Pop Chronicles Interviews #133 - Bing Crosby
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- Preliminary to interview 0:00:40
- Discussion of local radio stations and sports broadcasting 0:00:57
- Interview begins: Big band era; McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Jean Goldkette (Detroit band); the "crooner" label; Frank Sinatra; meeting Sinatra; movie High Society 0:02:54
- Radio shows and High Society with Sinatra; songwriters in the 1940s; Johnny Burke; Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin; Sam Coslow; Irving Berlin 0:03:10
- Irving Berlin continued; selection of songs for Decca; Jack Kapp; reminiscing about 1940s studio sessions; time spent in studio for a typical single; recording techniques 0:04:25
- Arrangers (John Scott Trotter, Joe (Joseph J.) Lilley); Victor Young; a cappella sessions during AFM strike (1942-43); Kraft Music Hall; writer Bill Morrow; adjusting for timing on the fly 0:03:36
- Kraft Music Hall continued; Jimmy Dorsey anecdote; Al Jolson; how musical numbers were done in movies (prerecorded or live) 0:04:17
- Lip-synching for pre-recorded songs in movies; question about challenging roles in movies; Crosby responds; favorites of his own movies; topical humor; location trips versus filming in studio; working with Bob Hope; spontaneity on set 0:05:09
- Barney Dean, "gag man"; theatrical feuding with Hope; working with Fred Astaire; accounting for success during 1940s; current popular music; The Rhythm Boys; early career; "White Christmas"; other records he likes; looking back on the 1940s 0:07:17
- Looking back on the 1940s, continued; popular vocalists at the start of his career; Russ Columbo; Osburn; Ozzy Nelson; influence of records he listened to; seeing Jolson live in show Bombo in Spokane 0:03:17
- Al Jolson's influence; vocables and whistling; Crosby's "relaxed" style; one time that he was nervous 0:04:12
- Will Rogers; W.C. Fields; Crosby asks interviewers about big bands possibly coming back; anecdote about Wingy Manone and Benny Goodman; movies with Louis Armstrong; remembrance of Armstrong, who had just died; Andrews Sisters 0:04:35
- Boswell Sisters; Mills Brothers; longevity of Crosby and Hope's act; his role in movie The Country Girl; avoiding stage fright; successes and failures with The Rhythm Boys 0:06:30
- The Rhythm Boys anecdotes; vaudeville; Hollywood after Paul Whiteman; accounting for his success 0:03:12
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Pop Chronicles Interviews #133 - Bing Crosby, audio recording, July 8, 1971; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1692055/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Music Library.