Anybody else catch the PBS American Masters bio of Bing Crosby recently? (Bing Crosby: Rediscovered). Its really well-done, with full participation of Bings widow and three surviving children (of his second marriage, to Kathryn Grant) and was much more candid than any other on-the-record bio of Bing Ive seen. I was impressed by the familys dealing with the many rumors of Bings drinking, philandering, etc. He was a very complicated fellow alright, despite his laid-back, avuncular demeanor. The program deals with--head-on--the disastrous implosion of his first family--the four highly troublesome (and troubled) sons from his first marriage, two of whom committed suicide while the other two also came to unfortunate, premature deaths. Love him, hate him--he was a legend who was hugely influential on pop singing to this day. Elvis himself used to say that Bing was one of his biggest influences--and how many singers have copied Elvis? It also addresses for the first time (to me, anyway) how it came to be that Bing and David Bowie sang that fantastic Christmas duet. I dont know whether its being replayed on PBS -but its well-worth seeking out on demand, if youre a devotee of music from that era. Some great, rare clips from the Crosby family vault, too. And toward the end of the show, they show the following (first link, below), with Crosby, Sinatra and Dean Martin, singing from, Guys and Dolls....thats about as good as it gets, if you ask me! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!! https://youtube/watch?v=kcdOug7scno
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 04:32:31 +0000
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