they still say it won’t happen but get a flock of wax shows under their
belt that will pitch in the same high register as last week’s opener and
they’ll be singing a different tune. Crosby proved it can be done. It was
argued that wrapping up the transcribed show would strip it of the spontaneity
that an on the spot performance before a live studio audience invites. Also,
the ad-lib quality and the off the cuff bantering that made Crosby’s Kraft
Music Hall semester one of radio’s real boffs would be lost forever. Through
the simple expedient of waxing his shows before an audience, Crosby has
invalidated these claims and you can match Philco’s Number One on the Crosby
Disc parade with any of the live shows he’s done in the past and that goes for
the spontaneity and the ad-libbing and the overall free play on the banter
which only leaves us a possible pitfall, the element of timeliness and topical
slant. A sufficient reserve of substitute transcriptions could be the obvious
solution.
The
pay off on the Philco premiere was that without the tag-line revealing the
transcription auspices, this might just as well have been done live, thus accenting
the Groaner’s own claims as to the multiple advantages of “going platter” i.e.
you can eliminate ‘muffs’ via re-takes similar to pix, you could spot your show
at the most advantageous time and it virtually solves the problem of wrapping
up guest talent. As one of radio’s top coin packages, the Philco half-hour is
solid showmanship but that not only goes for Crosby but in the permanent cast
line-up, including Lina Romay, The Charioteers, Skitch Henderson and John Scott
Trotter and his Orchestra, as well as the overall production under the strict
‘pro wand’ of Bill Morrow and Murdo McKenzie and the scripting contribution of
Morrow, Jack Benny’s ex-writer Al Lewis and Larry Clemens. Show business, in
general had its ear tuned to this new Crosby show, in view of distributing
reports that the Groaner’s voice ain’t what it used to be, however the Crosby
three-way vocalizing of, “Sun In The Morning”, “Moonlight Bay” with The
Charioteers and Orchestra and “Cynthia’s In Love” with Skitch Henderson and the
band should put a quietus on the rumor mill. If there is any deterioration in
the groaning department, it wasn’t audible.
Last
Wednesday’s show format adhered pretty closely to the Kraft Music Hall lay-out
where principal emphasis on the vocal, with the glib Crosby cross-firing. The
Trotter Orchestra and The Charioteers have moved over from KMH along with Der
Bingle. Spotting of Bob Hope as the guest star on the getaway show was a
natural with the two ‘B’s’ slugging it out in their now, standard needling
routine and chirping a novelty tune, “Put It There Pal” to accent their
Pittsburgh Pirates versus Cleveland Indians baseball ownership rivalry. Ken
Carpenter does the announcer chores - he’s as smooth as ever, both on script,
continuity and the sales pitch. The Philco commercials weren’t commercials as
such. The plugs were so inoffensively integrated, so sparsely used, as to make
them an innovation. The Jimmy Carmine welcome of Crosby to the World’s largest
radio audience on behalf of Philco was a blending of commercial copy with
showmanship. The rating on the new Crosby show will be watched closely. It will
have a lot to do with charting radio’s new pattern.
(Variety, October 23, 1946)
…In
practically all other respects it was a typical Crosby half hour with Trotter's
socko arrangements to back up I Got the
Sun in the Morning (Crosby solo), Moonlight
Bay (Crosby and the Charioteers, who are superb); Put It There, Pal (Crosby and Hope), and Cynthia, Bing alone. Those Trotter arrangements are plain whammo,
doubly valuable because they so perfectly complement Crosby's lazy larynx
style. The Crosby-Hope crossfire, similarly, had belly after belly, following
the usual style of trading insults. Only the way these two guys do it, it’s
good. Topper of the lot, probably, was Hope’s crack that he was glad to help
Crosby make his “comeback.” So fast was some of the delivery that it was hard
to tell where the script left off and the ad libs came in. Lina Romay did a
vocal, not too painful.
Only
deviation from the norm was Ken Carpenter's announcement that “this program was
produced and transcribed in Hollywood,” certainly a smart way to dispose of the
FCC-required e.t. identification. Public reaction to the difference, if any,
between Crosby live and Crosby plattered will be found elsewhere in the radio
section, in a report tabulated by C. E. Hooper, Inc.
Carpenter
also handled the brief Philco commercials, done in good taste. First was a
welcome to Crosby from Jimmy Carmine, Philco veepee; the other was a socko bit
of selling, which came just before Bingle’s getaway tune. On it Crosby noted
that Hope, as usual, had overstayed his welcome, leaving little time for a
commercial. However, he added, he had prepared for just such a contingency,
arranging with Carmine to tear up the last sales plug if the show ran over.
Whereupon he proceeded to tear it up, with accompanying sound effects. It was
smart merchandising—as smart as all the merchandising which so far has
accompanied the Philco-Crosby enterprise.
All
concerned with this one can take a bow, not the least of whom is bald Bill Morrow,
ex-Jack Benny scripter, now co-producing and co-directing Philco Radio Time
with Murdo MacKenzie. Morrow also is in on the script, co-authoring with Al
Lewis and Larry Clemmons. It’s big league stuff, all around.
(Billboard, October 26, 1946)
October 23, Wednesday. (9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast by ABC. The guests are Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
Bing Crosby’s
customary unruffled calm will be attacked by the cleverly raucous noises of
Spike Jones and his City Slickers on the second WTJS-ABC broadcast of Philco
Radio Time, to be heard tonight at 9:00 p.m. “The Groaner’s” great versatility
as a singer will be on display in the contrast between his rendition of ballads
and his collaboration with the Jones crew in an outrageous arrangement of “Love
in Bloom.”
(The Jackson Sun, October 23, 1946)
October 30, Wednesday. (9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast by ABC. The guests are the Les Paul Trio. Bing is in Boise, Idaho, having come from Weiser where he had been pheasant shooting. He meets up with some old Gonzaga friends in the office of T. Matt Hally (class of ‘26), state highway commissioner. The other schoolmates are Sib Kleffner and Dr. Jack Garrity.
November 1, Friday, Bing gives an impromptu concert for schoolchildren at a small school near Weiser, Idaho. He
then leaves for Elko. Elsewhere, his house at 23844 Roosevelt Highway, Malibu is sold to Dr. and Mrs. Becka.
November (undated). Dixie throws a birthday party and baby shower at her home for Sue Carol, who is now married to Alan Ladd.
November 6,
Wednesday. (9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is
broadcast by ABC. The guest is Ralph Mendez.
Bing Crosby’s troubles apparently are just beginning. That initial 24 rating on his Philco transcribed show is now down to 12.2. Latter rating based on last Wednesdays’ (6th) Show and it is understood that word has gone out to The Groaner from his Philco sponsors to get busy and do something in a hurry. Everett Crosby, brother and business manager for the crooner, who has been in New York for the past few weeks, getting agency/sponsor/trade reaction on the Philco Time Show, admitted before leaving for the Coast, Sunday 10th, that the platter show is due for some drastic re-vamping. Just who goes off the show and what hypos are contemplated hasn’t been determined yet. There are only two shows left in the advanced wax works (with Ezio Pinza and Burl Ives as guest stars) and The Groaner is due at the Hollywood recording studios, this week, when the boys will sit down and thrash out the whole advanced pattern of the show. Meanwhile, the rating nose-dive plus the unfavorable reaction to Crosby’s last few shows have contributed to putting a quietus on the ‘live to transcription’ flurry of trade excitement that followed in the wake of Crosby’s premiere and Philco’s super promotion job. In view of the original contract stipulation which calls for Crosby to go ‘live’ in the event that his ratings slip under 12 on four consecutive broadcasts, some of the boys are wagering that The Groaner segues back to live programs. The fault, they say, doesn’t lie in the transcriptions as such but in the quality of the show. While others say let Bergen go into the same spot on NBC and you will get a more accurate appraisal of transcription potentialities. The new musician’s contract is also raising havoc with the show, with Everett Crosby tipping off that the 31 piece John Scott Trotter Orchestra will be reduced to 18 men, to bring the show in under the talent cost budget.
(Variety, November 13, 1946)
November 8, Friday. Bing sends a postcard to Billy Wilder at Paramount. S. P. Eagle is presumably Sam Spiegel.
I tried to call
you several times but you were not in the studio and the Green Gables refused
to call you on the phone. Hope you took cognizance of Blue Skies New York
business—S. P. Eagle can have the ‘artistic triumphs.’ Regards to Charles
B. and the Sisters D.
Bing
November 13, Wednesday.
(10:00–11:00 a.m.). In the NBC Studios, rehearses for a Philco show with Judy
Garland. (12:15–2:15 p.m.). Records the Philco show, which is broadcast on
November 27. (9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show
is broadcast by ABC. The guest is Ezio Pinza.
Crosby show’s face
lifting.
Philco switch adopts
name guestar policy.
Hollywood, Nov. 16— Breathing now is a little easier in the Bing Crosby crowd
since the Philco show’s 12.2 Hooper dive straightened out last week (13) to a
15.8. However, show will still get a P.D.Q. hypo to avoid another rating dip.
Bill Morrow, Groaner’s producer-writer, says the airer will use “good, solid
names,” listing among future guesters, Judy Garland for Thanksgiving week
broadcast, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Jascha Heifitz, Edgar Berger and a return
engagement for Bob Hope. Show for the most part will be plattered only two
weeks prior to airing with Morrow feeling that any weaknesses in the first six
programs can be blamed on too many cuttings crammed into a short period of
time. Der Bingle is of the opinion that the advance recording should in no way
impair the program’s listener appeal and in the future he will avoid doing too
many shows in a short span of time. Lina Romay, who appears on the first six
platters, will now “occasionally” drop in on the show, as will other fem
chirps. Miss Romay was not included in the Thanksgiving program cut last week.
Morrow, however, stressed that changes now being made in the show are not to be
mistaken as “panic or emergency moves resulting from the 12.2 rating.”
According to Morrow, some of these changes were planned after the first platter
was aired, with others to have evolved naturally as the show progressed. He
denied that Miss Romay is being eased out, saying the Latin lass was not
intended as a cast regular originally and that the only reason she is on the
first six shows is because the platters were cut within the same period of
time. Morrow pointed out that if the show were live, gradual changes would have
been made during the six weeks it had been on the air, brushing up certain weak
spots. By waxing all six at one shot, nothing could be done until this time.
(Billboard, November 23,
1946)
November 14, Thursday.
(9:00–11:50 a.m.) Records songs from his film Welcome Stranger with John
Scott Trotter and his Orchestra.
November 16, Saturday. (6:00-6:30 p.m.) Bing, Kate Smith, and Rosalind Russell broadcast on the Mutual network on behalf of the Sister Kenny Foundation.
A star-studded
array of personalities will be lined up tonight at 8 via WIBC-Mutual to appeal
for funds to support the Sister Kenny Foundation for infantile paralysis
treatment. Far from being the sober, dramatic type of appeal, there will be a
comedy sketch with Rosalind Russell as Sister Kenny and Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley.
Bing is chairman of the executive committee for the foundation and Rosalind has
the title role in the movie, “Sister Kenny.” Along with these stars is Kate
Smith, national chairman of the campaign committee.
(The Indianapolis News, November 16, 1946)
November 18, Monday. (3:30–5:00
p.m.). In the NBC Studios, rehearses for a Philco show with Jimmy Durante.
(6:45–8:45 p.m.). The Philco show recording takes place and the show is
broadcast on December 4.
November 19, Tuesday.
(8:30–10:15 a.m.) Bing records “Country Style” and “My Heart is a Hobo” with
John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra. Later he checks in to St. John’s Hospital
for what is said to be a minor surgical operation at first but is later
corrected to “x-rays and a routine check–up.”
Welcome Stranger –
(Decca A-531)
Bing Crosby covers four songs from
his Welcome Stranger movie in this set of two records. And with John
Scott Trotter’s music, emphasises the hit quality of the score’s ballad song, As
Long as I’m Dreaming. Other songs have only production value, Crosby
singing it in easy and rhythmic style for Smile Right Back at the Sun and
My Heart Is a Hobo. And with the Calico Kids on the chant, Crosby is
also the caller for the country style square dance ditty. Picture of the singer
graces the album cover. Accompanying is a booklet more ambitious than the
recordings, giving the screen story, Bing’s bio and the song lyrics. Screen
showings will hypo interest in this set.
(Billboard, May 24, 1947)
Country Style / My Heart Is a Hobo /
As Long As I’m Dreaming / Smile Right Back at the Sun
Better sides than Bing has made in a
long while. Sounds if he actually felt like singing. In Style it’s
mostly his engaging half-singing manner that sneaks him through the by now
apparent faults in his upper tones - and it’s a square dance too (Decca A531)
(DownBeat, June 4, 1947)
You’ve probably heard this in all
the juke boxes by now but we’d still like to recommend ‘Country Style’ as the
best Crosby disc of the season. Crosby’s easy-going humorous arrangement takes
you for a rural hayride and he does a bang-up job calling the turns at the
village barn dance. Farmer Crosby certainly didn’t lay an egg with this one.
(Song Hits Magazine, October
1947, p14)
For the more sophisticated
there are no less than six new records by Bing Crosby. Everybody will enjoy Country Style from the film “Welcome Stranger,” though
the reverse may be confined to the fans As Long as I’m Dreaming
(Bruns. 03801). From the same film are Smile Right Back at the Sun and My
Heart Is a Hobo, both with a comfortable lilt on 03802.
(The Gramophone,
December 1947)
November 20, Wednesday.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast
by ABC. The guest is Burl Ives. Lina Romay drops out of the show after this
program. The Hooper rating is 15.6.
November 21, Thursday. Bing
checks out of St. John’s Hospital.
Bing Crosby back home over the
weekend after three days in St. John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, where he
underwent minor surgery.
(Daily Variety, November 25,
1946)
November 23, Saturday. June
Crosby, Bob’s wife, gives birth to a son, Stephen Ross.
November 24, Sunday. (3:00–4:00 p.m.). In the NBC Studios, rehearses for a Philco show with Peggy Lee and Jerry Colonna. (6:25 –8:30 p.m.) The Philco show is recorded and airs on December 11.
Radio icon Bing
Crosby extended no fewer than forty-nine invitations to Lee over eight years to
join him as a guest on his popular radio show. The two shared several duets and
scripted skits, giving Lee plenty of experience managing the challenges of performing
for radio broadcasts.
(Tish Oney, Peggy Lee – A Century of Song, page 46)
November 27, Wednesday. A test
screening of The Emperor Waltz is held at Long Beach and Wilder
and Brackett decide to cut the song “Get Yourself a Phonograph” from the film.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is
broadcast by ABC. The guests are Judy Garland and the Les Paul Trio.
Nov.27…Drove to Long Beach for the preview of The Emperor Waltz. It was the right kind of a first preview, not breath-takingly enthusiastic but proving that we have a solid fairy-tale kind of a picture if the terms be not contradictory, a mousse with a reliable skeleton, which will be infinitely improved when the minutes are cut from it. One song “Get Yourself a Phonograph” laid a complete egg and must go. The violin concerto is too long, the style of writing the titles is appalling—illegible. Some official jokes don't warrant their laugh, but the whole thing is going to be all right. Everyone from the studios seemed pleased with it, Frank Butler having a couple of excellent suggests.
(From the diaries of Charles Brackett, as reproduced in It’s the Pictures That Got Small, page 296)
Judy Garland, whose acting, charm and appealing singing have won her
top honors in the movie capital, will be the special guest of Bing Crosby when
Philco Radio Time is heard over WTJS-ABC, at 9:00 p. m. Possibly thinking of
her young daughter, Judy has selected “Liza” as her solo. She also will join
Bing in a duet of the old favorite, “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nelly,” a song
which they have sung together before and with pleasing results. Showing off his
guest’s dramatic ability, “The Groaner” and Judy will tee off on a humorous
skit concerning turkey hunting. In this epic, the Charioteers will join in with
some of their special effects. Another attraction will be the new song by Hoagy
Carmichael, “Ol’ Buttermilk Sky,” sung by Bing with the John Scott Trotter
orchestra.
(The Jackson Sun, 27th November, 1946)
November 28, Thursday. Bing and Dixie entertain his parents at their home for Thanksgiving Day.
December 1, Sunday. Press
comment states that after a brilliant start on the ABC network, Bing’s
transcribed radio show is now “the season’s major disappointment.” The
transcribed discs are felt not to be satisfactory and appear metallic and
fuzzy. Bing is said to be too casual, with even his singing not tidy and sure
and sometimes off-key. His relaxed charm seems to be missing and there is an
apparent preoccupation to get each program done. Major revisions are planned
for the future of the show with top performers such as Al Jolson being engaged.
December 2, Monday. (2:45–3:30
p.m.). In the NBC Studios, Bing rehearses a Philco show with Peggy Lee.
(6:30–8:23 p.m.) Records the Philco show for transmission on December 18.
December 4, Wednesday.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast
by ABC. The guest is Jimmy Durante.
Jimmy Durante hypoed the Bing
Crosby-Philco Show into easily the best since the debut program when Bob Hope
guested. Crosby needs a sprightly comic to give the proceedings that bounce
which is so necessary.
(Variety, December 11, 1946)
Bing Crosby always had a great love
for Jimmy Durante and enjoyed doing vaudeville routines with him. Durante
appeared as a guest on Crosby’s Philco Radio Time five times from 1946
to 1949 on ABC. The funniest of those guest appearances was Crosby’s show of
December 4, 1946. Durante tried to sing Bing’s theme song, “Where the Blue of
the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day),” and “I Surrender Dear” as a duet. Bing,
for his part, tackles Durante’s theme song, “You Gotta Start Off Each Day with
a Song,” as part of a duet, and bravely sings without help Durante’s “I’m
Jimmy, the Well Dressed Man,” changing it to “Crosby, the Well Dressed Man.”
The show closes with both singing “Blue Skies.”
(Jimmy Durante -
His Show Business Career, page 125)
December 5, Thursday. Bing
attends a baseball banquet at the Biltmore Bowl. He sings “My Old Kentucky Home”
with Bob Hope, George Jessel and Baseball Commissioner A. B. ‘Happy’ Chandler.
December 9, Monday. (2:00–3:30
p.m.) In NBC Studio B, Bing rehearses for his Christmas show for Philco.
(5:45–7:45 p.m.) Records the Philco show and it is broadcast on December 25.
December 7, Saturday. Bing’s
recording of “White Christmas” enters the charts and eventually reaches number
one again during its six-week stay.
December (undated). Bing and Bob Hope
perform a golfing sketch and sing “Harmony” for the film Variety Girl, a
Paramount extravaganza packed with guest stars performing cameo roles. Among
those taking part in the final section of “Harmony” are Gary Cooper, Barry
Fitzgerald, Dorothy Lamour, Ray Milland, William Holden, Burt Lancaster,
William Bendix and Cass Daley.
December (undated). Plans are being
made for Bing to go to England in February 1948 to make a film for Alexander
Korda. While there, he will record some Philco shows with British talent and
make some records. British comedian Sid Field is thought likely to be in the
film which was to be written by Damon Runyon. However, Runyon dies on December 10 and the
project does not proceed.
Bing Crosby has canceled his British picture.
“I wanted to go there but they didn’t have a script for me,” Bing tells me at
Paramount on the Road to Rio set. I guess they haven’t yet heard in
England that Bing is the three times winner at the box office in this country.
And when I ask Bing his reaction to this he replies, “Now I believe it, three
times makes it official.” And you can bet that Bing won’t be doing any more
pictures featuring a minority race. He is really upset with the Jewish-Irish
controversy over Abie’s Irish Rose.
(Sheilah Graham, Hollywood Citizen News, January 1, 1947)
Runyon’s Death Kayoes Crosby-Korda British Pic
Damon Runyon’s
death—without leaving a word on paper of the screen story he was working on for
Bing Crosby’s slated picture under Sir Alexander Korda’s banner in England this
spring—will probably result in cancellation of the Korda-Crosby deal. Crosby
had his U.S. commitments arranged to go to London March 1. In light of Runyon’s
death, he has given Korda an extra 60 to 90 days to dig up another story for
him, but it appears unlikely that the producer can locate a satisfactory yarn
and provide a shooting script in that time. Runyon was working out a story idea
provided by Korda. It was supposed to be ready Dec. 15. A few months
previously Korda had asked him to write out the story as far as he
had it completed, but Runyon said he’d rather stick to his custom of getting it
all worked out in his head, after which he could bang it out in two or three
weeks. Before he could get to his typewriter, however, he turned critically ill.
Spokesman
for Korda said Crosby had been extremely gracious in extending the
time limitation and otherwise expressing willingness to cooperate. However, the
story was a tailor-made affair, not only for Crosby’s talents, but for Runyon’s,
it was said, and Korda is experiencing difficulty in getting another
writer to pick up the threads or in locating another suitable yarn. Korda idea
on which Runyon was working was to have Crosby an American cowhand who
suddenly, via the death of a distant relative in England, finds himself a
British nobleman, with a castle, hunting preserve and the other standard
prerogatives. There’s then a comparison of American ways with British, which
prove that while there are superficial differences, people are the same the
world over.
One
of the humorous ideas in the story, for instance, was to have the British, with
whom Crosby goes grouse-hunting, amazed to find that while they use the
traditional fowling piece, the American cowhand gets his grouse every
time by shooting from the hip. Another was his insistence on using a western
saddle, instead of the conventional English saddle, but getting there faster
nevertheless.
It
was hoped that Runyon might have left some scraps of the story among his papers
and a thorough search of his efforts was made with that possibility in mind. Not
a line has been found, however.
(Variety, February 12, 1947)
December 8, Sunday. (Starting at 1:00 p.m.) Bing and
Bob Hope take part in the International Blind Golf and Shooting Tournament at
Inglewood Golf Club, California. Bing plays with Charles Boswell and Bob has Clinton J. Russell as his partner. Hope and Russell win 1-up in the 9-hole match.
December 9, Monday. Leo Lynn, Bing's stand-in is admitted to hospital with a heart ailment.
December 11, Wednesday. (9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast by ABC. The guests are Peggy Lee and Jerry Colonna.
Opinion is divided as to whether Jerry Colonna’s role as Bing Crosby’s
guest tonight will be that of fugitive or spy from the Bob Hope show. The only
certainty is that he will be funny in either capacity. In addition to his own
stylized banter, Jerry will join Bing and the Charioteers quartet in a
questionable singing of “Wyoming.”. Colonna will not be the only guest-celebrity.
The program to be heard at 9 o'clock over WCLO also lists Peggy Lee, whose
singing talents have earned her high praise and many contracts…Just for the
record, it’s worth mentioning that back in 1938, when Jerry Colonna first
appeared in Hollywood, his initial public appearance was on Bing Crosby's show.
Unknown to the listening audience, Jerry was billed as Giovanni Colonna, the
celebrated Italian Opera star. It took just a few bars of “The Road to
Mandalay” for Colonna to convince his listeners that a new comedian was born.
(Janesville Daily Gazette, 11th December, 1946)
December 16, Monday.
(12:30–2:15 p.m.) In NBC Studio B, Bing rehearses for a Philco show with Peggy
Lee and Joe Frisco. (3:50–5:50 p.m.) Records the Philco show and it is
broadcast on January 1, 1947.
December 17, Tuesday.
(9:30–11:45 a.m.) Bing records “That’s How Much I Love You” and “Rose of Santa
Rosa” songs with his brother Bob’s Bobcats and The Chickadees in Hollywood.
“That’s How Much I Love You” briefly charts in the No. 17 spot.
At first, Nelson served as a ghostwriter for Trotter. Over a three-year
period, he wrote about two dozen charts for
Finally, Nelson got his chance to actually conduct a recording date with
Bing. Bob Bain, who played on that date, recalled calling Doreen as soon as
they had finished recording. “Nelson wasn’t nervous but Doreen sure was,” Bain
recalled. “I had promised her that I would call her to let her know that
everything went okay, which it did.”
(Peter J. Levinson, September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle, page 74)
December 18, Wednesday.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast
by ABC. The guest is Peggy Lee.
December 21, Saturday. Press releases show a photograph of W. C. Fields with a report that he is to appear on the Philco show on January 1st. Fields had been in poor health in recent times and it did not prove possible to record the show. He dies a few days later on December 25. Meanwhile, Decca has issued a 4-disc 78rpm album set called Bing Crosby - Jerome Kern and Billboard magazine reviews it on this day.
With the forthcoming of the new movie keyed to the music of Jerome Kern, there is more than casual interest in this packaging of eight melodies by the master, some of which had been issued earlier as singing sides. Attention is also directed to two of the eight sides Bing Crosby had the missus, Dixie Lee, joining him vocally. Mr. and Mrs. Crosby share the lyrics for the ballads A Fine Romance and The Way You Look Tonight with Victor Young providing the musical background. Album plays down Mrs. Crosby, which is easy to understand once the sides spin out. Much more effective are the other six sides that has the groaner giving out in his usual easy and relaxed style, bearing out all the expression and understanding of the Kern songs… Booklet included with the package includes copious notes on the singer and the composer…Movie association will heighten the merchandising appeal of this slap-together set.
December 22, Sunday. (10:00–11:30 a.m.) In NBC Studio B, Bing rehearses for a Philco show with Mickey Rooney and Peggy Lee. (1:38–3:38 p.m.) Records the Philco show and it is broadcast on January 8, 1947.
I watched a theatrical history-making event the other evening. I watched Al
Jolson and Bing Crosby do a broadcast, that is to make a recording for a
“Bingsday” show, which was really something! It was a thrill and something
unique to watch these two masters of two entirely different techniques work
together. It was the first time that Al and Bing had ever performed together.
This recording, which the public will be able to hear on the Jan. 15 broadcast,
will be a collector’s item.
Jolson represents a definite type of
singing, of selling a song, and Crosby represents an entirely different type of
singing and selling a song. Yet both Jolson and Crosby are a distinct part of
Americana, both leaders who set styles that had many imitators, both are
permanent representatives of American theatricals.
It was fascinating to watch these
men perform together. When they did the broadcast at NBC before a regular
studio audience, you could feel that the audience knew that they were watching
something entirely out of the ordinary. In fact, practically every performer
and musician who was at the broadcasting station left their job to crowd into
this studio to watch Jolson and Crosby.
Both Jolson and Crosby, you could
tell while you watched them go through their routines, had great admiration and
respect for each other. They kidded each other, but it was not the usual type
of radio kidding and insulting. You felt that these two men were admiring each
other and inspecting each other. And when they sang together, they do three
different types of songs together, you were aware that you were listening to
the best in the manner of popular singers that this nation had produced during
our time.
There was Jolson, who pushes a song,
who sells it somewhat in the manner of a fighter in the ring, who punches from
the shoulders and gives it everything he has. There was Crosby, who almost
listlessly croons a song, and who does it with almost a studied indifference.
Jolson appeared concerned about putting the song over, and Crosby appeared
unconcerned about putting the song over. Yet together they put over songs as
they have never been put over before.
Crosby wasn’t really fooling when he
said, “Al, you were my idol when I started in the business. I went to hear you
sing and admired you.” Jolson wasn’t really fooling when he said, “Bing, I
didn’t believe you’d get anywhere with that slow and easy manner of singing.”
Yet they both realized that they were the leaders in their distinctive styles
for their different generations of admirers.
Yet, as Crosby commented, “It is
remarkable that the Jolson technique is still favored and again a vogue by a
generation who had never seen him but his technique in The Jolson
Story.”
During the broadcast, Bing sang and
played strictly to the microphone, and not to the actual audience watching.
Jolson, who was popular before the day of the microphone, played mainly to the
gathered audience, regardless of the microphone. Like the theme of the picture
about him, Jolson was singing so he could watch the faces of his audience.
I could go on–but wait until you
hear the broadcast. It’s a hunk of theatrical history.
(Sidney Skolsky, Hollywood Citizen News, January 2, 1947)
December 24, Tuesday.
(3:00–6:00 p.m.) Rehearses with Bob Hope for an evening broadcast. (7:00–7:30
p.m.) Bing guests on Bob Hope’s radio show on NBC with Desi Arnaz, Jerry
Colonna, and Vera Vague. The show comes from Sawtelle Veterans’ Hospital. (9:00
–10:30 p.m.) Bing appears at the conclusion of the radio show Paul Whiteman’s
ABC Christmas Party on ABC. He reads the Nativity story from St. Luke’s
gospel and then sings “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.
December 25, Wednesday.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast
by ABC.
December 26, Thursday. Bing and Bob Hope entertain at the Los Angeles Times National Sports Awards dinner at the Biltmore Bowl. Bing sings three songs.
...Messrs. Bing
Crosby and Bob Hope broke loose during the evening. So did bedlam. The bowl,
which was as hard to get into last night as the Rose Bowl will be Jan. 1, rocked
with laughter as the comedian and the crooner quipped and quarrelled. Jerry
Colonna and Tony Romano aided the headliners as did Russ Morgan and the
Biltmore band.
(The Los Angeles Times, December 27, 1946)
December 27, Friday. The Bing
Crosby Productions film Abie’s Irish Rose is released by United Artists
and creates Jewish-Irish controversy which upsets Bing. The film is based on a
very successful stage play from the 1920s about an Irish girl marrying a Jewish
boy but it fails badly at the box office. Some of the material is now regarded
as offensive to religious and racial groups and Jewish observers attribute the
change in feeling about the story to the heightened awareness of religious and
racial tensions, which the intervening years since the stage play was shown have
produced. Several cuts to the film were made following complaints before
release.
...It still is a source of
intermittent laughter; laughter which stems from the exaggerated racial and
religious prejudices of Solomon Levy and Patrick Murphy, whose youngsters, Abie
and Rosemary, are married first by a minister, secondly by a rabbi and lastly
by a Catholic priest. But somehow in this day, one does not relish this sort of
humor. In fact, it is downright embarrassing to see characters upon the screen
insulting each other because one happens to be a Jew and the other an Irish
Catholic. Of course, it is all intended as innocent joshing and the principals
come to love and respect one another before the fadeout, but this does not
quite remove the distaste of what has gone before.
(New York Times, December 23,
1946)
The essence of film fare is
obviously to entertain. This one doesn’t. It can’t, when the fundamentals are
as meretricious as unwind in these hokey 96 minutes. Nor does it suffice to
dismiss it as merely hokum. There is commercial hoke and there is spurious
buncombe [sic]. This celluloid concoction, for all its elementary plot
development, is untimely. . . Fundamentally, the story has become a topical
misfit.
(Variety, November 27, 1946)
Rosemary is the daughter of Patrick
Murphy, an American-Irish Catholic; Abie is the son of Solomon Levy, an
American orthodox Jew. The two young people meet in London on VE Day, when
Rosemary is entertaining American troops, and Abie, a wounded soldier, is one
of the troops. They fall in love at first sight and are married by a Protestant
Army chaplain. Back in America the problem arises how to break the news to
their respective parents. . . .
(Picture Show, March 6, 1948)
December 30-March, 1947. Monday. Films Road to
Rio (the fifth of the series) financed this time by Bing, Bob Hope, and
Paramount. Bing, Bob, and Dorothy Lamour star as usual with Gale Sondergaard in
a featured role. The Andrews Sisters appear in the film to sing, “You Don’t Have
to Know the Language” with Bing. The director is Norman McLeod with the regular
team of Robert Emmett Dolan and Joseph J. Lilley being responsible for musical
direction and vocal arrangements respectively. Dolan’s work on Road to Rio
is unsuccessfully nominated for an Oscar for “Best Scoring of a Musical
Picture” for 1947 and he loses out to Alfred Newman for Mother Wore Tights. The
Road To Rio was an entirely
different ball game for Bing and me. This time his company and mine each owned
one third of the picture, and Bing
and I were partners in other businesses as well. We had
both invested in a Texas oil venture that had brought us money by the gusher.
We found another promising investment, a soft drink called Lime Cola. A
promoter from Montgomery, Alabama, convinced us to invest $25,000 apiece with
the promise that he was going to put Coca-Cola out of business. The
thought occurred to us: why not use The Road to Rio to help sell Lime
Cola? Why
not indeed? We ordered a large sign to be displayed prominently in one of the
scenes. “You
can’t do that!” argued the Paramount attorney, Jack Karp. “That’s advertising!”
“We
can’t do that, huh?” I said. “Say, Bing - who owns this picture?” “Why,
you own a third, and I own a third,” Bing replied. “Let’s
see - one third and one third makes two thirds, right? I guess Paramount is
outvoted.” The
Lime Cola ad remained in The Road to Unfortunately,
Lime Cola didn’t put Coca-Cola out of business: Lime Cola went out of business
itself. Bing’s and my 25 Gs were gone with the wind. There
was no way to remove the Lime Cola ad from the picture. When the sign came on
the screen at the preview, the only thing Bing and I could do was slump down in
our seats and crawl up the aisle on our hands and knees. (Bob Hope, writing in The Road to
Hollywood) Following the 1946 release of “Road To
Utopia,” described by Crowther as the funniest film about prospecting since
Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush,” Paramount announced it would be the last in the
series. The studio said coordinating
shooting schedules for the three stars had become all but impossible. Billboard
quoted a Paramount spokesman saying the radio schedules of Crosby and Hope cost
the studio $250,000 in delays and rescheduling during shooting of the last one.
Media and the public rose up in protest and some 75,000 irate letters were received
by Paramount before the studio waived a white flag, which read “Road To Rio.” Hollywood was changing once more,
listing back in the direction of Little Mary’s glorious legacy of control by
inmate whim. Stars of the sound era were learning to “talk” money as their
silent predecessors had. More of them were retaining financial advisers and the
need for advantageous income tax positioning was bringing about a restructuring
in the wage-slave relationship with studios. Hope and Crosby incorporated
themselves and demanded the right to have their companies invest in their films
and share in the profits. They put $350,000 into “Road To Rio,” each getting
one-third ownership which made them equal partners with Paramount. Dorothy
Lamour did not have a company and was not given a chance to participate
although Hope and Crosby did make certain she received a small percentage of
the profits, apart from her base salary. She was unhappy but no enduring breach
resulted. For The Singer, “Road To Rio”
produced the last of the memorable songs from the series, “But Beautiful,” in
the top ten four weeks. (Troubadour, page 302) Early
in 1947, Bing picked up the Los Angeles papers and read some unpleasant news
about an old friend, a trombonist and singer whom he’d known for almost twenty
years and whom he’d used in several of his pictures. The musician had become a
band leader, but times were bad for band leaders, and he was stranded in Los
Angeles without enough money to pay off his band. In addition, his wife was
suing him for divorce in an unsavory court action,
which was bringing him just that more ugly publicity. Bing, working on “The
Road to Rio” at Paramount asked the musician to come out to the studio. He
greeted him warmly and then made an abrupt about-face. “You
know”, he told the troubled bandsman, “I’m getting sick and tired of seeing
your face around here. When can you get out of here, and how much will you need
to get back to New York? Answer one at a time.” “Immediately”
was the answer to the first. “Four hundred dollars,” answered the second. Bing
turned to his stand-in, Leo Lynn and directed his next movements. “Get him $600
and put him on the next train out of here.” He turned to the musician.
“Now git! And don’t let me see you around here until you’re persona grata
with everybody. Honestly, every time my back is turned…” He winked and went
back to work whistling. When
he got back to New York, the musician told friends, “All he did was to save my
life and career. That’s all.” (The
Incredible Crosby, page 289)
In the spring of 1947, Jack Teagarden was unemployed
and in debt, when he received a message from Bing Crosby to call at his office
the following day. Bing was well aware of Jack’s troubles and when Jack said he
could not make a fresh start in California, Bing suggested that he should pick
up where he had left off in New York. He then had a cheque made out to Jack for
six hundred dollars for, as he put it, some fares and some snacks. When
Teagarden assured him that the loan would not be for long, he was told with a
smile, “I know, you’ll pay me back. Make sure that you do. I need the dough,
son.”
(From Jack
Teagarden: The Story of a Jazz Maverick by Jay Smith
and Len Guttridge)
Bing hosts
the University of Illinois grid team to lunch at Paramount after they visit him on the Road to Rio set.
Bing’s 1946 income
is put at $867,500. He is named the top movie box office star in the U.S.A. for
1946. In the annual poll by Down Beat, Frank Sinatra is voted top male
singer of 1946. Bing is second with Perry Como third. During the year, Bing has
had thirteen records that have become chart hits and also Decca has issued ten 78rpm albums of his recordings in the twelve-month period. A scholarly book Bing
Crosby and the Bing Crosby Style by Dr. J. T. H. Mize has been published by
Who Is Who in Music Inc. and this commences as follows:
The best-liked, best known, and
best-paid singer in the world is Bing Crosby. He is the person most deserving
of the appellative “a truly typical American,” or “Uncle Sam without the
Whiskers,” or “Mister America.” Comparable to the late Will Rogers, Bing has
truly captured the hearts of America’s millions, for his unique and flexible
manner of musical utterances possesses unparalleled mass appeal, and his appeal
is not confined to any class nor age. Indeed, his popularity is not confined to
America, for it is validly stated that his voice has been heard by, and is
readily recognized and enjoyed by, more people than any other voice in the history
of the human race. Because his musical, social and cultural contributions are
immeasurable, because he has achieved an unprecedented and deserved popularity
in the world’s musical scene, because he has achieved this ascendancy in so
many media of expression, and because his manner and style of singing, has
exerted such a distinct and string influence on practically all style of
singing, this Biographical Bookette is devoted to him alone: Bing Crosby and
the Bing Crosby Style.
January 1, Wednesday.
(9:00–9:30 p.m.) Bing’s transcribed Philco Radio Time show is broadcast
by ABC. The guests are Peggy Lee and Joe Frisco. The Hooper rating is 16.1.
…Durein took the lead in writing to Crosby. Crosby thought it
was a great idea and in early September 1946 it was announced that he would
bring his $5,000, 36-hole National Pro-Am to the peninsula. Which course would host
it was yet to be determined. As was the case at Rancho Santa Fe, Bing’s brother
Larry would be general chairman and Maurie Luxford, tournament chairman. Locals
formed a committee headed by Dan Searle, a 1-handicap golfer and past champion
at Monterey Peninsula Country Club (MPCC), to attend to local details. His club
agreed to supply the army of volunteers needed to manage the details on the
peninsula.
In late October, Searle and Durein met with the Crosby team to
hammer out the details. It was Crosby that suggested using three courses rather
than just one. The PGA initially objected, “It’s never been done.” Crosby
countered that nowhere else were three world-class courses—Cypress Point,
Monterey Peninsula Dunes and Pebble Beach—in such close proximity. When the PGA
announced that for 1947, the minimum purse would be $10,000, any concern was
calmed when Crosby agreed to put up the larger purse.
They agreed that 76 pro-am teams would play one course each day.
The PGA would qualify the pros and Crosby would invite the top amateurs and
celebrities, like Bob Hope and Johnny Weissmuller, and even four women. Crosby
hoped to again include Babe Zaharias, who not only got her amateur status back,
but won the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Runner-up Clara Callendar Sherman was
also on the initial list. She had grown up at MPCC, where her father was the
first pro, and she, at age 12, won both the 1932 MPCC Women’s championships.
Proceeds from the tournament would again go to charity. For 1946
the funds would be split between the Sister Kenny Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis and the Monterey Peninsula Community Chest.
Durein proudly announced the results of the meeting in the
October 29, 1946 Monterey Peninsula Herald as “the most sensational, colossal,
stupendous, breathtaking spectacle in the history of golf.” Following
immediately after the Los Angeles Open, the tournament would be played January
10-12 and “officially known as the Sixth Annual $10,000 National Pro-Am
Championship, Sponsored by Bing Crosby.” It wasn’t until 1966, “the 25th”
tournament, that the tournament program acknowledged the numbering error, which
was blamed on forgetting about the nearly washed-out event in 1937. Despite the
acknowledgment, there was no correction. The errant numbering continued through
1985.
The tournament came off nearly as planned, although neither the
ladies nor Bob Hope made it that first year. Celebrities besides Crosby
included Dennis O’Keefe, Randolph Scott, Richard Arlen, Edgar Kennedy and
Johnny Weissmuller. The latter, famous as Tarzan, paired with Ed “Porky” Oliver
as part of the top-drawing foursome that also included pretournament favorite
Ben Hogan, winner of the prior week’s Los Angeles Open, who was paired with
top-ranked amateur Frank Stranahan.
Photoplay Gallup
awards party went very smoothly by comparison with the 1946 event, thanks
largely to presence of Danny Kaye at the helm. Champ Bing Crosby’s singing of “Buttermilk
Sky” was amusing, especially when he ran out of words, carrying “ine” rhyme, and
suggested the matter would have to be referred to “Sylvia Fine,” Kaye’s spouse.
(Edwin Schallert, Los Angeles Times, January 15, 1947)
…The other guy —
well, he was none other than Mr. Harry Lillis Crosby, complete with tuxedo,
which was for him an almost unheard-of bow to the occasion. And he was utterly
and enchantingly Bing. A lesser showman would have sung “The Bells of St.
Mary’s” — but Bing knew better. He wasn’t pretentious. He wasn’t mock-modest.
He caroled “A-Huggin’ and A- Chalkin’ ” and “Ole Buttermilk Sky.” He did a duet
with Danny. He grinned and radiated charm — and kidded Bing Crosby.
In three words, he was perfect.
(Photoplay, April, 1947)
he Hooper rating is 20.6
reaches the No. 2 spot in the Billboard best-selling popular record albums chart on August 7, 1948.
It is 9th in the year’s top-selling popular record albums listing.
Crosby
ET Show in Steady Climb: Hooper Hits 20.6
New York, Jan. 25. Bing Crosby’s transcribed Philco show
continues to climb, rating-wise, and is nearing the socko 24.0 Hooper
registered by the opening show on October 16 which had Bob Hope as guest.
Wednesday’s (22) session with Al Jolson guesting, registered a 20.6—giving ABC
and Philco cause for rejoicing. Next Wednesday’s show (29) is also expected to
hit a high mark, the groaner having lined up Hope again, with the added
attraction of Dorothy Lamour. Ratings since show opened reveal an initial high
rating followed by a sharp drop, in turn followed by a steady climb. Figures
are as follows and include special Hooper studies made in addition to the
regular Hooper taken at two-week intervals.
October 16, 24.0; November 6, 12.2; November 13, 15.8; November 20, 15.6; December 4, 13.4; December 18, 15.8; January 8, 16.1 and January 15, 20.6.
This pattern of diving and climbing bears out thinking of ABC execs who predicted such a course. Show opened on the wave of socko promotion. Weak guestars, plus a fade in the initially strong promotion helped account for the dive; and a return to a stronger guest policy plus Crosby’s strong personal draw is held accountable for the upward swing. Proponents of the transcribed feature of the Crosby-Philco operation also point out that the boost in listening audience is a strong indication that it matters little to listeners whether a program is live or disked.
(Billboard,
February 1, 1947)
By common consent [Crosby] is the head man of American
entertainment in just about every branch but sidewalk magic. But none of the
other achievements measures up to the magnitude of his assault on the
established framework of radio. For two decades the tycoons of the ether have
snuffed out rebellions like so many cigarettes; it took Crosby to bring them to
heel ( . . . ) That he had his way is the clearest testimony that he is the No.
1 man in entertainment—certainly, as Variety called him, ‘Mr. Radio himself.’
Radio is a tough business, and characteristically merciless to nonconformists.
That the whole roster of radio stars is planning to follow Crosby’s lead next
year [in transcribing their programs for broadcast on later dates] is plain
enough tribute to his leadership.
(Fortune Magazine, January 1947)
Memories of many years of show business will awake in the minds of
listeners when Bing Crosby’s guest, George Jessel, does a special medley called
“Themes of Oldtimers” on the ABC program at 10 p. m. today. Jessel’s long
experience on the vaudeville and musical comedy stages of the country has given
him an enormous fund of nostalgic material and his unusual ability as a mimic
makes him an ideal performer tor this number…Several guests, namely Jack McVea
and his All-Stars, here enter the picture to collaborate with Bing on the
novelty number which they have popularized, “Open the Door. Richard.” McVea and
his boys are a five-man band, three years old as a unit on the day of the
broadcast, whose recording of his opus has become a smash hit. Latin Songstress
Lina Romay will return for this program.
(Battle Creek Enquirer, 22nd January, 1947)
Bea Lillie, who is Lady Peel to the plush-chair set of England, and a
great comedienne to the Americans, will be Bing Crosby’s guest…She and Bing
will sing songs together, enact sketches and do a top line job of adlibbing.
Those who have already heard transcriptions of the show say it is a good
program.
(Des Moines Tribune, 5th February, 1947)
Bing Plays Role Without Billing
Bing Crosby sneaks
“under the wire” to make an appearance in the latest Bob Hope-Dorothy Lamour
laugh riot, “My Favorite Brunette” at the Paramount Hollywood and Downtown
theaters. You won’t find his name in the billing, but Bing plays a very important
role in Bob Hope’s life as a private detective in “My Favorite Brunette”.
(Valley Times, March 31, 1947)
The Hooper rating is 17.3.
Bing Crosby will be all but overwhelmed by the profusion of top rank
guests appearing on his program tonight…At first glance it would appear that
two or three programs were being telescoped into one, but a second look shows
that they all have something in common. Judy Garland, Leo McCarey, and William
Frawley are the headliners. Director McCarey and Crosby were associated in the
prize-winning films “Going My Way” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” Together with
Miss Garland and actor William Frawley, they will attempt a rendition of
“Tearbucket Jim.”
(The Capital Times, 19th February, 1947)
A
surgeon cut away a portion his stomach. Barbour survived, but stayed in
critical condition for days. Lee drew comfort from her girlhood idol Bing
Crosby, who had hosted her numerous times on his radio show and in turn became
her friend. Crosby called her each morning to check that Barbour had made it
through the night. He offered money, blood, even his babysitting services.
(James Gavin, Is That All
There Is? The Strange Life of Peggy Lee, page 96)
he Hooper rating is 21.7
it is reviewed on this day by Billboard magazine. The album quickly
reaches No. 4 in Billboard's best-selling popular record albums chart on
March 22, 1947 and is still selling well the following year when it reaches No.
1 in the same chart on March 20, 1948.
Aiming at maximum holiday sales, this package of five platters brings together 10 Erin faves cut at varying times by Bing Crosby, getting vocal assist on some of the sides from the Jesters and the King’s Men, while the music making belongs to Bob Haggart, Victor Young and John Scott Trotter. Der Bingle in good Erin form for each of the sides and song selections are tops ... Photo of the smiling Bing on the album cover, with notes on the singer and the songs in the accompanying booklet.
(Billboard, March 8, 1947)
Bing’s album, despite his usual graceful ease of interpretation, lacks his old fullness of voice. If Crosby is going to keep on making records with his evident sloppiness and lack of interest, it would be better if he would stop now and let his millions of fans remember him by his older and far better discs.
(Down Beat, March 26, 1947)
This is an over-ambitious attempt to coin extra-added out of Bing Crosby’s early recordings. In this instance the label is packaging Der Bingle’s Hawaiian diskings, putting 10 sides in a set. And there’s enough here for two such sets, using the same cover design of smiling Bing against a geographical picture of the islands with a descriptive booklet accompanying each set. For the first set, they are all slow and dreamy spinners, with instrumental and vocal support from Dick McIntire, Lani McIntire and the Paradise Island trio. Top faves in the first volume include Song of the Islands and Sweet Leilani…Both McIntire strumming ensembles are included in the second album, also of 10 sides, with two sides cut with Harry Owens’s full band. Second set includes several selections at a livelier beat, with Trade Winds the top song favorite…For Der Bingle and hula fans, there’s enough in these two packages to last a lifetime.
(Billboard, March 8, 1947)
Bing Crosby should
know better. There was no excuse for his slip-of-the-tongue on the Jack Benny
show on Sunday. Crosby is an old hand around microphones, so such slips can’t
be termed accidental.
(Bee Offineer,
Radio Editor, Akron Beacon Journal,
March 18, 1947)
Jack Benny’s new
quartet produced hilarious results, particularly when Bing, who isn’t used to
live broadcasts, hit a high note and ad libbed: “Who the hell set this pitch –
Dennis Day?” The puritanical NBC erased
the remark from the transcribed re-broadcast for the Pacific Coast.
(Bob Thomas, Associated Press, March 18, 1947)
The Hooper rating is 17.1.
Danny Kaye, whose radio appearances have been few and far between since
his sponsor dropped his contract, will be heard on the Bing Crosby show. Kaye
will serenade his daughter with “Dena’s Lullaby” and join “The Groaner” in what
promises to be a jarring interpretation of Brahm’s “Lullaby.”
(The Indianapolis Star, 19th March, 1947)
Although
they had no personal problems working with Crosby and Haymes—both on records and on radio—the girls were not accustomed
to Haymes’ style of song arranging. He insisted on dividing segments of the song equally between himself and the sisters.
According to Maxene, the trio was more concerned with
the quality
of the finished product rather than who sang how many lines,
so they usually let the crooner have his way.
One session proved troublesome, however, when the trio and Haymes joined Bing Crosby in March of 1947. Maxene recalled,
The
only artist we had problems with was Dick Haymes. I guess maybe they figured we
were a strange act to work with because we didn’t read music. So, when we would come into the recording
session, we would have the secretary type out all of the lyrics and type out the direction of how
it would go. And nobody ever disagreed. Crosby said, “Anything the girls want to do.” Dick
counted lines, so
he ruined a wonderful
recording session that we could have had with “There’s No Business like Show Business” because he made everybody change things in it.
(John Sforza, Swing It! page 113)
This
Christmas story is narrated by Crosby when, in Old Mexico at the hour of siesta,
he sees the boy Pablo berating a disreputable looking donkey. He explains that
what is mistaken for stubbornness in the breed is, in fact, the pride that was
brought by one that fulfilled their destiny. He relates how, many years ago a
boy was sent by his father to take an old donkey (the “Small One”) to the
tanner and obtain a piece of silver for its hide; of how the boy first tried to
save the animal by selling it to a new owner at an auction where he was scoffed
at and re-buffed; of how, entering the tanner’s gate he is stopped by a
stranger asking if he will sell the donkey to him as he has to undertake a long
journey and his wife is not well; of how, when the new owner is stopped at the
town gate by a soldier and asked his identity, replies that he is Joseph, his
wife is Mary and that they are on their way to Bethlehem. There, in a stable, a
King was born and the Small One was envied for becoming part of a great miracle.
Bing
tells the charming story with conviction and he is well supported by the other
actors and the background effects and music provided by Victor Young with a “Silent
Night, Holy Night” conclusion. The “hoofbeats” effects (the same notes that the
angels sang in their rejoicing) are adroitly interpolated.
(Fred
Reynolds, The Crosby Collection 1926-1977
(part three), pages 186-7)
Another anthology of Bing Crosby, this time packaging eight of his cuttings of western songs of early vintage but still standing up for the most part to the test of time. Supported by the music of Victor Young, John Scott Trotter and Jimmy Dorsey, plus Eddie Dunstedter at the organ for There’s a Gold Mine in the Sky, the Crosby chanting is heard again for Home on the Range, When the Bloom Is on the Sage (the Foursomes on the vocal assist), I’m an Old Cowhand, Mexicali Rose, Silver on the Sage, Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle and My Little Buckaroo. Bing in 10-gallon hat and riding a broncho makes for the album cover design with an accompanying booklet for the folk music.
(Billboard,
March 22, 1947, page 110)
ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND - THE SPANIARD THAT BLIGHTED MY
(Billboard, April 26, 1947)
When Jack Benny and Mary Livingston drop in for a visit to Bing
Crosby’s program this evening at 9:00 p. m. Bing will bring to light one of his
hidden talents. Violinist extraordinary Benny offers Bing a summer job as a
member of his band playing at a beach resort. Unable to afford Bing’s crooning
services. Benny suggests that Bing could handle a light band chore playing the
cymbals. For an hilarious finish. Bing, Jack and Mary Livingston form a trio
offering “Margie” with Benny playing the violin.
(The Jackson Sun, 26th March 1947)
Strong
material, a solid record-selling name combination—maybe not at their very best,
yet good enough to be better than most—and this twosome certainly stacks up a
sure-fire two-sided juke attraction. Newly hatched Decca promotion activities
will be employed much in the same, and a successful manner that was applied to
the Jolson-Crosby “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” on this disking and should cull
for it added retail attraction. But “Tallahassee” with its very clever
second-chorus Crosby-Patti Andrews duet and its strength as song material, and
“Go West,” with its light-hearted lyrical ribbing of the California Chamber of
Commerce given the Crosby and Andrews touch, should hardly require a fanfare to
make the hit grade. Both tunes are from films, “Go West” from “Copacabana” and
the other from “Variety Girl.”
(Billboard, May 17, 1947)
The Hooper rating is a massive 25.8.
AI Jolson, by now an old hand at
hypoing the Hooper wherever he guests, took Bing
Crosby’s Philco series for a sky ride last week and sent the show soaring
to its highest rating since the first disc was spun. Checkers caught the show
at 25.8.
(
Bing Crosby, John Charles Thomas and Al Jolson took no chances
on offending us squawkers when Bing’s WJZ air program did an old fashioned minstrel
show recently. The show was good and corny but funny without ridiculing the
Negro. Bing paid tribute to the late pantomime master comedian, Bert Williams,
when he sang, “I Ain’t Done Nothing to Nobody.” Baritones please note: Bing and
Al changed the word ‘darkies’ to ‘voices’ when they sang James Bland’s nostalgic
In the Evening in the Moonlight. How
about a little more consciousness on the part of all who sing songs which contain
this and other similar words? ‘Tis very
easy to do, as Bing and Al proved in their hilarious broadcast.
(The People’s Voice (New York, New York), April 19, 1947)
Dear
Mrs. Sullivan
I’m
agreeably surprised that you and your husband should consider me well-dressed.
Even tho I was in my finest for Easter – don’t you know I’m notorious as the
worst dressed man in show business? And I have been for years. I must be
slipping.
Warmest
regards, your friend, Bing Crosby
“My
husband said he wouldn’t walk across the street to hear a crooner, so I had to
come alone,” explained a matronly woman as she took a seat in the section
reserved for navy brass at Ross stadium, Great Lakes.
Well,
Bing Crosby, who was the attraction that night, is considerably more than a
crooner. He’s the minstrel of the era,
the No. 1 entertainer of our times, if we can believe what we hear from the
movies’ box office, Mr Hooper’s radio ratings, and Jack Kapp’s Decca
statistics.
The
1,800 navy men (200 of them on stretchers and in wheel chairs) who gathered to
watch him transcribe his ABC radio show found him a swell guy, a great singer,
a very funny fellow, and generous with his time and talents.
To
us he is all that – and somewhat of an enigma too. For two weeks we had been striving without
success to talk to Bing and to look in on his rehearsal. Bob Hope answers the phone himself; so does
Jack Benny. And even the President of
the United States meets the press. But
Bing is elusive.
We
were about to give up the chase when word came that radio editors would be
welcome to watch Bing record his show at Great Lakes. After we reached the station we were
cautioned that if we met Bing (which we didn’t on this occasion although I had
met him at the Quiz Kids’ session and found him very old shoes) we were not to
ask him any questions.
So
we didn’t meet him but we had sandwiches and coffee with the Crosby entourage,
which included Bill Morrow, his writer-producer, formerly with Benny; Murdo
MacKenzie, co-producer; John Scott Trotter, that genial, courteous North
Carolinian whom we have admired since his Hal Kemp days; Hank Greenberg, a
pleasant fellow, and his heiress wife, and Society Kid Hogan, bon vivant, vocal
coach, chronic aesthete, horse authority, and Randolph Street fashion plate.
(The Kid was wearing a pearl gray suit and a bright red sweater.)
A
Crosby rehearsal and transcription is as relaxed as a cat lying in the
sun. It has about as much tension as a
piece of spaghetti and about as much hurry as a child getting to bed. An air of exaggerated carefreeness pervades
the scene. Crosby leans against a piano
in an attitude of complete unconcern.
With his balding dome he isn’t recognized immediately by the navy
men. His trade-mark – the flowered shirt
– is missing. A dun colored garment
hangs over brown slacks.
Groucho
Marx, sans mustache and hair, in a bilious green shirt and loud suspenders
isn’t easy to identify, either. Trotter
carries on an amiable conversation with musicians: Greenberg, Warren Brown, and Morrow gab. MacKenzie hasn’t a care in the world. It’s a scene of contrived casualness. That apoplectic air that precedes the curtain
raising of most radio shows is missing.
Only Jane Hill, secretary to Morrow, seems concerned. She is rushing
about, teetering on spiked heels.
Finally,
well after the designated hour for starting, Bob Murphy, Chicago announcer,
introduces “The Man” (That’s what Bing is called by his henchmen.)
“Sorry to keep you fellows waiting,” says
Crosby, “but we had to get a few things lined up. At least we’ll know pretty soon whether
they’re lined up."
The
show was largely devoted to the first day of baseball – that Cub-Pirate deal in
which Greenberg showed signs of earning the money Crosby pays him as a co-owner
of the team. It was funny then, but
won’t it be a little stale by the time the show is played on May 14th?
Bing
did a wonderful job that night singing that paean to status quo, “Glocca Mora,”
but even if he hadn’t it wouldn’t matter.
All his songs had been transcribed earlier in the day at the Merchandside
Mart and the best rendition is picked for the radio show. A transcription has the advantage that it is
subject to editing and revision. And we
have a feeling that some of those jokes about Groucho’s girl baseball team will
get the blue pencil, but we hope that one about “a curve on every bag” will be
spared.
We thought it all went off smoothly but afterwards we heard one of the Crosby crew say: “It was a hassel.” A local radio expert explained: Hassel is Hollywood for rat race.”
(Larry Wolters, Chicago Tribune, April 27, 1947)
Bing
Crosby was all dressed up for the Chamber of Commerce dinner last night at the
William Penn Hotel. Der Bingle wore a tie!
Crosby
was one of the honored guests at the banquet to pay tribute to the new and old management. And, as usual, he stole the show, much to the
delight of almost 1000 who turned out for the affair.
Before
Bing got to the microphone, President Frank McKinney of the Pirates prepared a
surprise.
He
secretly installed Buzz Aston, KDKA crooner, at one end of the hall, and had
him sing two of the songs he did in the Baseball Writers’ Show last February,
when he imitated Bing. Aston, who can croon low, was accompanied by Cap Davies
and Frank Natale, and his skit almost knocked Crosby off his chair.
When
it came Bing’s turn, he turned on everything. Charm, songs, sweet talk and a
personality that can’t be beaten.
Bing
sang one song without benefit of accompaniment and for an encore, crooned
“Anniversary Waltz,” (sic) aided by
the pianist. Gosh, if he could only pitch!
(Les Biederman, The Pittsburgh Press, April 19, 1947)
Groucho Marx, comedian of vaudeville, Broadway, the movies and radio,
and Dorothy Shay, who travels under the banner, “The Park Avenue Hillbilly”
will visit the Bing Crosby show…The show originated in Chicago, the trio made
with comedy, both in patter and music, for the boys at Vaughn Veterans
Hospital.
(The Des Moines Register, 30th April, 1947)
...Titled “The
Story of the World’s Greatest Mother,” the broadcast will trace events in the
life of Mary as the mother of Christ. Music will be produced by Meredith
Willson’s orchestra.
(Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1947)
Just before Bing
Crosby went on the air from Mutual’s New York studios, during the all-star “World’s
Greatest Mother” program yesterday afternoon, he sat in the network’s offices
calmly listening to a radio description of the St. Louis Cards- Pittsburgh Pirates
baseball game. He did so with interest, being part owner of the Pittsburgh
club.
(Daily News, May 12, 1947)
(Alan
Beaumont, The Capital Times (Madison,
Wisconsin), May 11, 1947)
Florence
Pritchett, who’s riding the WOR kilocycles under the monicker of Barbara Welles
and who was the whilom Barbara Bruce of the N. Y. Journal-American women’s
page, had an auspicious launching Monday (12) of her daily half-hour gab spot
which was formerly occupied by Martha Deane. Bing Crosby was her guest and he
pushed the program off at a pace that’ll be difficult to match in future
sessions. With Crosby blooming in the spring with an iridescent and irrepressible
line of chatter, there wasn’t much room or time on the preem for anyone else.
It's unfair, moreover, to evaluate any gabber when he or she is up against such
a free-wheeling maestro of the flippant phrase as Crosby. Miss Welles didn’t
manage to hit any home runs during her few times at bat but she fielded Crosby’s
line drives neatly and kept the conversational ball from being lost in a pocket
of dead air. Definitely in her favor for the daily grind is her bright, clear
voice, her unaffected manner and an average quality of educated speech that’ll
make any hausfrau feel right at home. And the graceful way she hurdled the obstacle
of a plug, for a fudge company by making Crosby take the leap
with her indicates smooth traveling for her through the jungle of afternoon
commercialism.
(Variety, May 14, 1947)
Bing cuts with New York
crew.
New York – While in the east to watch his Pittsburgh Pirates battle
to stay in front of the Dodgers, Bing Crosby cut four sides for Decca with a
band conducted by John Scott Trotter. Tunes were “I Do, Do, Do”; “Kokomo,
Indiana”; and “The Old Chaperon”.
Backing Bing on the date were Yank Lawson, Andy
Ferretti, Red Solomon, trumpets; Paul Ricci, Toots Mondello, Hank Ross, Bernie
Kaufman, Rudy Adler, saxes; Perry Botkin, guitar; Bob Haggart, bass; Frank
Signorelli, piano; and Bunny Shawker, drums. Also used were a string section
and a harp.
(Down Beat, June
18, 1947)
Bing Crosby puts emphasis squarely on variety tonight with a guest
line-up which includes Groucho Marx, Hank Greenberg, slugging first baseman of
the Pittsburgh Pirates; Warren Brown, sports-writer for the Chicago
Herald-American, and the George Barnes Octet. “The Groaner” who lists himself as
the Pirate’s “vice president in charge of watching games, eating hot dogs and
keeping my mouth shut” will air a comedy sports skit with Greenberg, Marx and
Brown in the cast. On their second times at bat Groucho and Bing will sing a
duet on “Good-by, Mr. Ball, Good-by”. (9 p.m., WISH-ABC)
(The Indianapolis Star, May 14, 1947)
Astor Pictures has come up with what looks like a
goldmine of an idea with its compilation of four old Mack Sennett - Educational
two-reelers starring Bing Crosby into a feature-length production appropriately
titled “Road to Hollywood.” Shorts were bought by Astor prexy Bob Savini several
years ago when Educational went bankrupt. Entire cost of this production is
some $20,000 and, with the film already booked into several of the major
circuits. Savini should realize several times that amount in profit.
Savini was aided in the compilation by Bud Pollard,
prexy of the Screen Directors’ Guild, eastern chapter, who re-edited and tied
together the shorts with a live narration, in which he is seen on the screen
seated in a director’s chair. With Crosby’s name as surefire marquee lure and with
some zany Sennett slapstick for good word-of-mouth, the film should bolster
double bill situations wherever played, if properly ballyhooed. It’s not strong
enough nor long enough to hold up by itself.
Savini and Pollard did a creditable job on editing the
briefies, managing to integrate a faint story line with them. Opening with
Pollard explaining to the audience that this is how Crosby got his start in Hollywood,
the film fades into one of the shorts depicting the Groaner starting off to the
Coast in a dilapidated jalopy (a stock Sennett trademark). Then, with Pollard
bridging each gap with his explanatory narration, the other three shorts have
Crosby in typical Sennett comedies, things which he probably wouldn't deign to
do now.
Stuff, besides being hilarious, has a certain
nostalgic quality which should
please any audience. Interspersed with it all, of course, are eight oldtime
faves sung by Crosby. There’s been considerable speculation lately about
whether his voice is as good now as it was several years ago and this picture proves,
at least, how terrific he was when he first hit the Coast. He dishes out “I
Surrender, Dear,” “At Your Command,” “Out of Nowhere,” “Wrap Your Troubles in
Dreams.” “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” “Just One More Chance” “Mine All Mine,''
and “When I Take My Sugar to Tea,” all of which he almost single-handedly
boosted to Hit Parade status. Sound track is free of fuzz, stacking up with
present-day standards of recording.
(Variety, May 21, 1947)
Bing Crosby has added another honor to his already
imposing list. The editors of “Song Hits Magazine” have named him first male
singer of the country and added: “Probably the most outstanding popular singer
of our time.”
…But getting back to top singers, Maurice
Chevalier and Bing Crosby combine the top singing talents of two continents and
the thrill of fondly remembered songs when the French entertainer makes his
first post-radio appearance on the Crosby show tonight at 9 o’clock on WTS-ABC.
Fun and nostalgia follow each other when
Crosby and Chevalier imitate each other’s singing styles and Maurice is heard
once again in “Louise” from his first Hollywood film, “The Big Pond,” in which
Claudette Colbert was his leading lady and which the parents of many of the
younger folks listening saw during their courtship days.
Raising the singing commercial to unheard
heights of grandeur the pair make duet of a parody on “Valentine” in which the
sponsor’s product is extolled in a special lyric fitting the tune that has
become associated with gentle ribaldry.
Tonight’s Crosby show promises to be the most
discussed, quoted and praised radio show in a season of memorable Crosby
programs.
(Glen Johnson, The Jackson Sun, May 21, 1947)
Sixteen of golf's top professionals teed
off with relief today in the Goodall round robin—for Bing Crosby and his stampeding
bobby sox fans were gone from the again-pleasant acres.
Pressure is one thing and the shrill
squeals and screams which rolled over the hills and echoed through the dales at Charles River country club yesterday are
another. Golf etiquette was fractured beyond recognition as several thousand fans
followed Bing down the road to par oblivion.
Surrounded by 17 protecting local
gendarmes, Bing played 18 holes in the pro-amateur kickoff to the Goodall tournament.
With him were Jimmy Demaret, host Elmer Ward and Frank Craven. Suffice it to
say that Craven is club champion and shot somewhere in the neighbourhood of an
80
Nobody in the foursome got close to par
but it was a neck and neck race between Demaret and Crosby for “best dressed”
honors with Bing off his recaing record again, no doubt, winding up in the
place spot. The crooner's ensemble was a brown hat with blue polka-dot ribbon; blue-green
shirt; gold sweater; mustard slacks and brown shoes. Demaret upheld his sartorial prestige with a white
cap of the gay nineties auto duster type; yellow shirt. Nile green slacks and honest-honest—green and grey alligator
shoes.
“The sunlight glaring off those shoes
is ruining my game,” Crosby complained as they jostled their way through a
tough road show.
It was a new experience for such stars
as Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Lloyd Mangrum. Accustomed to large galleries, they
played practically in private. It was so
upsetting that Hogan, out in five under par 31, slipped off his game and came
in with a 36.
“The silence got me,” he grinned.
But there was little silence between
Crosby and Demaret, who must have been substituting for Bob Hope. They heckled, sang and
whistled all the way until tee shots looked like five iron pokes and three putts were the rule. And when
they putted out on the 18th the crowd closed in tight.
Standing on a table, Crosby sang several
songs and then told his adoring public that he was sorry he couldn’t stay.
“I’ve got to get a plane to Pittsburgh and
give Hank Greenberg a rubdown.” said Bing….
(Oscar Fraley. (UP), May 29, 1947)
Margaret O’Brien, the screen’s youngest celebrity, will make her debut
as a radio singer when she visits Bing Crosby…In addition to joining Bing in a
duet of “You Won’t Be Satisfied Until You Break My Heart,” Margaret will
discuss the qualifications of her host’s four sons as suitors…Accordionist
Charlie Magnante and his quartet, including electric organ, guitar and bass
viol, will play Chopin’s “Minute Waltz.”
(The Birmingham News, 28th May, 1947)
(Harry Nimmo,
The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record, pages 239-240)
No less than 19—count ‘em—19 all time hit tunes in whole or in part
will be included in Bing Crosby’s show tonight at 9 o’clock when musical comedy
star Ethel Merman and Alec Templeton, pianist and songster-satirist, visit the
all-star half hour of music and fun. Ethel and Bing are expected to bring the
house down when they join in the duet, “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better,”
from “Annie Get Your Gun,” seldom heard on the air.
(The Jackson Sun, 11th June, 1947)
The
characters in this dramatised story by Edward Everett Hale (a classic novelette
which first appeared in the “Atlantic Monthly” in 1863) as adapted in poetic
narrative by Jean Holloway, are shadowy figures to other than US citizens. In
fact the recording was not issued in the UK until 1967. Nevertheless, the “love
of country” theme is universal and requires little imagination for its message
to be applied to any other native land.
Briefly,
the story is of how Lieutenant Philip Nolan, through an association with
political leader Aaron Burr, is accused of treason and in an outburst of fury
declares damnation of the US and a wish that he never again should hear its
name. The Court grants his wish and from 1807 until 1863 he is kept prisoner on
board ships that sail the seas without his ever having sight or sound of his country.
In
the Mediterranean, he meets ladies invited aboard for a ship’s ball and finds
among them his long lost sweetheart but he is stubbed. He lives on for long years
with an unbearably empty heart and when he lies dying his cabin is found to be
a shrine to America: stars and stripes draped around a picture of Washington,
his own painting of a majestic eagle and a map of the US that he had drawn from
memory. His final wishes are to hear about his country (nine Presidents since
1807, momentous historical events and an extract from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address
are related), to be buried at sea and to have a stone set up in his memory. The
wishes were granted and thus, relates Bing, “the man without a country came
home to America”.
All
the actors speak their parts well; interestingly, two of them later found fame
on television, Gale Gordon in Lucille Ball’s show and Jack Webb in the
successful “Dragnet” detective series. Ira Grossel was the real name of Jeff
Chandler who became a leading man in films.
Crosby’s
narration includes some picturesque descriptions of the America that Philip
Nolan would never see again. The background music and effects were composed and
directed by Victor Young.
Hale’s
story was based upon truth. In l804 Aaron Burr, a lawyer, was defeated in a bid
for the Presidency by Alexander Hamilton whom he challenged to a duel for
alleged aspersion to his character. Hamilton was fatally wounded and Burr was
forced to retire from public life. In 1807, he was charged with conspiracy and
treason when it was asserted that he was forming a private army to seize
Mexico: he was tried but acquitted. Philip Nolan, born in Mississippi of Irish
descent, had supported him and was arraigned before a court martial and
sentenced. He
was well treated on the ships where he spent fifty-five years of his life. The
sentence was never rescinded and he died aboard in his eighties. One of the
ships upon which he was confined was “Old Ironsides” including the time of its
battle with HMS Java. The incident related in the recording about the reading
from Scott’s “The Lay of The Last Minstrel” was possibly an elaboration
although it was said to have been reported by one of the ship’s officers. It
would certainly have been impossible for anyone to have read to him the extract
from Lincoln’s address which was not made until six months after Nolan died.
(Fred Reynolds, The Crosby Collection 1926-1977 (part three), pages 203-4)
July 12, Saturday. Billboard magazine announces the results of its 9th. annual college poll of favorite male singers. Frank Sinatra is top with 755 votes followed by Bing (740) and Como (616).
It is announced that Bing is selling his ranch at Independence Valley and buying four ranches including the PX ranch near North Fork, sixty miles north of Elko, Nevada, from Newt Crumley (owner of the Commercial Hotel, Elko) for $221,000 cash, cattle at market, and ten dollars a ton for the hay. The ranches contain 25,000 acres and an unknown expanse of national forest. They are at an elevation of 6,400 feet and Bing runs 3,500 head of cattle there. John Eacret, manager of Bing's existing ranch, will manage the new Crosby interests.
Gary Crosby (age fourteen) becomes a boarder at Bellarmine Academy, San Jose as does Bill Gargan's son,
Leslie.
Packaging
eight Latin lullabies which Bing Crosby cut in an earlier day, it all adds up
to a likely El Bingo binge for the fans. A romantic ranchero, Crosby sings to
Xavier Cugat's music for Siboney, Hasta Manana, You Belong to My
Heart and Baia. For the other two records in the set, it’s
the single spirited spin for Alla En El Rancho Grande with the
Foursome adding their vocal harmonies and John Scott Trotter making the music
just as spirited. Trotter frames the musical back for the pash Amor piping
to complete the platter. For the fourth side, Crosby sings it in Spanish, with
Victor Young conducting the orchestra, for No Te Importe Saber,
recognized as Let Me Love You Tonight, and adds the English lyric
for Flores Negras, best remembered as You’re the Moment of
a Lifetime. Color photo of the singer wearing a sombrero makes for an
attractive cover page, with personal notes on the piper for the inside page.
JASPER
- Bing Crosby has just returned here, from a two-week hunting trip along the
northern boundary of Jasper National Park.
His trophies included mountain sheep, mountain goat and moose, a growth
of whiskers and a deep tan.
Fresh
from his victory in the annual Totem Pole golf tournament, at Jasper, Bing left
September 8, with three hunter friends from the United States and outfitter
Stan Kitchen.
Their
pack train of 35 horses headed into the hunting country from Brule, wound
through Eagle’s Nest Pass and the Wild Bay River, then to the Muskeg headwaters
and along the Snake Indian to Devon.
Dr
Arnold Stevens of Beverly Hills, Calif., and two hunters from Elko, Nevada,
Newton Crumley and John Oldham, all bagged moose and mountain goat, but Bing
was sole boaster of a mountain sheep trophy, prized Big Horn of the Rockies.
Outfitter Kitchen described the Crosby party
as one of the most congenial he had ever guided, with the crooner’s tireless
good humor setting the pace.
He
recalled the day Bing and he were caught in a sudden high country blizzard
which whipped over the mountain they were climbing and forced them to seek the
questionable shelter of a rock slab.
Dusting
the snow from his collar and rifle, pounding his hands for warmth, Crosby
turned to Kitchen.
Only
one thing I could ask for,” he shouted above the storm," “I’d give up my
chance of a Big Horn if Bob Hope were up here with us.”
Leaving
his trophies in Canada for mounting, Bing is now motoring homeward. The remainder of the party took off from
Jasper airport Wednesday in Mr. Crumley’s Beechcraft to fly direct to Nevada.
(The Vancouver Sun, September 25, 1947)
Bing Crosby’s on
tape, from now on.
His
season’s teeoff stanza on ABC tonight (Wed.) was tape-recorded, then tape edited, then transferred to platters. Until
a better process comes along, all future shows will be similarly waxed. It’s
claimed the fidelity of the playback has been improved by the new technique, on
which Crosby Enterprises has been experimenting for months. Main advantage of
the tape at this time, however, is that it greatly simplifies editing and
putting together of the finished show.
Tests were made for Crosby by the Palmer Co. of San
Francisco, which has possession of the only two German-made tape recorders in this
country, as well as a limited supply of German tape. These machines and tape
are being used.
Groaner’s first two shows for the fall, recorded in
August, were cut on both platters and tape. Decision to switch permanently to
the tape was reached following comparative tests by Crosby Enterprises in Hollywood
and by ABC engineers in New York.
Any resemblance between this show as aired last week
(1) and as aired Oct. 16, 1946, is purely coincidental. The preem platter of Crosby’s
brand - new transcribed show last season was flat, tinny, choppy, more novel
than entertaining. Last week’s kickoff of the Groaner's second season on wax
was a socko triumph over the it’ll-never-work boys. Radio headliners tied to a
weekly “live” sked must have greened-up with envy as they listened to this
solidly entertaining crystal-clear airer and recalled that Crosby put the stint
on ice last August.
Show seemed, to this reviewer at least, to have picked
up markedly in quality of the reproduction, even over the final platters of
last season — a fact apparently attributable to a switchover from acetate
records to German-made “magnetaphone” tape recorders to transcribe the program. Show is now edited on tape, then transferred to
platters. Result, as it came through last week, is the most “live”-like
tones yet fed over network skeins.
Aside from the stanza's achievements in waxed
fidelity, however, it is additionally improved 100% as an entertainment
article. A formula has been arrived at, as an outgrowth of last season's
trial-and-error experimenting, in which El Bingo seems perfectly at home.
Format has none of the rigidity of, say, Bob Hope's show, but rather allows
Crosby to croon and caper through the half-hour in a leisurely, old-hat manner.
Overall effect is a recapturing of that offhand air which made the Groaner’s
Kraft Music Hall inning such a fave.
Preem opened with a couple of janitors sweeping out a
studio “because Crosby's coming back.” “That’s a reason to sweep up?” one of
them cracks. “His baggy pants’ll sweep up the place.” Groaner walks in leading
a live moose he corralled on his summer hunting trip. His brother Everett was
out front “strapped on the fender of the car.” Crosby said. Thus introed, sans
fanfare, the show perked along at a jaunty pace. Crosby’s pipes never sounded
better than when he swims into “My Heart Is a Hobo.” He was in top form too in
a medley of “Mam'selle,” “Chi-Baba” and “Peg O’ My Heart” and in his closing “Who
Knows How Much I Love You.”
Gary Cooper was a natural as a teeoff guest, permitting
Crosby to go into his old cowhand act for a round of cutuppery with Cooper as a
pair of tough hombres of the west.
Gags were fast and fancy, with Cooper obviously
enjoying the fun.
Highspots were their duoing of “El Rancho Grande” and
a ditty about all cowboys being movie stars. Whole sequence was capital stuff.
Peggy Lee, a regular from last season, returned with a
neat chirping of “It Takes a Long, Long Train.” John Scott Trotter's backing
throughout was tops. Ken Carpenter’s Philco plugs are models, pleasantly integrated
or smoothly segued, and wonderously non-irritating.
It’ll be surprising if the Bingle doesn’t make
Hooper's honor roll early this semester and stay there, if he continues to tape
‘em as clicko as this one.
(Variety, October 8, 1947)
As for the “Screen
Guild” seasonal opener, it had the loaded dice usual for first broadcasts of
guest-star shows. In this case the marquee names were Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman,
just about the current ultimate, and the vehicle was a repeat of last season's highly
popular “Bells of St. Mary's,” from the Paramount picture.
It was, of course,
excellent listening, but proved only that “Screen Guild” can periodically come
through with top names and entertainment. For this occasion, Jean Hersholt, president
of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, which benefits from the charity angle of the
series, was present to introduce the stars and thank them at the sign-off.
Commercially, there
was only one notable point, beyond the standard testimonial plug and the
transparent claim about a “survey” showing that “more doctors smoke Camels than
any other cigaret.” The additional factor was the closing spiel which Crosby
had to deliver, about the sponsor's generosity in sending free cartons of
Camels each week to hospitalized— vets. This, surely, is the limit of
commercialized vulgarity.
(Variety, October 8, 1947)
Bing Crosby will join Al Jolson on his program Thursday night when he will
be greeted by Oscar Levant and Milena Miller. With the aid of Crosby, Jolson
will sing “For Me and My Gal” and the balance of the show will be devoted to “A
Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody”, “Peg O’ My Heart” and “I Only Have Eyes for You”.
Crosby is paying Jolson back for several guest appearances the famous
black-face singer made on the Crosby program last year.
(Tom O’Connor, The Tampa Tribune,
October 12, 1947)
Bing Crosby will have his hands full when suave, sophisticated Clifton
Webb and open-hearted, unaffected Burl Ives meet, with surprising consequences,
on Bing’s “Philco Radio Time” program at 9 o’clock tonight…Howard Duff, in his
role as Sam Spade, the Private Detective, will also be on hand to aid in the
hilarious doings on the initial broadcast of this program series on WOMI… The
very formal Mr. Webb finds Bing’s informality quite distressing but when
Balladier Ives arrives on the scene, Webb is completely flabbergasted. Bing and
Burl ease the tension with their duet of “Sweet Betsy from Pike” and
“Clementine.” Webb’s discourse on radio and detective programs leads to his
burlesque of a “private eye,” Clifton Webb, with Bing, Burl and Sam Spade
joining in the comedy antics.
(The Owensboro Messenger, 22nd October, 1947)
Bing Crosby surrounds
himself with Boris Karloff, the Horror champ, Victor Moore, the stage and
screen's favorite prankster, and singer, Gale Robbins, for a hilarious
Hallowe'en fun fest on his “Philco Radio Time” program today, from 9 to 9.30 p.
m. over WOMI. The first of Bing's guests to show up will be Victor Moore,
comedian of stage and screen fame, who will give Crosby some inside dope on how
he was the original “beautiful hunk of man Vic” in his youth. Sultry Miss
Robbins joins in the fun and sings “I’ve Got a Right to Sing the Blues.” Boris
Karloff brings a pocket full of surprises for Bing and Victor when they suggest
some Hallowe'en devilment. As a finale to their fun fest the three join in a
special Hallowe’en song, written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for the
occasion.
(The
Owensboro Messenger, 29th October, 1947)
Ozzie Nelson and
Harriett Hilliard, the former orchestra leader and singer who carved themselves
a new radio career from their marriage, will visit Bing Crosby, who is quite a
family man himself, during the Crosby show tonight at 9:00. After a frank and humorous
discussion of their children’s troubles, Bing, Harriett and Ozzie will become a
vocal trio to sing “Sunday, Monday or Always” and “Why Don’t You Fall in Love
with Me.”
(The Jackson
Sun, 5th November, 1947)
Peter Lorre, playing as sinister a psychologist as ever made a down
payment on a black couch, will attempt to probe Bing Crosby’s mental processes
during his guest appearance on the WTJS-ABC broadcast of Philco Radio Time
tonight at 9:00. Kay Thompson, new West Coast nightclub comedienne, and the Williams
Brothers Quartet also will be visitors on the show. Lorre’s conclusions, after
a careful examination of the Crosby cranial content, are that Bing is slightly
off balance on account of listening to many radio jingles. Assisted by Miss
Thompson and the Williams Brothers, as well as Bing himself, the screen menace
will sing a few to prove his point.
(The Jackson Sun, 12th November, 1947)
“Ain't Doin Bad Doin'
Nothin”— “Ida I Do.” (Decca).
Both sound like they
were made last year, when Crosby didn't care much. But his lazy approach to “Ain’t”
seems just what the tune needs: he develops a mood that seems to fit the song
nicely. His version of the oldie “Ida” doesn’t carry much appeal.
(Variety, August 25, 1948)
The Metropolitan opera soprano, Dorothy Kirsten, joins Barry
Fitzgerald, as Bing Crosby's guests on the variety fun fest “Philco Radio Time”
program Wednesday night at 9 o'clock over station WOMI. The Ken Darby Chorus
will also be on hand to supply spirited harmony. Bing, the Rhythmaires and the
Ken Darby group hop aboard the “Freedom Train” for a stirring opening
selection. Miss Kirsten, who began her musical career on the radio, joins Bing
in a tongue in cheek dissertation on the “radio to opera road versus the opera
to radio ladder to fame.” …Fitzgerald, one of Bing’s favorite film
partners, offers some typical blarney before re-enacting his whimsical meeting
with Bing.
The scoop that comes once—that’s what I got the night
my camera caught Bing Crosby and his wife Dixie stepping out together.
Bing’s murder on news pictures. Once in a while he’ll
let us grab a few shots. But most of the time he ducks or puts all the photogs
who are around on their honor not to aim his way—so he can relax and have fun.
Because this ball, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel,
was a big benefit for St John’s Hospital, the committee decided it would be
better to hire just one man to take pictures. Otherwise, because the cream of
Hollywood was to be there, the place would be mobbed by guys with cameras. It
was my lucky day all round, I guess. I was the photographer they selected.
When I saw Dixie sitting beside Bing I didn’t think I
had a prayer. It is unusual for these two to step out together.
Just the week before when they had gone night-clubbing
together they’d refused absolutely to allow pictures to be taken.
But I figured I had nothing to lose by asking.
“Sure, go ahead,” said Bing. “But let’s not make a big
fuss about it. Just wait your chance and grab them.”
That’s why I can’t tell you why Bing’s laughing his
head off. I was so busy getting him and Dixie in focus I missed the joke.
Later Bing sang a series of parodies on the tunes he’s
done in his pictures. And his performance was so easy and smooth they wouldn’t
let him go. He finally had to finish with “White Christmas.”
And I can tell you that Dixie, like all the rest of
us, never gets tired of hearing him. She clapped as loud and long as anybody
else. And when he came back and sat down beside her, she was all smiles.
(Al Brack, I Was There, Photoplay, March, 1948)
The
Bing Crosbys, Pat O’Briens and David Butlers were the last to leave the Winter
ball at the Beverly Hills Hotel, They left at 4 a.m., then only because a
waiter, who was about to collapse, said to them, “Have a heart and go home, so I
can go to bed.” It was a great evening. The ball, which was for the benefit of
St. John’s Hospital, enabled Kay Kyser and Leigh Battison (who as co - chairman
worked like galley slaves) to turn $25,000 into the fund to build a wing on St.
John’s… Edgar Bergen, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny and his hillbilly band, Dorothy
Lamour, Betty Garrett, Xavier Cugat, Danny Thomas and George Murphy entertained.
Bing sang a parody, telling the reason for the ball, which Johnny Burke wrote to
a medley of his top tunes. Crosby ended up with “White Christmas,” There is
only one Bing.
(Hedda
Hopper, The Los Angeles Times,
November 27, 1947)
Bing Crosby “Pretty Baby”- “Swingin'
Down the Lane” (Decca). Neither is up to Crosby standards of performance,
although jocks will find use for the “Baby” side in opposition to the Doris Day
(Columbia) disking, which is superior, incidentally. John Scott Trotter's
backing is dated (it may be that this side was made some time ago). Reverse, a
reissue of an Isham Jones-Gus Kahn piece, is ineffectively done by the Groaner.
It, too, seems like it was made some years ago.
(Variety, November 10, 1948)
Ballerina
Golden Earrings
Decca 24278 A special Decca
pairing cut this week and available for the stalls Monday (15). Both tunes
are currently moving along at a rapid pace on The Billboard’s popularity charts
and the pairing by Der Bingle should get this platter an immediate and solid
reaction. The Rhythmaires assist Crosby on the “Ballerina” side.
(Billboard, December
13, 1947)
Gracie Allen will
try to talk guest Bing Crosby into retiring in favor of George Burns on
tonight’s Burns and Allen show. Bing almost agrees until he hears George sing.
(The Valley Times, December 4, 1947)
Walter O’Keefe and Bing Crosby will wax nostalgic about the time before
sponsors replaced the wolves at their doors and neither of them had anything
but a song for the landlady…Re-enacting the scene of their first meeting in the
waiting room at New York’s Grand Central Terminal, their club room at the time,
the pair will talk over old times and their respective rises in the show
world…Bing will also be heard in one of O’Keefe’s tunes, “Little by Little”…
(The Jackson Sun, 10th December, 1947)
“Blue Shadows on the Trail,” “A Fella with an Umbrella” (Decca). A corking coupling and an uncommon buy for the Crosby addict.
Bing Crosby-Andrews
Sisters “At the Flying W” — “A Hundred and Sixty Acres” (Decca), Two westerns.
Crosby and the trio have a lot of fun with “W” and get out a side that tops all
previous disks on the new pop. Cut at a medium beat, it's real bright under the
treatment. Jukes and jocks will use it. Reverse, also a newie, is a pleasant
companion piece. Vic Schoen's orchestra backs both sides.
(Variety, August 25, 1948)
Derby-hatted, cigar smoking Joe Frisco, whose wise-cracks are passed
around Broadway like flawless gems at a jewelers exchange. Songstress Ilene
Woods, and Rudolph Schmoehopper, a celebrity known only to Bing Crosby, are the
guests scheduled to appear on the Bing Crosby Show tonight at 9:00 over
WTJS-ABC. Frisco, who so far as anyone knows never has left large cities except
for such country life as is found at a race track, now is devoting his life to
hunting and fishing, according to the stories he will tell Bing. Miss Woods,
who formerly was the featured singer of WTJS-ABC’s “Breakfast Club” will be
heard in “That Old Feeling”…What if anything Rudolph Schmoehopper will do on
tonight’s show is a secret known only to Bing.
(The Jackson Sun, 17th December, 1947)
BING
CROSBY SIGNS BIG
Many Hollywood
Stars Will Appear on “The Joyful Hour” Planned by Priest
Father
Patrick Peyton. C.S.C., founder and national director of the Family Rosary
Crusade, has completed arrangements for a special Christmas Rosary program,
“The Joyful Hour.” It will be an hour of music, drama and prayer. The Mutual Broadcasting
System has made the time available for a nationwide network over its 413 stations.
The program will likewise be shortwaved over the world through the facilities of
the Armed Forces Radio Service. “The Joyful Hour" is scheduled for Saturday,
Dec. 20, from 8 to 9 p.m.. Oklahoma time.
The
principal parts of the program will be broadcast from Hollywood with the
following stars participating: Ethel Barrymore, Ann Blyth, MacDonald Carey,
Jeanne Crain, Bing Crosby, Dennis Day, Pedro de Cordoba, Dick Haymes, Joan Leslie, Roddy McDowall, Ricardo
Montalban, Maureen O‘Hara and Maureen O'Sullivan.
Perry
Como, Christopher Lynch and the Mullen Sisters, singing Christmas selections,
will join the program in New York where arrangements have been made for a special
orchestra and glee club to provide background music.
In
Hollywood, the Mutual orchestra, will be under the direction of Max Terr, and
the St. Vibiana’s Cathedral Choir under the direction of Father Michael Ryan. The
Ken Darby Glee club will provide the choral background for Bing Crosby, Dennis
Day and Dick Haymes, who will sing traditional Christmas carols throughout the program.
Besides
the music, the program will also include the dramatization of the Christmas
story with special casts that are now in rehearsal. Ethel Barrymore and Pedro
de Cordoba will be the narrators. Throughout the program will be interspersed
the recitation of the prayers of the Rosary as a tribute to Mary, the Mother of
the Infant Jesus.
At
the conclusion of the program, Bing Crosby will introduce Father Peyton who
will say a few words on family prayer and the Family Rosary. Father Peyton’s wish
and hope in arranging and producing this program is that 10,000,000 families in
America will kneel and join the stars to say the Rosary in honor of Our Blessed
Lady.
The
program is written by Mark Kearney and will be directed by David Young.
(The Southwest Courier, December 13,
1947)
The Andrews
Sisters join Crosby for “You Don’t Have to Know the Language,” one of many fine
tunes written for the film by two of Crosby’s favorite songwriters, Johnny
Burke and James Van Heusen. The girls appeared perfectly coifed and outfitted
in sequined dresses. Their makeup was well done, and they had never before
appeared so attractive on screen. This appearance marked the only time that the
girls worked with Crosby in a movie, although they are often erroneously
credited with having appeared in Road to Utopia. Watching Crosby and the
sisters in Road to Rio, it is easy to see how much they enjoyed working with
each other. Crosby is playful with all three sisters at different times during
the performance, even trying to make La Verne laugh just before the song’s last
line. One flaw occurs at the very end of the number when, after completing
their final turn, Patty miscalculates her last step and collides with LaVerne
as she swings out her hip. LaVerne keeps her composure, despite the substantial
bump. The film out-grossed every other theatrical release of 1948, including
Connecticut Yankee album
Crosby’s in rare form for this album of tunes from the “Connecticut Yankee” flick. His work on the top ballad “Once” is more reminiscent of the Bing of the thirties than anything he’s done in a long while – and the song is a natural. (It’s done twice here – one by Bing as a solo and again as a reprise with Rhonda Fleming). Other tune to watch is “Stub,” which could have the makings of another “Swing on a Star”. Also represented from the original cast are Murvyn Vye, Bill Bendix and Cedric Hardwicke. If picture is as big as advance word has it, then album is in.
Danny Thomas, one of the newest and brightest comedians, who promises
to make 1948 a lot funnier that it would be without him, will be Bing Crosby’s
guest tonight at 9:00. Rudolph Schmoehopper, Crosby’s unknown celebrity guest,
who failed to appear a couple of weeks ago, again is scheduled for New Year’s
Eve. Thomas envious of Crosby’s movie and radio success, will launch into a
lengthy soliloquy in which he pictures himself as a movie mogul who hires Bing
as a bit player. He also will present a series of familiar film play scenes
which he promises will never appear in any of his pictures.
(The Jackson Sun, 31st December, 1947)
Also Decca has issued nine 78rpm albums of Bing's recordings in 1947.
January 5,
The Lone Ranger will tie up Silver at a hitching post in front of the
Philco Radio Time bandstand when he and Walter O’Keefe are Bing Crosby’s guests
over WTJS-ABC tonight at 9:00. The Masked Horseman, as The Lone Ranger also is
known to his millions of fans, will be the central figure in a stirring drama
of the Old West, in which Bing will play Sheriff Creepalong. O’Keefe and announcer
Ken Carpenter will have important roles, too. O’Keefe, who is playing a return
engagement on Philco Radio Time, is coming back because Crosby didn’t let him
sing last time. Making amends, Bing will let Walter join him in a Calypso-style
duet whose lyrics recite the feats which have contributed to the fabulous
career of Al Jolson.
(The Jackson Sun, 7th January, 1948)
Singer Bing Crosby
was taking a “few days” rest at Cypress Point Country Club today after his
brother Larry confirmed reports that he was suffering from what he feared was “virus
x” and had played in his own $10,000 pro-am golf tournament yesterday with a
high fever. Golfer Ben Hogan disclosed Bing’s illness at the traditional stag
dinner which ended the tournament. Virus x is the mystery malady which was
prevalent in the Los Angeles area during the Christmas holiday season.
(United Press,
January 12, 1948)
George
Burns, who must have been told by a Hollywood psychiatrist to give his ego a
suntan by emerging from the sprightly shadow of Gracie Allen’s personality,
will try his solo appearance with wings when he, along with songstress Evelyn
Knight, visits Crosby tonight at 9:00 over WTJS-ABC. George, it seems, having
spent the greater part of his adult life feeding straight lines to his comically
gifted spouse, now would like to become a singer like Crosby. After listening
with sympathetic gravity to George’s entreaties, Bing will enlist the support
of the Rhythmaires and John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra, as he and Gracie’s
husband raise their voices in “It Might As Well Be Spring.” Miss Knight, one of
the trio of stars heard regularly on WTJS-ABC’s Texaco Star Theatre which
follows Bing’s, will sing “Betsy,” a delicately rhythmic ballad of the type
with which she is identified…The non-appearance of Rudolph Schmoehopper, Bing’s
elusive guest, a disappointment to which Philco Time listeners have come to
look forward to eagerly each week will take place as usual.
(The Jackson Sun, 14th January, 1948)
Once
again, the “Groaner” and the “Mammy Singer” pair it off for an evening of song and
patter on “Music Hall” over CBO at 9:00 o’clock.
The
last time the two singers got together in October Bing arrived first and took over
the “Music Hall” before Al was able to get to the studio. By the time Jolson
arrived,
Crosby was back at
his old job of singing “Blue of the Night.” It didn’t take Al long to remind
him that he was now the “boss”. If Bing had any doubts he was assured that when
he received his check he would be convinced.
Since
then Bing Crosby has been selected as the number one "draw" at the
box-office among male movie stars during 1947. With this in mind Bing will have
something new to bring up to the “freshman” boss of the hall. He hopes it will
have some influence on his reception.
(Claude
Hammerston, The Ottawa Citizen,
January 15, 1948)
George
Burns, whose current ambition is to be a crooner despite an astounding lack of
musical talent, will bring his wife and radio partner, Gracie Allen, along to
the WTJS-ABC broadcast of “The Bing Crosby Show” to help enlist the support of
Bing during his regular appearance tonight at 9 o'clock. Burns, whose musical
nickname is “Sugar Throat,” will demonstrate briefly an archaic singing style
and Gracie’s addled efforts on her husband’s behalf will provide hilarity but
no real help toward getting George out of his present tuneless classification.
(The Jackson Sun, 21st January, 1948)
In his usual time spot just ahead of “The Tony Martin Show”, the old
groaner Crosby, has Esther Williams and the “Musical Maniac” Red Ingle as
guests at 9:00. Miss Williams, who made her show business debut as a swimmer in
a Billy Rose Aquacade in San Francisco when she was 16, will show what would
happen if her proposed National Civility week becomes a fact when she directs
Crosby and announcer Ken Carpenter, playing a batter and umpire during a
baseball game during the week. A football game dramatization also will be used
to show the benefit of Miss Williams’ proposal. Ingle, who sings dreamy ballads
in a twangy, hillbilly style, will be hard in his version of “You Came to Me
Out of Nowhere.”
(The Jackson Sun, 28th January, 1948)