BING'S DEATH: 43 YEARS AGO

In this photo, Bing tees off on the La Moraleja golf course near Madrid, Spain, on the afternoon of Oct. 14, 1977. He finished 18 holes of golf -- carding an 85 -- and, with his partner, club president Cesar de Zulueta, defeating 2 Spanish golf pros, Manuel Pinero and Valentine Barrious...

After his final putt Bing bowed to acknowledge the applause of some fans and remarked ""That was a great game of golf, fellas." As he was walking to the clubhouse about 6:30 he collapsed from a massive heart attack. Bing made no attempt to break his fall and landed head-first on the red-brick pavement, producing a large bruise on the left side of his forehead. "We thought he had just slipped," said one of his golfing companions. "Bing had shown no sign of fatigue. He was happy and singing as he went around the course." His 3 golfing companions carried Bing the remaining 20 yards to the clubhouse where a physician administered oxygen and adrenalin without success.

Bing's funeral began at 5 a.m. Oct. 18, 1977 at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. Bing's will specified that only his wife and 7 children should attend, but Kathryn invited Bing's siblings as well as Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney and Phil Harris. The ABC reporter who covered the funeral, Geraldo Rivera, noted the early morning hour was when the blue of the night met the gold of the day...

BING: THE FINAL CHAPTER

Bing's recording output began diminishing dramatically in the late 1960s. From 1969 through 1974 he recorded only two albums. One was a Christmas album ("A Time to be Jolly") and the other was with Count Basie and his orchestra ("Bing 'n' Basie"). Moreover, by the end of 1973 Bing was not well. He suffered from chest pains and fever. On New Year's Eve he felt so ill that he consented to be hospitalized. Both Bing and Kathryn thought he had lung cancer. On Jan. 13 a tumor the size of a small orange was removed from Bing's left lung. But the tumor was not cancerous. It was the result of a rare fungal infection that Bing had probably picked up on an overseas safari the previous year.

Bing's recovery was slow, but when he did recover he returned with a renewed vigor. He recorded 10 albums the last three years of his life and began performing live concerts again, which he had not done since World War II. During one of these concerts, a nationally-televised celebration of his 50th anniversary in show business in March 1977, Bing fell backwards into an orchestra pit and ruptured a disc in his back. He was hospitalized for a month, but in August resumed a hectic schedule. He flew to Oslo, Norway, to do a concert, and then to England to tape his Christmas special, "Bing Crosby's Merry Olde Christmas," which included Twiggy and David Bowie as guests. On Sept. 12-14 he recorded his final album, "Seasons," with the Pete Moore Orchestra.

Bing's next stop was a two-week engagement at the London Palladium with his family, comedian Ted Rogers and Rosemary Clooney. Then he and his troup moved on to Brighton where they performed their final concert on Oct. 10 to a sold-out theatre. The next day he dropped by the BBC studios as a guest on the Alan Dell radio show. Here he sang 8 songs with the Gordon Rose Orchestra. His last song was the nostalgic "Once in a While." BBC Records later released these recordings on disc, "Bing: The Final Chapter" (BBC-22398). Later that day Bing posed for pictures for his "Seasons" album, including the photo shown here. The next day Bing flew to Spain to play golf...

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AUDIO ASPIRIN: ONCE IN A WHILE

40 YEARS AGO TODAY

The year 1977 began poorly for Bing. In March 1977, during a televised concert to celebrate his fifty years in show business, he fell backwards into an orchestra pit headfirst. He ruptured a disc in his back, and was hospitalized for a month. After recovering, he made appearances all over the world, from Norway to England to tape a Christmas special, which featured David Bowie the famous Christmas duet. After taping the special, he recorded his final album, Seasons.

Bing’s next stop was the London Palladium for a two-week engagement. Then he and his band went to Brighton where they performed their final performance on October 10. The next day Bing was a guest on the Alan Dell radio show, where he sang eight songs with the Gordon Rose Orchestra. Later that day he posed for photos for the Seasons album. The next day Bing headed for Spain to play golf and die.

On the afternoon of October 14, 1977, Bing was playing at the La Morajela golf course near Madrid, Spain. He finished 18 holes with a score of 85, and with a partner, defeated two Spanish golf pros. After his last putt, Bing bowed to applause and said, "It was a great game." He was about 20 yards from the clubhouse, when he collapsed from a massive heart attack. His three golfing companions remarked that he did not look tired and was even singing around the course, though he seemed to be favoring his left arm near the end of the game. They thought he had slipped. They carried him to the clubhouse, where a physician attempted to revive him, to no avail. Bing Crosby was dead on arrival, at the Red Cross hospital. He was 74.

A few hours after learning of her husband’s death, Kathryn issued a statement, "I can’t think of any better way for a golfer who sings for a living to finish the round." Their son Harry, 19, and the family’s former butler, Alan Fisher, flew to Spain to accompany Bing’s body back to LA.

The most widely heard voice of the 20th Century and maybe all time was silenced on that fateful day on October 14, 1977...

OCTOBER 14, 1977

39 years ago, the music died for one of the most widely heard voices in history...

This article was originally published by the Daily News on October 15, 1977. This story was written by Amador Marin...

Madrid - Bing Crosby, the crooner of beautiful songs who dominated show business for three generations of lovers around the world, died here yesterday of a heart attack after completing a round of golf. "Der Bingle" was 73, and his death produced shock and grief among millions of devoted fans.

The end for the man with the gold baritone voice and relaxed, pipe-smoking humor came at the end of a 4 ½ - hour round of his beloved golf during which the great singer and actor was described as "happy and singing" - fresh from an acclaimed tour of Britain. He had come to Spain for a few days of rest and relaxation.

Crosby had been playing with three prominent Spanish golfers on the La Moraleja club course on the outskirts of Madrid, and the foursome had just left the 18th hole late in the afternoon. The four happy players were walking back to the clubhouse when Crosby was seized by a heart attack and slumped to the ground.

"We thought he had just slipped," said one of the Bing's playing comrades, Valentin Barrios, a champion Spanish golfer. "We took him to the clubhouse and he was given oxygen and cardiac tonic injections, but nothing could be done, Bing had shown no signs of fatigue. He was happy and singing as we went around the course."

Crosby, Barrios said, did not utter a sound as he fell to the turf.

"There were no last words," Barrios said.

It was about 6:30 p.m. on a warm sunny afternoon here when Crosby died. He was taken to the Red Cross Hospital in Madrid in an ambulance, but doctors there could do nothing. He was pronounced dead on arrival. "We carried him to the clubhouse, but it was already too late," said another member of the foursome, Manuel Pinero, the current Spanish golf champion.

"We were walking back to the clubhouse chatting and happy that we had won," Pinero said last night, as he recalled how he and Crosby had defeated Barrios and another Spanish golfer, Cesar de Zulueta, president of La Moraleja club.

Crosby's last game of golf was good. "Bing played better than Thursday, when he shot 92," Barrios told reporters...

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GOODBYE BING

 

 

Thirty-seven years later Bing Crosby is still missed...

 

OCTOBER 14, 1977

Remembering Harry Lillis Crosby (aka Bing Crosby), thirty six years after his death...

His voice spanned generations, and it was what made America great. There will never be another Bing...