Letras
Since we're talking about singers, I think we should talk about Bing
Crosby. I've picked up a number of Bing Crosby stories through the
Years. And Joe Weintraub, who does all the research for Billboard
Magazine, and compiles all that information, says that Bing Crosby
Was the most popular entertainer of the first half of the 20th
Century. And when you look at those record charts, you know it's
True. And of course, anybody that knows show business knows this is
True. Bing Crosby was an American institution. When Bing hit on the
Radio, he became such a superstar, he actually helped really launch
The record industry. Until then, records were sold in drugstores
They were sold in department stores. Bing Crosby sold so many
Records, and this was during the Depression, that stores that just
Specialized in records started opening. And of course that started
More people making more records, and we had the advent of a whole
New industry, all because of Bing Crosby. When I grew up, you'd see
Bing Crosby on television, you'd see his old movies with Bob Hope
You'd hear him on the radio once in a while or on TV, but he really
Wasn't the guy for my generation. However, I, like everybody else
Always knew about Bing Crosby. As I got older, I really appreciated
His music more and more and more, getting into his early stuff, and
This music is incredible. You know, it is amazing when you think
About this guy who started charting in 1926 with the Paul Whiteman
Rhythm Boys, and he still had records on the chart at the time of his
Death in 1977. I don't know if anybody's going to be able to tackle
That time span for singles and albums, and for being a star in so
Many different mediums: motion pictures, television, radio, records
Concert halls. By the way, Ellis Winston, a great critic over in
England, always thought it was interesting that whom he considered
The two greatest musical entertainers of the 20th century
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, he thought they were both so
Typical of America. They were both real Americans but so different
So different in that Bing Crosby was cool and Frank Sinatra
Was hot. Both of their approaches to a song, their phrasing
And what he really thought was interesting, and I'm sure our
Listeners would be happy to know this, is that neither one of
Them could read music. Everything they did was pure intuition
One of the great duets of all time, in the motion picture High
Society, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra together singing Cole
Porter's "Well Have You Ever." There's a very charming inside
Joke there. Bing Crosby is singing "Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-
Bum-bum" and Frank goes "I don't dig that kind of croonin'
Chum." Bing says "You must be one of the new boys on the block."
I was working Warner Hot Springs outside of San Diego around 1982 or '
83. This was an exclusive club, and it has tennis courts and golf
Courses and horseback riding and, of course, a wonderful lounge
Luxurious suites. And I started noticing they had a Bing Crosby Park
A Bing Crosby Suite, the Bing Crosby this, the Bing Crosby that, and
I was wondering what that was all about. So after the show that
Night, I was chatting with one of the guys that ran the club, and I
Asked him "What is all this Bing Crosby stuff around here?" And he
Told me what I considered a fascinating story. He said in 1955, him
And some buddies had purchased that property there at Warner Hot
Springs. They knew that the hot springs would draw people, but what
Happens if they put in golf courses, tennis courts, luxurious suites
Swimming pools? They think they're gonna have a very profitable
Operation. One of the things they decided to do was to get someone
Connected with this idea of having fun, of golfing, of hunting, of
Horseback riding, of tennis. And the person they thought of was Bing
Crosby. If they made him a member of the club, people would flock to
Join that club. So he said "We discussed it, we thought, 'Bing Crosby
, He's the guy, he's the guy we want.' We'll give him an honorary
Membership and boy, we'll be able to launch something that people
Won't believe." He said "So we went about contacting Bing Crosby and
Sure enough, we got a call from Basil Grillo." Now I knew he was
Telling me the truth 'cause Basil Grillo was indeed Bing Crosby's
Right-hand man. And he said "Basil gave us a call and said, uh, '
Yeah, would you like to make an appointment to see Bing?' " He said "
It was very casual," and he said "We were sort of shocked that the guy
So readily answered our call." And we said "Sure, we'd love to see
Him." He said "Well, we, we set up the date and we all drove up to
Los Angeles, to the Bing Crosby building, to meet Bing Crosby." He
Said "We were rather young guys, in our twenties, and of course Bing
Was the big star of the era." So he says "You know, we were a bit
Taken back when we went to meet him." He said "He was, of course
Just as you have, have seen him on television or on the movies,"
And he said "We were just like in awe, though. This is Bing Crosby!
" He said "However, we quickly settled down to business when Bing
Said, 'What's your pitch?' " He said "Well, we have this place and
It has hot springs and we're gonna build golf courses, we're gonna
Have tennis, we're gonna have horseback riding, it's gonna be a
Complete outdoorsman club, and what we would like to do, Mr. Crosby
Is make you an honorary member, and all this is free to you!" He said
He'll never forget Bing sitting back behind this desk with a pipe in
His mouth, looking at them with his little blue eyes. And he said it
Seemed like an eternity before he started to tell them: "Guys, I can
Hunt anywhere. I can fish anywhere. I can golf anywhere. Why you want
Me to join your organization is so you can sell memberships and make
A lot of money." He said "Now here's how the deal works. You give me
A hundred thousand dollars, you can say I'm a member. And you can do
Whatever you want." He said "We just sat there, we didn't know what
To say. Bing got up, walked over, shook our hands, said 'Guys, call
Us, let us know what you wanna do.' He left the room, Bing's man
Basil Grillo, came in, escorted us out of the building." He said "
And we drive back to San Diego discussing this." He said "A hundred
Thousand dollars was a lot of money in 1955, when this took place."
He says "So then, we call Basil Grillo up two weeks later because we
Decided yes indeed, this would be a good move to make, this'll get
The business we want. And we tell him that we'll pay the hundred
Thousand dollars, and Basil tells us 'By the way, you did know that
Was a hundred thousand dollars a year, didn't you?'He said, "Oh man
I gotta go back to my friends and tell them, but we decide yes, if
This thing works out, we did the numbers. Yeah, we can pay him $100
000 A year." He said, "So yes indeed, we did pay $100,000 a year. We
Did name all these things after Bing Crosby. Bing Crosby never came
There. And when Bing died in 1977, we stopped making our payments
Of $100,000 a year. And six months later, we got a phone call from
Kathryn Crosby, Bing's widow, who said, 'Hey, you haven't been
Making your payments.' We said, 'Well, Bing's dead, it's over.'
She said, 'Really? You guys still using his name and all the
Buildings and everything, still saying he was a member of the
Organization?' I said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'Well, you've got to keep
Paying.'" He said, "Well, I'll talk it over with my business
Partners." And he did and said, "Well, we talked it over and you're
Gonna get your $100,000 a year." She said, "Oh no, it's not $100
000 A year now, it's $200,000 a year." He said, "What do you mean $
200,000 A year? The man is dead." She said, "Well, he's worth even
More money now. And if you don't want to pay the $200,000, you can't
Use his name." He said, "End of story, we're paying the $200,000 a
Year." So that'll give you a little idea of how Derbingle operated
Now, I'm not telling tales out of school when I tell you that
Bing Crosby was quite a drinker. His golfing and hunting buddy
Phil Harris and Bing were particularly fond of tequila and
Actually had perfected a tequila to their own specifications
Which they were beginning to market at the time of Bing's death
Now, I'm going to come back to this in the story, so bear with me
I was working in Seattle doing a club there. A local critic
Had given me a review and we were chatting after a show
And I mentioned Bing Crosby and he said, "If you like Bing
Crosby, there's a guy up here who knows all about Bing Crosby
He's a collector, blah, blah, blah, blah." And this guy's name
Was Bill Osborne. I met Bill Osborne, who was an older gentleman
And I want to relay to you this story of Bill Osborne's
Bill Osborne, when he was a young man, was playing tennis. He was
Quite good at tennis, and a local country club started paying for
His training as a tennis player because he had real ability and they
Thought he could go somewhere as a professional tennis player. And
Of course, they wanted to be the sponsors of him. Now, he said every
Day he would get out on those courts and work out, work out, work
Out. And he said there was a couple of days there was this old guy
It looked like a bum, who would sit in the stands or be nobody around
And just watch him and watch him. And he said this guy was starting
To get on his nerves. He said, so one day, as I'm leaving, he sees
This bum standing there as he's getting ready to walk into the
Dressing room and the old bum says, "Hey, you were really good today
" And he said, "I was gonna ask him, who are you? What are you here
For? What's going on?" He said, "But I noticed he had these real blue
Eyes and the tone of his voice sounded interesting. All of a sudden
It dawned on me." And he said, "I blurted out, 'You're Bing Crosby.'
" And he said, "He was smoking a pipe and he had a beard and he had an
Old hat on and a coat." And he said, "Yeah, I'm Bing Crosby." He
Says, "Gee, what do you look like this for? You're Bing Crosby." And
He said, he started laughing. And he said, "I come to Seattle every
Year for a couple weeks to relax. And I hunt and I fish, I golf
I don't shave, I just take it easy, I throw on whatever clothes
There is. It's really a vacation for me. And I know the guys here
And they told me what a good tennis player you were. So I thought
I would come in and just see how you were doing. And I've really
Been enjoying watching you play tennis." And he said, "As I got
To know Bing Crosby, all he would really talk about is sports
Sports, sports, sports." He said, "Bing was just obsessed with
Sports, any type of sports. He loved to golf, he loved to hunt
He loved to fish, he loved baseball, football." And he said, "
Oddly enough, I love sports too, so that's all we would talk about
Is sports. Sports is the thing that brought us two together."
Later he came to see Bill play championship matches in Los Angeles
Invited him to his house, he got to meet the family, and their
Friendship just continued to grow. When Bill got out of the army
He became a radio disc jockey in Seattle. And he said, Bing Crosby
Had told him one time, he said, "Bill, if there's anything I can ever
Do to help you, let me know, and I'll do that thing." He said, "Well
" He was a little hesitant to do this because he was just about 18
Years old. This was in 1949. He said, "But if I'm going to have a
Radio show, I want to kick it off with Bing Crosby." He said, "So he
Went about it by phoning Basil Grillo, who was Bing's right-hand man
And he said, sure enough, Bing called him. He said, 'Bing, if I'm
Being too forward here, you tell me, but I have a radio show here in
Seattle, and I was wondering if you would be my guest.'" Bing
Said, "Listen, if I got the time to do it when I'm in Seattle
I'll be happy to do your show." He said, "Sure enough, the
Radio show coincided with the time that Bing was going to be
In Seattle." And he said, "Here I am, this 18-year-old kid with
A radio show in Seattle, and Bing Crosby's my guest. So we were
In the papers, we're the talk of the town. And he said, '
My career as a DJ was launched by having Bing Crosby as my guest
In the studio, but he was more than my guest. He was my friend.'"
Now Bill Osborne told me that when he would visit Bing in his home
He found him very, very friendly. He said, however, when they would
Be out mixing with people, on occasion, Bing would be very cold
And Bing explained to him that if he talked to everybody, he wasn't
Going to have a life. So he had to turn it on sometimes and turn
It off sometimes. Bill Osborne told me that he attended the Pebble
Beach Golf Tournament several times, but one particular moment
Stands out in his mind is the time that Peggy Lee was appearing in
The show they would do at the end of the tournament. And Bing invited
Him, Bill Osborne, to hang out in San Francisco a couple of days
Later where Bing was doing his radio show from. And he said Peggy
Lee was going to be on the show, and he remembers this fantastic
Night when Bing and Peggy Lee and himself went out to all these
Little dives in San Francisco. And he said people would just be
Amazed that they would walk in, sit down, have a few drinks. And he
Said, "I was amazed at one of these little dives. Bing got up to sing
With the group." He said, "I had forgotten that Bing was actually
A jazz singer to begin with, so he could improvise pretty well."
And he said, "Bing was drinking, having a great time and singing
And he'll never forget Bing in a little jazz joint. It's about two
O'clock in the morning, and the piano player
Didn't know this one song, and Bing is going, '
Vamp, vamp, vamp.'" And he says, "Those are those
Just once in a lifetime things that happen
He said, if somebody really wants to know Bing's devotion to music
Because that was the true love of his life
The jazz violinist, Joe Venuti, who any real jazz person knows
Played with Bing on many, many of his
Sessions and also in his live concerts
And he said, Joe Venuti told him
They played Paris in 1955
And he said after the show, we went up to
The suite to have a few drinks and talk
And he said there was maybe about fifteen people in the room
And he said, "I wanna tell you something, Bill"
He said, "Bing sang that night so fantastic
It was the best I'd ever heard him
And I'd been with this guy like fifteen years"
And he said all these people in this room
And Joe Venuti said he walked over to Bing and he says
"Bing, I wanna tell you something
Tonight you sang better than I've ever heard you sing in your life"
And he said, "I couldn't believe what happened
Bing started to cry"
And he said, "I thought, oh my God, what have I done?
This is a man that never cries"
He said, "Bing started to cry"
"And I said, oh gosh, Bing, are you okay?"
He says, "Joe, thank you, thank you so much"
He says, "Nobody tells me that anymore"
He says, "Singin', that's what it's all about
I've been doin' it since I was a kid
And I always try to do my best
But nobody ever tells me how good I sing anymore"
And Joe said, "He actually hugged me"
He said, "I almost fainted
Bing Crosby doesn't do these things"
He said, "But that moment in Paris, Joe Venuti never forgot"
And Bill Osborne said, "I could never forget a story like that"
Now I wanna bring you back to the tequila with Phil Harris
I said to Bill Osborne
"I understand that Phil Harris and Bing Crosby
Came up with a formula for their particular type of tequila"
He said, "Oh yes, Bing loved tequila"
He said, "After five o'clock, you better
Believe it was tequila time with Mr. Crosby"
And I said, "Well, you know, I just wish they would have been able to
Have that out on the market 'cause
That would have been a great souvenir"
He said, "Well, they didn't get out on the market
But they did do a hundred test bottles
And guess who has some of those bottles?"
I said, "Come on, Bill"
He said, "Yes, indeed"
And indeed, he gave to me a bottle of Bing Crosby, Phil Harris tequila
Which I kept as a souvenir
I have the bottle
And I must say the tequila was wonderful
Thank you, Mr. Crosby