Bing Crosby

How can a man be as well known, and as forgotten, as Bing Crosby?  There aren't many Americans who haven't heard the song White Christmas, and while It's A Wonderful Life has supplanted White Christmas, the movie, as the favorite TV Christmas special, it's still very popular.  But who remembers Bing Crosby the musical innovator?

I've been collecting 78 rpm recordings for decades and at first, if Crosby's name was on the label, I passed.  Then one day, I got a load of Crosby records as part of a larger lot and began listening.  What a revelation.  This beautiful bass-baritone voice that sang in an almost conversational style.  I was hooked, a Bing Crosby fan for life.   Too, as I listened, I noticed something else.  It was like there were two periods of music.  PB, pre- Bing, and AB, after Bing.  The style didn't exist before Bing Crosby came along.  I can remember a conversation I had with another fan.  He told me that there were changes in the technology of recording about the time that Crosby arrived on the scene that made it possible to capture the tonal range in his voice, and that was the reason for the change in popular musical styles. That always seemed specious to me, so I've never done any research into the claim, but I pass it along for what it 's worth.

And a quick note on Bing Crosby the actor.  Based on number of tickets sold, Crosby is the third most popular movie actor in history, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne.  Once I became a fan of the music, I started watching the movies.  White Christmas, of course, (For the record, I prefer it to It's A Wonderful Life), Holiday Inn and some of the other musicals, but also the road movies with Bob Hope.  The humor still holds up quite well.  At least in my opinion.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in 1903, in Tacoma Washington.  He began singing professionally while still in high school.  His first big success was as a member of The Rhythm Boys with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.  Depending on the source, Crosby either quit to go solo, or was fired because of his drinking and marijuana use.  His first wife was the actress Dixie Lee.  They had four sons, two of whom, Dennis and Lindsay,  committed suicide.  A third son,  Gary wrote a tell all book accusing his father of being physically and emotionally abusive.  Philip, twin brother of Dennis,  died of natural causes.  Crosby had three more children with his second wife, Kathryn.  Harry Jr., Nathaniel, and Mary.  Bing Crosby died of a heart attack in 1977, in Madrid, Spain.

Kay Kyser

Kay Kyser was one of the most successful band leaders of the swing era. In all, his band recorded over 400 sides and had eleven number one hits. Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1905. While at the University of North Carolina he was a cheerleader and director of student plays. At the recommendation of Hal Kemp, he took over the leadership, from Kemp, of a local band. After his college career, he continued to lead his own band, and in 1934, was booked into the Blackhawk Club in Chicago. It was there that he developed the gimmick that he would be known for, The Kollege of Musical Knowledge, an amateur night quiz for the contestants. In 1938 he hired vocalist Ginny Simms. Broadcast regionally by the Mutual Broadcasting System, he went national and to New York and had a hit show on NBC radio. In 1949, he took his band to television, but after the show was cancelled in 1950, he retired from show business and never returned. I'm fairly certain that the singer with Kyser is Ginny Simms. She left the band in 1941, so if I'm right in my identification of Simms, with the NBC mic, this photo was taken between 1939 and 1941.

Ray Bauduc, Drummer

I recognized the logo on the drum as being from the Bob Crosby Orchestra. A little bit of research, and I was able to ID the drummer as Ray Bauduc. Bauduc was born in 1906, in New Orleans, Louisiana, he died in 1988. During the thirties and forties, Bauduc played drums for the Bob Crosby Orchestra, and the band within a band, Bob Crosby and the Bobcats. He also played with The Original Memphis Five, had his own band and worked with people like Jack Teagarden.