by Gary Giddins
22. Davies, The Times We Had, p. 120.
23. Ibid.
24. Lucky, p. 121.
25. Transcribed from Both Sides of Bing Crosby (Curtain Calls).
26. Walsh, Each Man in His Time, p. 271.
27. Barrios, A Song in the Dark,p. 398.
28. MPAA files, AMPAS.
29. Lucky, p. 120.
30. Louella O. Parsons, Hearst Syndicate, Jan. 26, 1934.
31. Andre Sennwald, New York Times, Dec. 23, 1933.
32. Time, Jan. 1, 1934.
33. Time, Jan. 22, 1934.
34. Variety, Sept. 19, 1933.
35. AI, Roy Rogers.
36. Salisbury interview, op. cit.
37. Ibid.
18. More Than a Crooner
1. Robert Trout, transcribed script for Wilkins Coffee Time, Oct. 6, 1933. Collection of John McDonough.
2. Billboard, undated clip, 1934.
3. Between Arnheim and Grier, the band was conducted for three shows by Carol Lofner.
4. Alton Cook, “Bing Crosby Record Stayer,” New York World Telegram, July 12, 1934.
5. Fortune (Aug. 1935) described FDR as “the best voice in radio. Until Mr. Roosevelt taught the world how that titanic trombone of tubes and antennae could be played no one had any idea of the possible range of its virtuosity.”
6. Manchester, The Glory and the Dream,p. 81.
7. Leuchtenburg, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal,p. 330.
8. Gross, I Looked and I Listened,p. 172.
9. It’s too late to order it, but the kit contained “a trial-size cake of Woodbury’s facial soap, generous tubes of Woodbury’s germ free, cold, and facial creams, and six baby packets of Woodbury’s facial powder, a sample of each of the six shades.”
10. Bob Crosby, RBT.
11. After shooting wrapped on Catalina, the crew moved to the Paramount lot, where Bing entertained a few visiting Gonzagans, including Mike Pecarovich (then Gonzaga’s coach) and Ray Flaherty, who arrived with members of his team, the New York Giants, winners of the 1934 National Football League championship. “Bing had one of the greatest memories I have ever seen,” Ray recalled. “As those football players came in, he would stand at the door and greet them, ‘Hello, George,’’Hello, Max, “Hello, Bill.’ I think maybe he used to get a program and rehearse it a little bit.” AI, Flaherty.
12. Lucky,p. 125.
13. Ibid.,p. 126.
14. Ibid., pp. 127—28. Crosby wrote “nightie” in Lucky but told a BBC interviewer in 1973 that Lombard actually said “douche bag.”
15. Ibid.,p. 128.
16. Several comic lines were punched into Horace Jackson’s script by writers George Marion Jr. (The Big Broadcast) and Francis Martin (Mississippi).
17. Especially after Bette Davis throttled her on camera in Old Acquaintance with a vengeance unstipulated in the script.
18. Kobal, People Will Talk,p. 361.
19. Hart, Kitty,p. 65.
20. AI, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
21. Letter from Bing Crosby to Ted Crosby, Tuesday (undated) 1934. HCC.
22. This passage obviously augurs the famous “a little sex” scene in Preston Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels.
23. AI, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
24. Ibid.
25. Salisbury interview, op. cit. On another occasion, he told Ireland’s George O’Reilly that he “fought like the dickens” against having to sing it and that when it became the hit of the picture, he realized he had no ability to predict hits.
26. Benny and Marks, Jack Benny,p. 71.
27. Salisbury interview, op. cit.
28. AI, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
29. Westmore and Davidson, The Westmores of Hollywood, p. 94.
30. Frost interview, op. cit.
31. Ferguson, The Film Criticism of Otis Ferguson,p. 49.
32. Time, Sept. 17, 1934.
33. New York Herald Tribune, May 6, 1934, writer unknown.
34. KGM.
35. Ibid.
36. AI, Howard Crosby.
37. KGM.
38. Variety, Sept. 4, 1934.
39. KGM.
40. Variety, May 1, 1935.
41. Letter from Larry Crosby to Ted Crosby, Saturday (undated) 1935. HCC.
42. Ibid.
43. Swindell, Screwball, p. 154.
44. Letter from Larry Crosby, op. cit.
45. AI, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
46. Tuttle memoir.
47. AI, Kitty Carlisle Hart.
48. New York Daily News, Dec. 22, 1934.
49. Variety, Dec. 25, 1934.
50. Time, Dec. 31, 1934.
51. Marquis Busby, Los Angeles Examiner, Jan. 7, 1934.
19. Decca
1. Lester Velie, “Vocal Boy Makes Good,” Collier’s, Dec. 13, 1947.
2. Interview, Australian radio, April 1977.
3. Bing Crosby Album, Dell 1949, reprinted in Bingang, Dec. 1988.
4. AI, Frieda Kapp.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Lucky, p. 142.
8. Principal sources for Kapp’s background and Decca’s early history are John McDonough’s comprehensive unpublished account, “Decca: 60th Anniversary History,” commissioned and withheld by MCA in 1994; an interoffice memo by Sir E. R. Lewis; AI, Geoffrey Milne; Ronnie Pugh liner notes, Decca Country Classics 1934-1973; and Herman Paikoff, “The American Record Corporation (A Corporate Overview),” The New Amberola Graphic, Autumn 1992, excerpted in Bingang, Dec. 1992.
9. Lewis memo, op. cit.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Variety, Aug. 7, 1934.
13. AI, Elsie Perry.
14. Garland was one of several performers (including the Boswells and Deanna Durbin) Joe Perry is said to have introduced to making records.
15. Dave Kapp interview by John Krimsky, July 27, 1971. BCCGU.
16. This exchange was facilitated by Herman Starr, another of Jack’s longtime loyal friends. Starr was the chief of Warner Bros.’ film music, but he had been president of Brunswick when Jack was hired. In 1941, when the ten-year Brunswick lease lapsed and returned the company to Warners, Starr sold the company to Decca. Because the original contract between Warners and ARC was signed December 3, 1931, all records made before that date as well as the name Brunswick belonged to Decca, and all records made after that date belonged to Columbia, which is why Brunswick recordings by Bing and others are, to this day, split between the two companies.
17. AI, Frieda Kapp.
18. Mezzrow and Wolfe, Really the Blues, p. 211.
19. Gelatt, The Fabulous Phonograph, p. 268.
20. Letter from Jack Kapp to Time, Jan. 17, 1936.
21. Variety, Feb. 26, 1936.
22. Unpublished interview with Jack Kapp by Lea Nicholson, for Time, Mar. 22, 1941. TIA.
23. Letter from Jack Kapp to Bing Crosby, Aug. 30, 1934.
24. Nicholson interview, op. cit.
25. Although this was a unique gambit for Bing, codas of this sort became a trademark of Billy Eckstine’s ballads in the 1940s.
26. Lucky, p. 141.
27. Ibid. Contrary to all his earlier protestations of not being a crooner, he wrote in this context that he was unworthy precisely because he was a crooner.
28. Seldes, The Public Arts,p. 131.
29. “Bing Crosby a Choir Boy in ‘Silent Night’ Record,” unsigned review in unidentifiable New York newspaper, Dec. 3, 1936. TIA.
30. Eyman, Ernst Lubitsch, p. 234.
31. Another reason Hart may have been incensed was his apprehension of a comparison with the most famous of all Broadway interpolations — Jerome Kern’s use of “After the Ball” in Show Boat. No one today would think of comparing Kern’s masterwork with Mississippi, but similarities were all too evident in 1935, when the use of Foster’s song might have been interpreted as an overt imitation of Kern.
32. AI, Peggy Lee.
33. In 1924, as The Fighting Coward, and in 1929, as River of Romance.
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34. Edward Sutherland, Columbia University Oral History Research Project.
35. Taylor, W. C. Fields, p. 236.
36. AI,BobDeFlores.
37. Quentin Reynolds, “The Kid from Spokane,” Collier’s, Apr. 27, 1935.
38. In widely circulated newstories, Bing was reported to have received between $75,000 and $110,000 per film. The higher figure, which seems most likely in the context of top film salaries for the period and in regard to Bing’s previous contracts, was confirmed by reporting done by Fortune in 1946, for “The Great Throat” (Fortune, Jan. 1947).
39. Another amusing moment occurs early when a music publisher fails to hear a plane crash directly over his head — “deaf as a post, but picks the biggest song hits.”
40. The Spectator, Sept. 27, 1935, collected in Greene, On Film, p. 24.
41. This took place two days before the death of Will Rogers and may have contributed to the drinking that resulted in his near debacle with “Home on the Range.”
42. Simon, The Big Bands,p. 144.
43. Transcribed from session tape.
44. Letter from Joseph Breen to B. B. Kahane, RKO, Jan. 10, 1935. MPAA Files, AM PAS.
45. Typed note from K.L. of Breen office, Aug. 8, 1935. Ibid.
46. Letter from Joseph Breen to Paramount executive John Hammell, Sept. 9,1935. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Variety, Feb. 12, 1936.
49. Time, Feb. 3, 1936.
50. Letter from Joseph Breen to John Hammell, Jan. 28, 1936. MPAA Files, AMPAS.
20. Kraft Music Hall
1. JWTPR, Oct. 29, 1936, by H. C. Kuhl.
2. Oakie, Jack Oakie’s Double Takes, pp. 9—11.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. JWTPR, Mar. 5, 1936, by H. C. Kuhl.
6. Niven, The Moon’s a Balloon, p. 210.
7. Carroll, None of Your Business, p. 3.
8. Final revisions of script for Kraft Music Hall, Dec. 5, 1935.
9. JWTPR, Dec. 5, 1935, by H. C. Kuhl.
10. George McCabe, “Watching the Kraft Music Hall in 1936,” Bing, Spring 1999.
11. Ibid.
12. JWTPR, Jan. 2, 1936, by H. C. Kuhl.
13. Ibid. Jan. 9, 1936, by H. C. Kuhl.
14. In November 1936 Bing wired Venuti: “THE THOMPSON AGENCY ASKED ME LAST WEEK IF YOU WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO ME FOR THE EIGHT-WEEK PERIOD[when Dorsey took a break] AND I ASSURED THEM THAT YOU CERTAINLY WOULD BE IN FACT I STIPULATED THAT I WOULD HAVE NO ONE ELSE SO I IMAGINE IF ROCKWELL IS ABLE TO WORK OUT ARRANGEMENT WHEREBY JIMMY’S ABSENCE FROM THE PROGRAM FOR EIGHT WEEKS WILL DEFEAT STANDBY CHARGES YOU SHOULD BE COMING ON FOR THAT PERIOD STOP THINK YOUD BETTER LEAVE THOSE TEXAS MUSTANGS ALONE IF YOU COME HERE ILL PUT YOU ON SOME REAL WINNERS BEST REGARDS TO SALLY. BING CROSBY”
15. JWTPR, Feb. 6, 1936, by H. C. Kuhl.
16. John Salibury interview for radio series The Crosby Years, 1973, cited in Vernon Wesley Taylor, “Hail KMH!,” The Crosby Voice, no. 29, Sept. 1984.
17. Ulanov, The Incredible Crosby, p. 122.
18. AI, Ken Roberts.
19. AI, Eddie Bracken.
20. Carroll, None of Your Business, p. 123.
21. Ibid., p. 122.
22. AI, Gary Crosby.
23. Interviewed by M. Gleason as background for Fortune, Aug. 4, 1946.
24. “’Crosby-isms’ Win Praise as Smart Airwave Patter,” Cheesekraft, May 1938.
25. Ibid.
26. “Hail KMH!,” op cit.
27. Ibid.
28. AI, Noble Threewitt. Also AI, Charlie Whittingham and Dan Smith, and Eddie Read, “The Del Mar Story,” file copy, Del Mar Publicity Office, courtesy of Dan Smith, director of publicity.
29. AI, Bob Hope.
30. Penna, My Wonderful World of Golf.
31. Carroll, None of Your Business,p. 125.
32. This and all subsequent excerpts are from Carroll Carroll’s final-version script for the Kraft Music Hall of May 7, 1936. No recording of the actual show is known to exist.
33. JWTPR, May 7, 1936, by Cal Kuhl. Around this time Kuhl began signing the reports with his nickname rather than his initials.
34. AI, Gary Stevens.
35. AI, Eddie Bracken.
36. Lucky, p. 150.
37. Alton Cook, “Bing Crosby Trick Revealed,” New York World-Telegram, Feb. 29, 1938.
38. Carroll, None of Your Business, p. 159.
39. JWTPR, May 21, 1936, by Cal Kuhl.
40. Ibid., May 28, 1936, by Cal Kuhl.
41. Ibid., July 1, 1936, by Cal Kuhl.
42. Aaron Stein, “Radio Today,” New York Post, Nov. 20, 1936.
43. AI, Marsha Hunt.
44. Arnold, Shadowland.
45. Bing Crosby, “The Role I Liked Best,” reprinted in Bingang, Oct. 1983.
46. Bach and Mercer, Our Huckleberry Friend, p. 56.
47. Letter from Johnny Mercer to Leslie Gaylor, undated, early 1970s.
48. Variety, Aug. 5, 1936.
49. During the interim, they had rented Marion Davies’s house in Benedict Canyon.
50. Letter from Harry Crosby to Ted Crosby, Mar. 20, 1936.
51. Harold Grieve, president of the California division.
52. In Anything Goes, Rhythm on the Range, and many films to come, Bing billed himself at the head of a foursome, following the title card.
53. Variety, Dec. 16, 1936.
54. Armstrong letter, c. 1967, op. cit.
55. Lucky, p. 162.
56. Down Beat, Mar. 1937.
57. Much of the material on Trotter is based on a radio interview he did with his friend Eddie Rice on behalf of the British Crosby Society, late 1960s; and a personal (unpublished) interview he gave James T. Maher, Apr. 5, 1959.
58. JWTPR, July 8, 1937, by Cal Kuhl.
59. Cited in Will Friedwald liner notes, Hal Kemp (Columbia).
60. Maher interview, op. cit.
61. Rice interview, op. cit.
62. AI, Alan Fisher.
63. AI, Rory Burke.
64. AI, Frieda Kapp.
65. Bing Crosby liner notes, John Scott Trotter, A Thousand and One Notes,reprinted in Bingang, Mar. 1996.
66. Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (New York: Viking, 1939). Ironically, Steinbeck described Bing singing “Thanks for the Memory,” which became Bob Hope’s theme song and was not recorded by Bing until 1956; he did perform it on KMH, however, and like many people, Steinbeck failed to distinguish between Crosby records and Crosby radio.
67. Roaring Lion, who headlined at the Village Vanguard in 1945, during the height of his career, wrote Calypso from France to Trinidad — 800 Years of History in 1987 and was still performing as of 2000. In another song, “Four Mills Brothers,” he muted his praise for Bing, describing him as “interesting” in We’re Not Dressing (“Love Thy Neighbor” clearly made an impression on him) and acknowledging his unparalleled “voice control” yet concluding, “But I still prefer to hear the Four Mills Brothers sing, ‘I Ain’t Got Nobody (and nobody cares for me)’.” Asked if he recalled the Lion’s record thirty-seven years after it was recorded, Bing said, “Cute song. ‘Takes off his hat infrequently’ — isn’t that in there?”
21. Public Relations
1. Smith, op. cit., p. 258.
2. Ward, Jazz, p. 64.
3. Too old to play Dick or Tom, he briefly tried the mantles of Abe and Will during the Second World War, costumed as the former for a song in Holiday Inn and as the latter in a screen test for a proposed Rogers biography.
4. AI, Pamela Crosby Brown, his goddaughter.
5. Cited in Michael Brooks liner notes, Bing Crosby: The Columbia Years, 1928—34, 1988.
6. AI, Gary Stevens. See note 10 in Chapter 12 on Vocco.
7. The Paramount press releases alluded to in this section are identified by the obscure system in use at the time. This one, for example, is marked, “Paramount fp September 1933.” The significance of the initials is unclear, and dates are not always provided. Many rele
ases without dates were later inventoried and dated with a ca. They are found in the Paramount files, AMPAS.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Paramount de lapp fp ca. 1934.
11. Part of a series called NBC Personalities, issued by the National Broadcasting System, June 8, 1939. Sample: “All the other kids shouted ‘Bang’ as they shot their make-believe revolvers, but little Harry Lillis was an individualist.” He is also described as playing the title role in Julius Caesar, narrowly averting the falling curtain and taking several bows, and attending college with Al Rinker.
12. Paramount kc ca. 1934.
13. Bing: Paramount huston ca. 1934.
14. Untitled draft, ca. 1934.
15. A completely different release, identically titled “Say It with Music: Bing Crosby’s Life Story as Told to Dave Keene.” Paramount huston ca. 1934.
16. Ibid.
17. That didn’t stop Look from repeating the story that Janis helped give him his start, in a five-page pictorial almost entirely drawn from Paramount press releases, including the cowboys-and-Indians story and his refusal to diet.
18. Paramount huston hb ca. 1935.
19. “Crosby, Inc.” Paramount Lyle Rooks nhf Feb 1938.
20. Paramount huston eb ca. 1935.
21. Paramount Huston kc ca. 1935.
22. Ibid.
23. “Crosby, Inc.,” op. cit.
24. Paramount Bonnet jp-f Aug. 11, 1939.
25. Paramount Bradfield jaf Nov. 11, 1938.
26. Paramount Bradfield vwf Jun. 13, 1938.
27. “By Bing Crosby,” Paramount Bonnet jp Dec. 28, 1938.
28. “By Bing Crosby,” Paramount edwards jp Jan. 8, 1939.
29. Paramount 1934, identifying page missing.
30. A subhead reads, “The crooner king looks himself over and after listing his good points tears down the perfect picture by admitting some really scandalous shortcomings.” Picture-Play, Nov. 1934.
31. Ibid.
32. AI, Basil Grille
33. New York Sun, Nov. 30, 1936.
34. Ibid.
35. Complaint for Injunction, no. 410003, filed in California Superior Court Dec.17, 1936, by O’Melveny, Tuller & Myers on behalf of Harry L. Crosby Jr., also known as Bing Crosby, Plaintiff.
36. Ibid.
37. Judgment by Judge Rubin S. Schmidt, filed in California Superior Court, Jan.4, 1937, in case of Harry L. Crosby Jr. v. Ben S. McGlashan.
38. Answer to Injunction, filed in California Superior Court, Dec. 25, 1936, by Rollin L. McNitt on behalf of Ben S. McGlashan.