Going My Own Way

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-04-06

This is a great biography. Very well written and completely absorbing. Gary is hardest on himself-totally honest. I have a special contempt for the assistant coach who would not let him have the spot he earned on the Stanford team.

Two Sons Committing Suicide is Evidence of Severe Abuse.......2007-02-04

Two of Crosby's four sons killed themselves. I hardly think that Gary is "whining" about what his monster of a father did to him. I should know; my father is a the same kind of monster who happens to be a legend in the music industry. The abuse was so bad that I saw both my brother and sister try to kill themselves. They both spent time in mental institutions as well. When my father was winning Grammy Awards for "Thriller", his son was homeless in Minneapolis, sleeping between buildings. My father refused his calls for help. When I was diagnosed with cancer, they never even sent me a card. They said "Quit being a wimp and don't bother us with your problems. Sell your car to pay your medical bills." and hung up on me. My father would kick my brother down the stairs on a regular basis. When my sister was having a grand mal seizure in the front hallway, my father walked by her and yelled to my mother; "Call the circus and see if they need someone for the freak show!" My mother would take me to her girlfriend's parties, fondle strange men in front of me, and then leave me there overnight when my father was out of town. I spent most of my adult life in therapy, studied psychology, married a wonderful man, and I've channelled my pain into my writing. I'm doing quite well. But my brother continues to bang his head against the wall until it bleeds to "get the pain out". My parents haven't seen him in over 25 years. I haven't spoken to my parents in years. But I am writing my memoir and I am giving the pain and the shame back to them. So I understand Gary's pain and the catharsis he underwent in writing his book. Don't be dismissive of child abuse. The backswing of the karmic pendulum is a powerful force. My parents are about to find out.

This is a Great Read.......2006-12-22

I read this book when it first came out and I thought it was fascinating. I enjoyed Crosby's description of Louis Armstrong's tour among many other things. Crosby talks about how out of control he was on alcohol and the famous people he would run with when he was drinking. Lots of things happen in this book. If you like biography, this is a great choice.
By the way...
I'm surprised that someone would write a scathing review without even having finished the book. Bing was awful to the Crosby boys. He refused to let Gary and his brothers enjoy life. Just one example is how he imprisoned them each summer on a working ranch where they had to do miserable labor which they hated. Too bad he couldn't have thought of what they wanted to do. Two of the brothers committed suicide and while it's impossible to lay this at Bing's doorstep, a better, kinder upbringing certainly couldn't have hurt.

sad but entertaining.......2006-06-15

I read this book over 20 years ago when I saw Gary on the Phil Donahue show talking about his upbringing. I just recently purchased a copy. The writing style of the book is highly reminiscent of the character Holden Caulfield in "The Catcher in the Rye", and just like that novel, there are laugh out loud parts in Gary's autobiography. I am disturbed that people who read the book would critisize his motives for writing it. Gary wrote it after Bing had died and without a doubt the writing of it was therapy. Clearly, Gary loved his dad. Most of us from that era who were abused by our parents still loved them. If Gary needed the money from book sales, so what? He did not receive an inheritance from his dad and his trust from his mother was modest. One reviewer said to read Bing's book if you want to know about Bing. That would only be one side of him. Read Gary's book if you want to know about Bing's family life and relationship with his 4 boys. I think "tell all" books are just fine after the person in question has died.

Mushrooms = prefer the dark side of "parenting" and try to feed those around them with [...].......2006-04-21

When I was a child, my siblings and I had no opinions of our own, our preferences were never an issue and if you complained by sighing the wrong way when watching TV we were likely to get something thrown at us, or to get sucker punched from behind on our ears (that way, we couldn't "complain" about something we couldn't hear), or literally being put out on the porch and left there all night. Some people have this silly notion that just because child abuse wasn't a well known term or that our parents were only doing what they knew how to do, then it wasn't really child abuse. I ask you, "How dumb is that!?" Of course it was child abuse!
Mr. Crosby was a talented man and he knew how to entertain his audiences. However, he was not a good father and he didn't know how to love his children. Bing Crosby and his wife were sadistic, hateful, hurtful and uncaring parents. If he was JUST the "absent father" like some have suggested, this book would have never been written. However, they tormented their children not in the name of discipline, but in the name of self gratification. You do not demean, humiliate or hit your children like they did (or like my father did) without enjoying it to some extent.

I'm utterly shocked at some of the comments left by other reviewers. Just because Bing Crosby and Dixie were obviously well off financially doesn't mean their kids were well off financially and it certainly doesn't mean that their kids should have just sucked it up and to "stop whining"! I'm truly confused why someone would have purchased this for "entertainment". Who would be entertained by someone else's misery other than another sadistic abuser? I bought this book because I could relate to those kids. It helps knowing that there are others who have found a will to go on or try to understand why they simply couldn't face life any longer. I'll spare you the details but I often write of the horrors I lived through as a child and for me, it's a kind of therapy. Maybe it was like that for Gary Crosby too?

Summary:

If you haven't been in a similar situation of abuse or you need a form of entertainment then you won't understand this book or others like it and you should take up a hobby...try the "Paint by Numbers" craft.

Average customer rating:

Yup, Lucky.
The great voice of the century
Bing by Bing
Undeniably Craosby

Call Me Lucky
Bing Crosby , and As told to Pete Martin
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0306810875

Book Description

"One of the most enchanting of all show-business memoirs." -Gary Giddins.

Reissued to coincide with the paperback publication of the definitive Bing biography by Gary Giddins, here is "a collection of anecdotes and reminiscences that is as warm and witty as any Crosby performance. [Bing] could have surely become a full-time writer had his schedule not been taken up with being one of the great entertainers of the century." -Will Friedwald

Customer Reviews:

Yup, Lucky........2005-04-21

Crosby says about himself that he had no skill at acting or dancing and that his singing was more gimmick than talent, a strategy learned in vaudeville. If he hadn't been in town at the same time as Paul Whiteman, his life would have taken a different turn, and that would have been okay with him. As it was, he blew around in a wind that carried him to fame, fortune, race tracks, golf courses and professional friends. Otherwise, he made no contribution, he says, except for two recordings, and he isn't kidding. What we have here is a modest little man with a great deal to be modest about. Vain, conceited, self-centered, pretentious, affable--what media turns into icon. The book itself is a series of anecdotes distilled from conversations with a ghostwriter, interrupted when Bing swaps a highbrow word for a lowbrow one, reaching for distinction. He had an ache for attention, evidently, but his book never deals with the hungers of his personality. So he's not as interesting as the people he mentions, sometimes indiscretely, despite his own penchant for privacy. It was a wonderful ride. I'm glad he enjoyed it. But yesteryear's wisecrack is this year's yawn. For a show biz autobiography that sizzles with self-knowledge, read Oscar Levant's or Lennie Bruce's.

The great voice of the century.......2004-08-11

Pete Martin, the famous journalist and profile writer who spent a lot of his time working like a beaver for the classic Saturday Evening Post of the 1940s and 1950s--the Norman Rockwell years--and who departed for LOOK magazine when Rockwell did--wrote the bulk of this book, but he did it in close cooperation with the not always easy to work with Bing Crosby, who had attained a new plateau of popularity in the 1950s (when the book was first published). It seemed as if he had everything: wonderful talent, a devoted family, a gift not only for musical comedy but for drama too, as his turns in The Country Girl and Going My Way indicated. Though filmed considerably later than the period he describes in this book, "der Bingle" did a great job as a serial killer in Ira Levin's medical thriller, Dr. Cook's Garden. Bing had a warm, jazz-inspired delivery that wrapped itself around air like it was filled with honey, he was surely the warmest singer who ever lived. If his private life was more complicated than the Saturday Evening Post was then willing to print, what we have in CALL ME LUCKY is another side to the many-faceted Bing Crosby, a construction of grit, daring and tenderness that remains remarkably durable twenty years after his death.

Bing by Bing.......2004-02-28

I read this book as a teen years ago and just purchased the new paperback version. Bing's voice, even as filtered by Pete Martin, is evident here. He's not a deep 'teller of tales' in order to let us see all his personal angst. What we do see is a guy who struggles with parenting spirited boys, who grieves the loss of a wife, who downplays his talent and, as the book's title suggests, considers himself merely lucky. There's a lot of humor in this book and the caring Crosby feels for his family and his fellow entertainers is quite evident if not overly 'blatant'. Another perfect companion to the Gary Giddins book "Pocketful of Dreams"!

Undeniably Craosby.......1998-01-15

Bing Crosby comes to life in "Call Me Lucy". Each word, each sentence, every portion evokes Crosby's wonderful exalted form of speaking. This is not a tell-all biography, but rather a wonderful recant of anecdotes and humorous observations. Crosby tells amusing stories of Bob Hope, Paul Whiteman, Oscar Levant, Groucho Marx, Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, his wife, and his kids. He also spends time telling stories of his adventures on the golf course, in movies, on radio, and traveling the country with Paul Whiteman's band. What's more, he tells the true stories of his rise to the top of show business. From being a team with his Washington pal Al Rinker, to getting the Academy Award for "Going My Way" in 1944. In addition to this, he speaks frankly about his wife (who died not to long before the book was originally published). An honest, and teary moment. All together, "Call Me Lucky" is a must to any Crosby fan. It's undeniably Crosby!

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams-the Early Years, 1903-1940

Average customer rating:

A Great Book
INFORMATIVE BING BIO
An Very Good Biography-But Not Perfect
Question the research
The Definitive Bing Biography

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams-the Early Years, 1903-1940
Gary Giddins
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316886459

Book Description

From 1934 to 1954, Bing Crosby utterly dominated North American entertainment. Nobody has ever had as many hit records, and Crosby was the number one movie star five years in a row. The rise of Bing Crosby was the rise of North American popular culture itself. In Bing Crosby, the first volume of the definitive Crosby biography, award-winning music critic Gary Giddins chronicles the ascension of Bings career. From Crosbys early recordings, to his triumph on Americas most popular radio show, to his first success in Hollywood, Giddins provides the most detailed study yet of the rise of a North American star. This is the first definitive biography of Crosby and was written with exclusive access to unpublished materials. Giddins Visions of Jazz won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award. Bing Crosby was the first North American pop culture icon, and his career heavily influenced Sinatra and Elvis, as well as popular music itself.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book.......2005-11-11

I devoured this book the first time I read it and am now reading it for the second time after discovering for myself a lot about the man, Bing Crosby, and his music and films. I wasn't much of a fan before I read Gidden's book, but am now. A facinating and detailed examination of the early life and career of an extremely talented and complex man, much loved during his long career and judged extremely harshly by many after his death. Too bad they forgot about all of the good he accomplished in his lifetime.

INFORMATIVE BING BIO.......2004-09-23

Anyone interested in Bings life should enjoy this book. Does any
one out there know when part two will be released?

Anyone who enjoys Bing work will find this book interesting. Does
anyone know with part two is coming out?

An Very Good Biography-But Not Perfect.......2004-08-18

When I first picked this book up I wondered "700+ pages on Bing Crosby?" Tho a Crosby fan (more of his early work than later), I wondered if there was enough material for 700+ pages, and that just in the first volume. There is, tho with some judicious editing it could have been cut down a bit. (There is some repetition in the book, especially the author's emphasizing again and again that "Bing made great contributions to American Music", as though we in the younger generations really had to be convinced.)

What I didn't like was the author's putting down some of Crosby's contemporaries. He was relatively kind to Russ Columbo, but scathing on Rudy Vallee. I'm not particularly a Vallee fan, but you have to credit the guy's popularity, and his longevity in show business as a big name. He had a wild, faddish vogue in the early part of his career, which was bound to fade when a more talented performer like Crosby came around, but he stayed in show business as a name to be reckoned with until the mid 60s. And tho he was portrayed as a blowhard and boaster, Vallee at least had enough of a sense of humor to mock his own image in movies like "The Palm Beach Story".

Also the author puts down John Boles, a popular actor of the 30s, who beat Crosby out of an important number in the early musical "The King of Jazz" (it was Crosby's own fault). Again, Boles is nobody in comparison with Crosby when it comes to fame or importance, but he had a decent film career, and before I saw "The King of Jazz", I mainly knew him from films like "Frankenstein" and "Stella Dallas", and when I first saw "The King of Jazz", I was impressed that he could sing at all. Boles was famous enough to be part of a gag on a Leave It To Beaver episode--when June told of getting in trouble in school for trying to impress her friends by telling them that John Boles was her uncle!

Also, as a footnote, the author relates the story of a talent contest run in Spokane as part of a Bing Crosby homecoming celebration, noting that one of the winners was Janet Waldo, and not saying much more than that. Janet Waldo did make some movies, never becoming a film star, but she did later become one of the more durable voice artists in radio and television, specialising in teenage girls (famously as Corliss Archer and Judy Jetson-and in one particular episode of I Love Lucy) into what must have been her old age-sort of a female Arnold Stang (I hope that isn't an insult!) I thought this successful part of her career was worth a mention, especially since Hollywood talent contests of the time seemd to be mere publicity stunts, and that winners were usually given a bit part in a b-film and shipped straight home to obscurity.

One other thing that bothered me was the author's apologising for Big Crosby's being a Republican (a rather mild one at that). Maybe the author is a Democrat or liberal, but that's his business. The assumption that everyone reading this book is a democrat and will be offended by Bing Crosby's conservatism is a bit overbearing.

But for the most part, I enjoyed the book very much. It was well written, well researched, and gave more information than you knew existed on Crosby's recordings and his movies. As someone who knows almost nothing about the more technical aspects of music, such as chord changes and harmonies, the technical descriptions of Crosby's singing went over my head and I didn't quite know what the author was talking about, but I guess that stuff is for the jazz buffs amongst the readership, and my ignorance is not the author's fault. The book was also especially good on one Crosby subject I had always been curious about: the break-up of the Rhythm Boys, and Crosby's subsequent relationships with Al Rinker and Harry Barris. I knew from seeing Crosby's films that Barris frequently had small parts in them, and figured they were probably favors from Crosby to an old pal. His split with Rinker was sadder, but from the descriptions in the book, probably inevitable. (I was so dumb on this subject that I never knew Mildred Bailey was Al Rinker's sister!)

Overall, very well worth buying and reading if you are interested in the history of American music, films or popular culture in general in the 20th Century.

Question the research.......2004-08-10

I enjoyed reading this biography of Bing especially since it included information on my father, Mike Pecarovich. I have to point out the poor editing job, however. My father's name was consistently misspelled as Pecarovitch. I haven't seen the paperback edition but sincerely hope the mistake was corrected.

The Definitive Bing Biography.......2004-02-29

Amazingly, no one had written a serious Crosby biography since 1948 - when Bing was a household name - until Gary Giddins gave us this incredible first volume of what promises to be the definitive study of the man of whom it used to be said, "the voice of Bing Crosby has been heard by more people than the voice of any other human being who ever lived."

"Pocketful" is a thorough, heavily researched evaluation of the first half of Crosby's life and career, and his cultural significance. As such, Giddins covers not only the landmark moments and achievements, but also the minutiae. To me, this is not a drawback. The subject is worthy of such intellectual scrutiny. It isn't a gossip-laden Hollywood tell-all, so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere.

Bing Crosby personified everything Americans of his generation found admirable: he was self-assured, easygoing, intelligent, quick-witted and athletic, yet modest and self-effacing. Possessing a relaxed manner and a mellifluous and universally appealing baritone voice, he was adored by women and admired by men, and was the nation's most beloved entertainer throughout the Great Depression and the Second World War. The across-the-board nature of his of fame and longevity - he was simultaneously the world's top singer, actor AND radio star for a number of years, and he remained popular to the end of his life - is almost unfathomable in this age of perpetually divergent trends in entertainment, and disposable celebrity.

The cold, hard facts of Crosby's career, laid out for us by Giddins, are staggering:

* He had sold 400 million records by 1980.
* He charted more records (368) - and scored more #1's (38) - than any other recording artist in history, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson.
* His rendition of "White Christmas" is the most popular single ever, and the only one to make the American pop charts 20 times.
* He dominated the medium of radio for over 30 years with his top-rated programs, regularly attracting 50 million listeners in his peak years (about 1/3 of the population of the U.S. at the time!).
* His "Road" films with Bob Hope were the highest grossing comedies of their time.
* He was the #1 box office movie star for five consecutive years (1944-48), a streak which still hasn't been topped.
* He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, and won it in 1944.
* "Going My Way" became the top grossing film in the history of Paramount Pictures. A fluke you say? The next year "Bells Of St. Mary's" became the top grossing film in the history of RKO!
* He was a key figure in the development and popularization of audio- and videotape.
* He started the first celebrity/pro-amateur golf tournament, which raised millions of dollars for charity over the years.

After Bing's death in 1977, his reputation diminished to the point that he was almost forgotten, or simply dismissed, in part due to a hyped-up hatchet job of a book by his eldest son. This straightforward, factual effort by Giddins has begun to turn the tide back in Bing's favor. Since the publication of this essential work, a reassessment of Bing Crosby's life and career has taken place in many circles. A scholarly conference entitled "Bing Crosby and American Culture" was held at Hofstra University in 2002, and last year his alma mater, Gonzaga University, celebrated the centennial of his birth with a three-day event.

Product Description

Kathryn Crosby's memoir of her last days with Bing...

Average customer rating:

A "must-read" for the lingering legions of Bing Crosby fans
Great Buy

Bing Crosby-Crooner of the Century
Richard Grudens
Manufacturer: Celebrity Profiles Publishing Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1575792486

Book Description

Here is the quintessential Crosby tribute book at the dawn of his centenary May 3, 2003. The book documents the story of Bing's colorful life, family, recordings, radio and television shows, and films- a wondrous career that pioneered the art of popular crooning and of a man who kept America in perfect tune for many generations. His recording of White Christmas alone would have immortalized him. A must read book for Crosby fans everywhere who still cherish the music and anecdotes of the players involved in the Golden Age of popular music written by the author of The Spirit of Bob Hope and Jerry Vale-A Singer's Life.

Customer Reviews:

A "must-read" for the lingering legions of Bing Crosby fans.......2003-05-15

Richard Grudens' Bing Crosby: Crooner Of The Century is an impressive presented and informatively written tribute to the famous singer Bing Crosby, his varied and sometimes difficult life, his family, the success story of his singing and acting career, and the lasting cultural reflections of his work. Featuring an introduction by Bing Crosby's wife Kathryn Grant Crosby, Bing Crosby: Crooner Of The Century is a "must-read" for the lingering legions of Bing Crosby fans.

Great Buy.......2002-11-27

Richard Gruden's heartwarming tale of Bing Crosby's life story is one that will remain in my personal library of well-written biographies for a long time. From birth to death, Bing Crosby's life is passionately displayed through words and pictures alike. Crosby fans and those new to his world of musical talent will instantly be entranced by the smooth flow of the story. Finally! A biography about one of the world's most influential musicians that doesn't read like a textbook but rather like a tale that makes me want to read it again and again!

Book Description

Bing Crosby was one of the most popular entertainers ever to appear on film. He was a symbol of an era, embodying an old-fashioned nostalgia and a golden age in cinema. His films, from the nostalgic charm of "White Christmas" to "Going My Way," which won him an Oscar, have a timeless and enduring appeal. Strikingly handsome, with a soft, crooning voice and a relaxed demeanor, Crosby was a natural heart-throb; yet behind the image of the all-American icon was a fierce, deeply complex individual. In this new biography, Michael Freedland writes candidly about his subject. Drawing on new material, rare photographs, and previously unpublished interviews, Bing Crosby: The Illustrated Biography is a long-overdue portrait of one of America's brightest stars. Among Michael Freedland's many books are All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin, Sean Connery, and The Two Lives of Errol Flynn.

Customer Reviews:

An error on most every page!.......2001-03-07

In this book, we learn that, among other things, Bing's partner in the Rhythm Boys was named Harry "Berris"...... That Bing made "4000 different recordings"....... That Bing's famous singing rivalry known as the "Battle Of The Baritones" was with Rudy Vallee..... That another popular singer of the early days was Russ "Colombo"..... That Bing's mother was born in Canada..... That Bing's lung operation in 1974 was due to cancer..... That Bing's appearances on the "Hollywood Palace" TV show consisted of hosting "once a month, between 1968 and 1970 ...., sharing the role with George Burns, Martha Raye, and Judy Garland"........ That in 1962, Bing recorded "Let's Not Be Sensible" for a film soundtrack, "...but for reasons no one could adequately explain, the last word of the song, 'love', was mangled on tape...." and that Bing refused to re-record it because he was a "star", so .."Michael Holliday, a Crosby sound-alike, was brought in to finish the line for him......" This book further reveals that all of Al Jolson's legendary 1940s radio appearances with Bing were on Bing's series, "The Kraft Music Hall", and that Bing's very first TV appearance was "...as the guest of Jack Benny's first special in 1953...." WHEW!!!! What a bunch of junk! Folks, every single fact I've just related comes randomely from the pages of this half-baked un-researched hatchet-job, and is totally wrong!! What's more, These are just errors I picked at the last minute, thumbing through the book as I was composing this review: there are so many more! I've read hundreds of entertainment bios in my life (including others by Freedland), and NEVER have I encountered such a lame work with so many blatant errors of fact, chronology, and spelling (the spelling errors listed above for "Berris" and "Colombo", are not random typos, but are mis-spelled every time the names appear in the text!) How did this get published? Of course, the piece is also a hatchet-job, featuring alusions and conclusions re: Crosby's behavior that have absolutely no basis in fact. You want Crosby? Order Gary Giddins' new masterpiece "Bing Crosby- A Pocketful Of Dreams - The Early Years", and you'll get the REAL Bing, in a scholarly, analytical epic that makes this howler look like the misbegotten little essay that it is.

Filled with mistakes; nice photos!.......2000-07-27

This book is loaded with mistakes! Some are not even close to being accurate! Has some nice photos though, but not worth the money!

A Slightly Illustrated and Sometimes Inaccurate Biography.......2000-04-24

I was looking forward to an accurate biography of my favorite singer, Bing Crosby, and, as the title promises, this was supposed to be full of illustrations too. Sadly, I was disappointed on both accounts.

Upon reading Michael Freeland's version of Bing's life and career, I couldn't help but feel that Mr. Freeland gave The Old Groaner several digs along the way. I guess you don't have to be a fan of your subject to write a biography. There were several blatant errors in the text. Among these was a captioned picture of Gary Cooper presenting Bing with his Oscar while, on the same page, Mr. Freeland writes that Bing received that little statue from Bob Hope. Also, for some reason, the print is very large. Even though the book boasts 127 or so pages, it would have only been about 75 pages with regular print. I don't known if this was done because the author thought that older folks (with deteriorating eyesight?) would have more of an interest in this book. I am in my 30's so maybe I don't fit into the Mr. Freeland's concept of a typical Bing fan.

As for the illustrations, they were slightly spartan considering the title of the book. I was anxiously anticipated pages and pages of both color and black & white pictures depicting Bing in all stages of his life and career. Although there weren't enough pictures to suit me, I do have to say that the pictures included were of good quality ( althought none in color other than the one on the back cover) and many were ones that I had never seen before.

A Slightly Illustrated and Sometimes Inaccurate Biography.......2000-04-24

Book Description

During his lifetime, Bing Crosby was one of the most loved entertainers of the twentieth century. He made his name as a singer with a distinctive and innovative style, which helped to transform the musical scene of the early thirties. Radio and films brought him national prominence, and then as his film career developed, he achieved world-wide renown through his portrayal of Father O'Malley and through the hilarious Road films he made with Bob Hope. This book details his life, almost on a daily basis, and, with the aid of many contemporary reviews, produces a fascinating account of one of the most important show business figures of the twentieth century. Through Bing and his interaction with most of the stars of the time, the history of show business can virtually be traced. A discography, a fact file and a large index, which picks up many other show biz icons, supplements what will be a indispensable reference book, not only for those interested in Crosby but anyone researching other stars of the period.

Customer Reviews:

Mr Casual? Think again!.......2004-02-28

What a book! For the casual history buff, it's a detailed look at America (and much of the world) from 1903 to 1977. You cannot read this book and think that Bing was 'lazy' or 'sloppy' or 'lucky' - he worked hard, he planned, he gave generously of his time and talents to the world during some of its darkest days. This is a perfect book to purchase and donate to a school or a library if you're able to - a valuable resource, well written and meticulously researched!

Wow! A treasure trove.......2003-07-05

Yes, this book carries a hefty price tag and its paltry number of illustrations grates a bit on the nerves. But the content within the covers is absolutely amazing. Any serious fan of Bing will beg, borrow or possibly steal this tome because it's fasincating and detailed.

Do you want to know where Bing was or what he was doing on May 12, 1941? Easy, just flip to the entry for that date. The littlest bit of trivia is included and it makes for sometimes amusing reading. Bing caught four fish on this date in 1956, he played 36 holes of golf at the Bel Air Country Club on this date in 1942... it's all here. It's incredible to realize how multi-faceted Bing was and what a full life he led, truly something to be envied.

Rounding out the book is a complete discography and an index which is complete and easy to follow. This is a "must have" for anyone seriously interested in the career of this laid-back, phlegmatic legend. I highly recommend this beautiful volume.

THE definitive reference guide to the life & times of Bing!.......2002-01-19

Without a doubt, this is the most comprehensive look at Bing Crosby's activities, literally on a "day by day" basis from his birth in 1903 to his death in 1977, that has ever been published. Malcolm Macfarlane, in what obviously was a labor of love, has painstakingly uncovered every bit of information on Bing's life that he could find. His attention to detail is
impeccable.

To enhance the coverage of Bing's films, radio/TV, and stage performances, Malcolm utilizes countless reviews and press cuttings from various publications. The "show biz Bible", VARIETY, is often quoted, providing a time capsule effect to Bing's life and times. These reviews are, in essence, the history of show business for over half a century, further adding to the appeal of the book.

Indeed this is a book not only devoted (and casual) fans of Bing will treasure, but also those doing research on virtually any other performer of his era. Bing's path crossed with most of them, a fact proven by the extraordinarily detailed index.

Malcolm has also provided the reader with a "fact file", citing milestones of Bing's life. His forty top hit recordings, gold records, feature films, careers in radio and TV are all covered in a general manner. A discography is also provided, listing only the song titles and dates recorded, from 1926-77. Rejected and alternate takes have been omitted.

The only minor disappointment, and it entirely rests with the publisher, is the lack of illustrations to accompany the entries. As it stands, Scarecrow Press devoted a mere 16 pages out of over 800 total to photos. But don't let that deter you from purchasing this fabulous book.

To be sure, this is a book the whole family can enjoy. I, for one, found it amusing to look up milestone dates in members of my family's lives, to see what activities Bing was involved with on those days.

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