Bing Crosby Interviews with Bill Boggs
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (May 3, 1903 --
October 14,
1977)[3] was an
American singer and actor.
Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the
20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.[4]
A multimedia star, from 1934 to 1954
Bing Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses.[5] His early career coincided with technical recording innovations; this allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including
Perry Como,[6]
Frank Sinatra, and
Dean Martin.
Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for
American G.I. morale during
World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, polls declared him the "most admired man alive," ahead of
Jackie Robinson and
Pope Pius XII.[7][8] Also in 1948, the
Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,
000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.[8]
Crosby exerted an important influence on the development of the postwar recording industry. He worked for
NBC at the time and wanted to record his shows; however, most broadcast networks did not allow recording. This was mainly because of the quality of recording at the time. While in
Europe performing during the war, Crosby had witnessed tape recording, on which The Crosby
Research Foundation would come to have many patents.
The company also developed equipment and recording techniques such as the
Laugh Track which are still in use today.[9] In
1947, he invested $50,000 in the Ampex company, which built
North America's first commercial reel-to-reel tape recorder. He left NBC to work for
ABC because NBC was not interested in recording at the time. This proved beneficial because ABC accepted him and his new ideas.[10] Crosby then became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. He gave one of the first Ampex
Model 200 recorders to his friend, musician
Les Paul, which led directly to
Paul's invention of multitrack recording. Along with Frank Sinatra, Crosby was one of the principal backers behind the famous
United Western Recorders recording studio complex in
Los Angeles.[11]
During the "
Golden Age of Radio," performers often had to recreate their live shows a second time for the west coast time zone. Through the medium of recording, Crosby constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) being used in motion picture production. This became the industry standard.
Crosby won an
Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as
Father Chuck O'Malley in the
1944 motion picture
Going My Way, and was nominated for his reprise of the role in
The Bells of
St. Mary's the next year, becoming the first of four actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. In
1963, Crosby received the first
Grammy Global Achievement
Award.[12] Crosby is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. -
Wikipedia