BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: NOVEMBER 12, 1935

Bing recorded some great standards during this early days at Decca. He recorded these songs on November 12, 1935 in Hollywood. Hard to believe these recordings are 88 years old...

Bing Crosby (voc), Victor Young and his Orchestra (orc)

a. DLA253-A Red Sails In The Sunset(Jimmy Kennedy, Hugh Williams) - 3:10
b. DLA253-B Red Sails In The Sunset(Jimmy Kennedy, Hugh Williams) - 3:10

c. DLA254-A Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle(Walter G Samuels, Teddy Powell, Leonard 
d. DLA254-B Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle(Walter G Samuels, Teddy Powell, Leonard Whitcup) - 2:41
e. DLA255-A On Treasure Island(Edgar Leslie, Joe Burke) - 2:59
f. DLA255-B On Treasure Island(Edgar Leslie, Joe Burke) - 2:57
g. DLA255-C On Treasure Island(Edgar Leslie, Joe Burke) - 2:58
h. DLA256-A Adeste Fideles(Canon Frederick Oakley, John Francis Wade) - 3:18
i. DLA256-B Adeste Fideles(Canon Frederick Oakley, John Francis Wade) - 3:16

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: JULY 27, 1940

It is just amazing how many records Bing Crosby made. It is amazing to me because Bing was more than just a recording star. He made movies and radio shows - which take up a lot of time. Here is what Bing was recording for Decca on July 27, 1940...

Date: 7/27/40
Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

Bing Crosby (voc), John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra (orc)
a. DLA2072-A Legend Of Old California (Johnny Mercer, Harry Warren) - 3:03

HALLMARK (UK) CD306722 — BING SINGS COUNTRY (1997)

b. DLA2073-A Please (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger) - 3:02
HMV (UK) CD5389522 — ALL TIME GREATS: BING CROSBY - Disc 2 (2019)
MARKS & SPENCER (UK) CDMS 4811 — BING CROSBY - THE COLLECTION (1999)
MCA (UK) CDDMCTV 3 — BING CROSBY - 20 GOLDEN GREATS (1990)
READER'S DIGEST CDRDCD 921 — THE VERY BEST OF BING CROSBY (CD1 - It's Easy to Remember) (1995)
READER'S DIGEST CDRB7-029-3 — BING CROSBY - HIS GREATEST HITS AND FINEST PERFORMANCES (disc 3) (1997)

c. DLA2074-A You Are The One (Carroll Carroll, John Scott Trotter) - 2:45
AVID (UK) CDAMSC 633 — BING CROSBY - YOU AND THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC (1998)

d. DLA2075-A Prairieland Lullaby (Frank Loesser, Victor Young) - 3:05
HALLMARK (UK) CD306722 — BING SINGS COUNTRY (1997)
JASMINE (UK) CDJASMCD 3557 — BING CROSBY - COWBOY COUNTRY CROSBY STYLE (2003)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: APRIL 8, 1950

Here's some nice records that Bing recorded on April 8, 1950. Hard to believe these records are 73 years old! It was the dawn of a new decade, but Bing's voice sounded great, and he got to work with Sy Oliver and Bob Haggart on these records...

Date: 4/8/50

Location: New York, NY.
Label: DECCA (US)

Bing Crosby (voc), The Aristokats (vgr), Sy Oliver Orchestra (orc)

1. W76115-A I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell(Eddie Pola, George Wyle) - 3:07
MCA (UK) CDMCLD19360 — BING CROSBY - MEMORIES (1997)
2. W76116-A So Tall A Tree(Helen Teddy Hall) - 2:35

Bing Crosby (voc), Bob Haggart and his Orchestra (orc)

3. W76113-A The Dixieland Band(Johnny Mercer, Bernie Hanighen) - 2:36

4. W76114-A Jamboree Jones(Johnny Mercer) - 3:02

Both titles had been recorded before, on 14 February 1950, but had been rejected.

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: January 18, 1942

On this day, January 18th, some 81 years ago - Bing was in the Decca studio with the great Woody Herman & His Orchestra...

Date: 1/18/42
Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

Bing Crosby (voc), Woody Herman and his Woodchoppers (orc)

a. DLA2827-A I Want My Mama(Vicente Paiva, Al Stillman, Jararaca) - 2:22
EMI -AXIS (Australia) CDCDAX 701594 — BING SWINGS IT (1990)
FLAPPER (UK) CDPASTCD 7027 — BING CROSBY - THE GREAT YEARS (1993)

b. DLA2828-A Deep In The Heart Of Texas(Don Swander, June Hershey) - 2:39
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) (ASV) CDCD AJA 5160 — BING CROSBY - I'M AN OLD COWHAND (1995)
AVID (UK) CDAMBX 147 (AMSC 826) — BING CROSBY A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Disc 2 (2005)

c. DLA2829-A I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes(Alvin Pleasant Carter) - 3:11
RAJON CDCDR0046 — THE GREAT BING CROSBY VOLUME 2 (disc 2) (2003)

All titles on:
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-32 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 32 (2003)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: September 20, 1937

Here is what Bing recorded today - some 85 years ago! It doesn't seem like it should be that long ago!

Date: 9/20/37

Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

Bing Crosby (voc), John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra (orc)

a. DLA939-A Can I Forget You?(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 2:53
b. DLA940-A The Folks Who Live On The Hill(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 3:06
c. Rehearsal-6 seconds The Folks Who Live On The Hill(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 0:06
d. DLA940-B test The Folks Who Live On The Hill(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 3:07
e. DLA941-A I Still Love To Kiss You Goodnight(Walter Bullock, Harold Spina) - 3:10
f. DLA942-A Remember Me?(Al Dubin, Harry Warren) - 2:59

BING 'S DISCOGRAPHY: May 27, 1942

I can not believe it has been 80 years ago, but on this date in 1942 Bing recorded some great Decca sides with his brother Bob's orchestra...

Date: 5/27/42

Location: Hollywood, Calif

Label: DECCA (US)

a.	DLA2996-A	I'll Capture Your Heart(Irving Berlin) - 2:23 Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Margaret Lenhart (voc), Bob Crosby and his Orchestra (orc) ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) (ASV) CDCD AJA 5147 — BING CROSBY & FRIENDS   (1994) CONIFER-HAPPY DAYS (UK) CDCDHD232 — BING CROSBY SINGS IRVING BERLIN and RODGERS & HART    (1993) EPM MUSIQUE CD983002 — BING CROSBY GREATEST HITS 1934 - 1943 (disc 2)   (1994) MCA (US) CDMCAD-25205 — BING CROSBY - HOLIDAY INN   (1988) RETROSPECTIVE (UK) CDRTS 4184 — BING CROSBY & BUDDIES - Gone Fishin' - His 53 Finest - CD1   (2011) UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP CD1130992 — SONGS FROM IRVING BERLIN'S HOLIDAY INN & WHITE CHRISTMAS   (2002)
b.	DLA2998-A	When My Dreamboat Comes Home(Cliff Friend, Dave Franklin) - 2:24 Bing Crosby (voc), Bob Crosby and his Bobcats (orc) CASTLE PULSE CDPBXCD 471/2 — BING CROSBY - THE CENTENARY COLLECTION (disc 2)   (2003) EMI -AXIS (Australia) CDCDAX 701594 — BING SWINGS IT   (1990) EPM MUSIQUE CD983002 — BING CROSBY GREATEST HITS 1934 - 1943 (disc 1)   (1994) MCA (US) CDMCAD4 10887 — BING - HIS LEGENDARY YEARS 1931 - 1957 Disc 2   (1993) MCA/DECCA/GRP (US) CDGRP 16032 / also GRD 603 — BING CROSBY AND SOME JAZZ FRIENDS   (1991) PAST (Pavilion Records Ltd) (UK) CDCD 7065 — BING CROSBY - SWINGING ON A STAR   (1995)
c.	DLA2999-A	Walking The Floor Over You(Ernest Tubb) - 3:08 Bing Crosby (voc), Bob Crosby and his Bobcats (orc) AVID (UK) CDAMBX 147 (AMSC 826) — BING CROSBY A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Disc 2   (2005) EMI -AXIS (Australia) CDCDAX 701594 — BING SWINGS IT   (1990) FLAPPER (UK) CDPASTCD 7027 — BING CROSBY - THE GREAT YEARS   (1993) JASMINE (UK) CDJASMCD 3558 — BING CROSBY - ANOTHER RIDE IN COWBOY COUNTRY   (2003) MCA (Japan) CDMVCM24004 — BING CROSBY - A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Disc 2 (1925-1942)   (1993)

All titles on:

JASMINE (UK) CDJASCD 651 (CD1) — THE CROSBY BROTHERS - BING & BOB    (2006) JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-33 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 33   (2003)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: March 29, 1936

 Here are some early Decca recordings Bing made...decades and decades ago!

Date: 29 March 1936
Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)


Bing Crosby (voc), Victor Young and his Orchestra (orc)
a. DLA322-A Would You? (Brown, Freed) - 3:09(Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown)
b. DLA322-B Would You? (Brown, Freed) - 3:07(Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown)
AVID (UK) CDAMSC 633 — BING CROSBY - YOU AND THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC (1998)
c. DLA322-C test Would You? (Brown, Freed) - 3:07(Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown)
d. DLA323-A Robins And Roses - 2:53(Edgar Leslie, Joe Burke)
e. DLA324-A I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - 3:15(DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
READER'S DIGEST CDRDCD 122 — THE BING CROSBY YEARS -Vol. 2 Relax and Remember 1936 -1939 (1989)
MCA (US) CDMCAD4 10887 — BING - HIS LEGENDARY YEARS 1931 - 1957 Disc 1 (1993)
CHARLY RECORDS (UK) CDCDCD 1200 — BING CROSBY - MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU (1994)
UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL (Japan) CDUCCU 1155 — BING CROSBY SINGS GERSHWIN (2007)
Not Now Music CDNOT2CD740 — BING CROSBY SINGS THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK (2019)
f. DLA324-B I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - 3:14(DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
g. DLA325-A It Ain't Necessarily So - 3:06(Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL (Japan) CDUCCU 1155 — BING CROSBY SINGS GERSHWIN (2007)
h. DLA325-D It Ain't Necessarily So - 3:08(Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
i. DLA326-Parody Robins And Roses - 1:29(Edgar Leslie, Joe Burke)
BROADWAY INTERMISSION (US) CDBRCD 134 — JUST FOR FUN (2000)
FOR COLLECTORS ONLY LP 12"FCO100B — BING CROSBY - FOR COLLECTORS ONLY
CURTAIN CALLS LP 12"CURTAIN CALLS 1002 — BOTH SIDES OF BING CROSBY (1974)

All titles on: JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-18 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 18 (1999)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: May 26, 1941

Here are a few sides that Bing made 80 years ago. Unbelievable that they are that old...

Date: 26 May 1941
Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

a. DLA2411-A The Waiter And The Porter And The Upstairs Maid - 3:09(Johnny Mercer)

Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, Jack Teagarden (voc), Jack Teagarden and his Orchestra (orc)
EMI -AXIS (Australia) CDCDAX-701592 — THE STARS IN SONG (1990)
MCA (Japan) CDMVCM24004 — BING CROSBY - A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Disc 2 (1925-1942) (1993)
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) CDCD AJA 5147 — BING CROSBY & FRIENDS (1994)
VOCALION (UK) CDCDUS 3000 — BING CROSBY AND FRIENDS (1999)
MEMOIR (UK) CDCDMOIR548 — BING CROSBY AND COMPANY (2000)
AVID (UK) CDAMBX 147 (AMSC 826) — BING CROSBY A MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY Disc 2 (2005)
RETROSPECTIVE CDRTS 4184 — BING CROSBY & BUDDIES - Gone Fishin' - His 53 Finest - CD1 (2011)
SOUNDS OF YESTERYEAR CD— BING CROSBY - IMMERSED IN MR. MERCER'S VERSE (2019)

b. DLA2412-A The Birth Of The Blues - 3:12(Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson)

Bing Crosby (voc), Jack Teagarden and his Orchestra (orc)
JASMINE (UK) CDJASCD 121/2 — BING CROSBY - GOING HOLLYWOOD - Volume 3 1940 - 1944 CD1 (2001)
CASTLE PULSE CDPBXCD 471/2 — BING CROSBY - THE CENTENARY COLLECTION (disc 2) (2003)
RAJON CDCDR0046 — THE GREAT BING CROSBY VOLUME 2 (disc 2) (2003)
UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL (Japan) CDUCCC 3032 — BING CROSBY WITH JAZZ FRIENDS (2004)

Both titles on: PAST (Pavilion Records Ltd) (UK) CDCD 9784 — BING CROSBY - THE MOVIE HITS (1991)
MCA/DECCA/GRP (US) CDGRP 16032 / also GRD 603 — BING CROSBY AND SOME JAZZ FRIENDS (1991)
EMPRESS (UK) CDRAJCD 802 — BING CROSBY - ONLY FOREVER (1993)
EPM MUSIQUE CD983002 — BING CROSBY GREATEST HITS 1934 - 1943 (disc 1) (1994)
PROPER RECORDS (UK) CDP1235 — BING CROSBY: IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER (Vocal Innovators and the Jazz Connection) (2001)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-30 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 30 (2003)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: August 8, 1934

 Here is a new feature where I spotlight an aspect of Bing's vast record career. This time around I am spotlighting August 8, 1934 - which marked Bing's first sessions with the newly created Decca label...

Date: 8 August 1934

Location: 5505 Melrose Avenue. Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

a. DLA6-A I Love You Truly - 3:04(Carrie Jacobs Bond)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
AVID (UK) CDAMSC 633 — BING CROSBY - YOU AND THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC (1998)
b. DLA6-B I Love You Truly - 3:07(Carrie Jacobs Bond)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc)
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) CDCD AJA 5043 — BING CROSBY - HERE LIES LOVE (1990)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
c. DLA7-A Just A Wearyin' For You - 3:13(Frank Stanton, Carrie Jacobs Bond)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
d. DLA7-B Just A Wearyin' For You - 3:16(Frank Stanton, Carrie Jacobs Bond)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc)
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) CDCD AJA 5043 — BING CROSBY - HERE LIES LOVE (1990)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
e. DLA8-A Let Me Call You Sweetheart - 3:11(Beth Slater Whitson, Leo Friedman)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc), Joe Sullivan (pno)
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) CDCD AJA 5043 — BING CROSBY - HERE LIES LOVE (1990)
AVID (UK) CDAVC 535 — THE IMMORTAL BING CROSBY (1994)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
f. DLA6-B Let Me Call You Sweetheart - 3:04(Beth Slater Whitson, Leo Friedman)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc), Joe Sullivan (pno)
SEPIA (UK) CDSEPIA 1296 — BING CROSBY - GOOD AND RARE VOLUME 3 (2016)
g. DLA9-A Someday Sweetheart - 3:13(John C Spikes, Benjamin Spikes)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc), Joe Sullivan (pno)
ABC RECORDS (Aus) CD836 172-2 — BING CROSBY IN DIGITAL STEREO 1927 to 1934 (1986)
BBC (UK) CDCD 648 — BING CROSBY - THE CLASSIC YEARS IN DIGITAL STEREO 1927-1934 (1987)
CONIFER (UK) CDCDHD 123 — BING CROSBY - REMEMBERING 1927-34 (1989)
ASV - LIVING ERA (UK) CDCD AJA 5043 — BING CROSBY - HERE LIES LOVE (1990)
MCA/DECCA/GRP (US) CDGRP 16032 / also GRD 603 — BING CROSBY AND SOME JAZZ FRIENDS (1991)
EMI (Australia) CD1572742 — BING CROSBY - 16 CLASSIC PERFORMANCES (1992)
CHARLY-AFFINITY (UK) CDCD AFS 1022 — THE JAZZIN' BING CROSBY, 1927-1940 Disc 2 (1992)
EPM MUSIQUE CD983002 — BING CROSBY GREATEST HITS 1934 - 1943 (disc 1) (1994)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-15 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 15 (1997)
CASTLE PULSE CDPBXCD 471/2 — BING CROSBY - THE CENTENARY COLLECTION (disc 2) (2003)
METRONOME CDMET CD 2025 — CROSBY CLASSICS - 24 HITS 1931-40 - Classic Years in Digital Stereo (2003)
UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL (Japan) CDUCCC 3032 — BING CROSBY WITH JAZZ FRIENDS (2004)
h. DLA6-B Someday Sweetheart - 3:13(John C Spikes, Benjamin Spikes)

Bing Crosby (voc), Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (orc), Joe Sullivan (pno)
SEPIA (UK) CDSEPIA 1192 — BING CROSBY - THROUGH THE YEARS Volume 10 (2012)

                                        

SPOTLIGHT ON JACK KAPP

 

One of the biggest influences of Bing's recording career was a man by the name of Jac Kapp. He was the person who brought the crooner over to Decca Records and made Bing the recording star he was. Sadly, the founder of Decca died too young. Jack Kapp died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Manhattan on March 25, 1949. Kapp  combined a shrewd eye for business (Decca was the first to make 35 cent records on a large scale and the first to package popular records together as albums) with a sharp ear for talent (he signed Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, Al Jolson, the Dorseys) to lift Decca into a $30 million a year business by 1946.

Kapp's career began in his home town, Chicago, where his father was a salesman for the old Columbia waxworks. Jack began as a shipping clerk at Columbia while he was in high school. After graduation he took a full-time job with Columbia, and then moved to Brunswick, where he met Bing Crosby in 1931. Kapp recalled in 1949: "I will never forget the first day I met Bing a little over 17 years ago in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. He was wearing a crew-neck sweater and he had the same casualness then that distinguishes him today.... I remember how I appealed to him to come to New York .... I can still recapture the thrill of those first records in New York -- selections which included such subsequently standard classics as Where the Blue of the Night, Stardust, Dancing in the Dark and Sweet and Lovely." Kapp left Brunswick in 1933 and, with two partners, founded Decca Records in 1934.

The first recording artist signed by Kapp for the new label was Bing Crosby. Soon Kapp had also signed Guy Lombardo, Ted Lewis, Ethel Waters, the Dorseys, the Mills Brothers, the Casa Loma Band and several other musical stars. To charges that Kapp had 'raided' his rivals, Jack answered that he was paying less money than rival companies and that the artists had followed him out of loyalty to him and faith in his new firm. When Crosby was recording for Brunswick, Bing often whistled and boo-boo-bood when he recorded. At Decca Kapp persuaded Crosby away from the whistling and boo-boo-booing. According to Kapp: "My first objection to Bing's early style -- I wasn't as understanding and as tactful then as I hope I am today -- was that he should eliminate the 'boo-boo-boo-boo' manner, and that his accompaniment must really accompany him, instead of playing what Bing might like to hear."

In his autobiography Crosby said of Kapp: "Every man's life is the result of what happens when his life touches the lives of others, and many people have influenced my life in one way or another. Sometimes, like Jack Kapp of Decca Records, they've helped me achieve things I never would have accomplished otherwise."  Kapp was succeeded at Decca by his younger brother, Dave. Dave Kapp ended up leaving Decca and forming his own label in the 1950s - Kapp Records. Decca was never the same after Jack Kapp passed away...

LE BING: SONG HITS OF PARIS

Le Bing is a 1953 album by Bing Crosby. It was Crosby's first long-playing album, and was released by his longtime label Decca Records. Le Bing is a concept album where all the songs are sung in French.

Crosby recorded the album in Paris on May 16, 1953, during an extended visit to Europe that spring. He had filmed parts of the movie Little Boy Lost in France the previous year. The orchestrations were by Paul Durand, a French arranger who also worked with Edith Piaf, among others.

Le Bing was released later in 1953 as a 10" LP and in December Billboard magazine called it "very nice," saying: "This set could move very well."

Two songs - "Embrasse-Moi Bien" and "Mademoiselle de Paris" - were recorded separately in English at the May 16 session but weren't released on Le Bing. All 10 tracks were released by Sepia Records on the 2010 CD Through the Years: Volume Five (1953).

In 1958, after Crosby had left Decca, the label issued a compilation album titled Bing in Paris, subtitled "Bing Crosby Sings the French Hits." Unlike Le Bing, some songs on Bing in Paris are sung in English.

Track listing
1."Mademoiselle de Paris" (Paul Durand, Henri Contet)
2."Au bord de l'eau" (Paul Durand, Henri Contet)
3."Mon coeur est un violon" (Maria Laparcerie)
4."La vie en rose" (Louiguy, Edith Piaf)
5."La Seine" (Guy La Farge-Flavienmonod)
6."Embrasse-moi bien" (André Grassi)
7."La mer" (Charles Trenet)
8."Tu ne peux pas te figurer" (Paul Misraki)

BING'S DECCA PROFILE

I came across Bing's profile on the website for Decca. It is a very interesting profile, and surprisingly good... Bing Crosby Born: Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington, May 3, 1903. There has always been some dispute over his actual birth date and even his mother at one time said it was May 2, 1904. This is the date quoted in his official biography and shown on his gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles. His correct date of birth has been confirmed to be May 3, 1903, from his baptismal certificate. Bing was the fourth of seven children born to Harry Lincoln (sometimes Lowe) Crosby and his wife Catherine Helen (nee Harrigan) Crosby at 1112 North Jay Street, Tacoma. Bing's mother was of Irish descent and his father was descended from a maritime family. In all, there were seven Crosby children: Laurence (born 1895), Everett (born 1896), Edward (born 1900), Bing (born 1903), Catherine (born 1904), Mary Rose (born 1906), and George Robert (born 1913). The family moved to Spokane in 1906 where Bing grew up and attended Gonzaga High School and Gonzaga University until he left home to seek his fame and fortune in California with friend Al Rinker in 1925. He was known as Bing from a young age, when he got the nickname from the comic The Bingville Bugle. Other nicknames included The Old Groaner, El Bingo, Le Bing and Der Bingle. Died: October 14, 1977, on La Moraleja Golf Course near Madrid, Spain. He had just completed a successful round of golf when he collapsed as the result of a massive heart attack. He had been playing with Spanish golfers Manuel Pinero, Valentine Barrios, and club president Cesar de Zulueta. Bing's last words were reportedly, That was a great game of golf fellas. Let's go have a Coca-Cola. Bing Crosby - The Recording Artist: Bing made recordings in every year of his career which spanned fifty-one years, and he recorded some 2000 titles. He was the most successful recording artist of the twentieth century, with well over 300 hits to his name and twenty-two official Gold Records. Bing recorded with many stars including the Andrews Sisters, Patti Andrews, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Connee Boswell, the Boswell Sisters, Rosemary Clooney, Dixie Lee Crosby, Gary Crosby, Trudy Erwin, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Al Jolson, Danny Kaye, Grace Kelly, Frances Langford, Peggy Lee, Mary Martin, Johnny Mercer, the Mills Brothers, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Richards, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, and Jane Wyman among others. First recording: "I've Got the Girl", a duet with Al Rinker and Don Clark and his Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra, recorded October 18, 1926. Last recording "Once in a While" with Gordon Rose and his Orchestra recorded for the BBC, October 11, 1977, in London. Bing's voice was at its peak in the thirties and early forties and throughout this period he had no equal. During his career, he sang every imaginable kind of song including romantic ballads, country and western, patriotic, religious, Irish and Hawaiian favorites as well as light opera and jazz classics. No singer has ever matched Bing when it comes to Christmas; his Yuletide offerings remain preeminent throughout the world. Some 1500 of Bing's recordings (both commercial and radio) are currently available on compact disc and more are released all over the world on a regular basis. Over 300 Crosby CDs have been issued since the advent of the compact disc as confirmation that twenty-four years after his death Bing remains ever popular. Bing Crosby In Concert: Bing originally developed his skills on the vaudeville and theater stage and enjoyed a record run of over twenty weeks at the Paramount theaters in New York and Brooklyn in 1931-32. Appearances at numerous theaters across the U.S.A. followed before Bing went into films. His heavy commitment in films and radio virtually ended his concert work until World War II when he became a prolific entertainer at military camps and at bond rallies. Thereafter he made very few live performances until 1976 when, to everyone's surprise, he returned to the concert stage with a vengeance. Bing starred in concerts in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami Beach, New Orleans, Pasadena, San Jose, Preston (England), Dublin (Ireland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Manchester (England), and Oslo (Norway) as well as headlining two sell-out seasons at the London Palladium in 1976 and 1977. His marvelous performances endeared him to all that saw them. Bing's last public engagement was at Brighton, England, on October 10, 1977. SOURCE