King of Jazz: Rhythm Boys

[HockeyPeaceandLove]

Lol Bing at 0:35 guess it wasn't Michael Jackson who invented that move ;p

[SuperCoolSaul]

Somehow ponies brought me here

[MrAnthonyVance]

This is pretty priceless film -- wow! And Bing was one hell of a vocalist -- was he not? Enjoyed this much. Thank you for the post.

[Onlymusical]

Crosby looks bizarre with that wide part in his hair but this is fantastic. What a fabulous piece of film.

[saavedra342]

Desde Argentina digo: Gardel inventó todo en el tango cantado, además de su real valía como compositor y dueño de una voz excepcional.

Del mismo Bing en la música americana.

Unicos los dos, después viene el resto, obviamente si restar méritos a muchos que si lo poseen.

[WheezerTheGeezer]

During the filming of The King of Jazz Crosby was thrown in jail for a stunt he and some of the Whiteman band members pulled. Joe Venuti told the story of how all of the band members were given automobiles. One night they were getting ripped on bootleg hootch and decided to roll their cars down some hills where they would crash at a four-way intersection. This they did and Crosby got thrown into the slammer. The cops were kind enough to let him out each day long enough to film his bits.

[Rod1837]

So the rumor goes, Bing made it big and then turned his back on Al Rnker & Co. But Bing received a lot of bad press after he died. The COLOR production in 1931 was big money for Hollywood. Anyway, I think that Crosby's persona comes through as pretty much the same as in the Road Pictures and remained the same until the end of his long career. Thanks for the clip, did anyone notice how politically incorrect the opening was? My how times have changed.

[Masuilija]

Makes me smile :) Very good old song and I love Bing :)

[shuquil73]

I love this clip ! Bing is my favorite vocalist of all time ; the Rhythm boys best vocal group ...thanks a million !

[BrianPicchi]

@shuquil73

Very underrated group. Harry Barris was a very talented musician and songwriter, and Bing, well come on, it's Bing!

[jeff94582]

I really enjoy the word play in this song.I like the way they sing high notes then low notes, and everything in between. I enjoy the fun they are having with it.

[toriloveSubarukun]

Bing's small solo has to be the most beautiful example of the male voice I have ever heard...thanks so much for posting!!!

[ChristophePhilippe]

I'd like to see some hip-hop "artists" pull off this kind of synchronized singing.

[mouseheadZZZ]

@fungoo989 you've mixed 'dat up: you suck a big one, and this rocks

[MrDeCorey]

I love this Outstanding Performance grate video!!!!!

[CaptainNuclear]

@fungoo989

You best be trollin' because I think you have it backwards. Music has hardly evolved, instead, became nothing more than background noise for a mindless crowd.

Continue on with your Mainstream, kind sir.

[SirCrooner]

@CaptainNuclear At the same time, people with an older tase in music back there in 1930 would have said the same thing about Paul Whiteman and the Rhythm Boys.

[wakemasta23]

@CaptainNuclear This is such a good song! But seriously dude, you're totally shortchanging modern music. Just because music today is different doesn't mean it's less meaningful or creative. In fact I could easily argue that modern music is more creative then music back then. Just compare the number of genres that existed back then as compared to now. Sure the mainstream stuff on pop radio is pretty formulaic and terrible, but there's tons of great underground music out there.

[PAULOcbi]

nice,nice,great little diddy,and amazing piano and vocals.Too bad its just a bunch `o money grubbin` imposters like LadyGaga and U2 out there selling out arenas with no vocals,zero musicianship,and the saddest is no charisma,the charisma lets you relax.Geez!

[xmenrus]

These were Bing's party days. He made $32 a week as one of the Rhythm Boys. It was wine, women, and song for Bing during this period.

[ishouldntbeyoutubing]

Actually, Bing made $150.00 per week in 1928. A photocopy of Whiteman's payroll sheet, widely available, shows that. The average workman made about $35.00/week at the time.

[xmenrus]

@ishouldntbeyoutubing Bing was picked up by Paul Whiteman and after sometime he was fired. He liked to party and he was known to show up to work 'tipsy' or not at all. The Rhythem Boys was his first real introduction into entertainment. He started in Los Angeles first. Bing like women and 'booze' and song too. He was young and sewing his oats. Even in later times when he was THE Bing Crosby he was known to show up on the set with liquor on his breath and happy...once with his fly down.

[19florydory00]

I love Harry Barris. Such a big voice out of such a little guy. And Al Rinker was very easy on the eyes. ; )

[pooppoo]

Hmm. I wonder how it was then, this happened just around the time the Great Depression started.

[rentatrip1]

The Rhythm Boys were a male singing trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker - Barris joined the team in 1927. They made a number of recordings with the Whiteman Orchestra and released singles in their own right with Barris on piano. They appeared with the Whiteman orchestra in the film King of Jazz (Universal Pictures, 1930), in which they sang Mississippi Mud, So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together, I'm a Fisherman, Bench in the Park, and Happy Feet.

[HappyChucklez]

Whip-a-bibble-bubble! Who's the singer i the middle?

[fasf3r3]

super super special special

[crocostimpy]

Now THAT"S a snappy combo!

[mesmeridium]

I really love the Rhythm Boys. They did tons of recordings - if you also count the vocal refrains with Whiteman. Yet early Bing stuff has always been on the fringe of the popular Crosby canon for some reason. I've never been able to figure why this is.

[sonofthedestroyer]

What is this about Blue birds and black birds?

[UltraAmbiguousID]

Blackbirds bring rain and bluebirds bring sunshine. You cannot have one without the other, otherwise, you would never appreciate sunshine.

[HallieAdrienne]

True this film would be very expensive to make. Herman Rosse's scenery and costumes are over the top.

[1926VictorCredenza]

Bing had to be brought to the studio in handcuffs to film these scenes for the movie. He had been arrested for DWI! This is great! Thanks for posting this. Would have given an arm to see them live in the

20's....

[54spiritedwill54]

This is a great clip!

[ldFlorida]

Wow! Bing and the Rhythm Boys!! It doesn't get any better than this.

[mikevon23]

I love Bing, Al, and Harry. I wish they were alive to perform today.

[westeggz]

This was hardly a low budget musical...it cost $2 million in 1930 dollars. It'd be $100 million nowadays.

[jorgeisaac18]

This was a really good (low budget) musical. All that they needed was talent

Thanks for uploading this jewels of music!!

[netteypoo13]

Wow this is wonderful to be able to find a piece like this.

Harry Barris is actually my great grandfather on my fathers side.

His wrote Mississippi Mud. Wonderful!

I'm 19 and was unfortunate to never meet him so it's nice to see his pieces like this. Thank you so much for sharing!

[Kinemacolour]

He wrote this too, I believe.

[Kinemacolour]

Crosby had Rinker and Barris on his program in the late 40's, and they were still this good.

[tuxguys]

This is fascinating stuff... I've heard recordings of the Rhythm Boys, but I'd never seen them. Most impressive: the actual timbre of Crosby's voice is far superior to that of the other two, but the blend of the three of them is seemless.

[colinwells4]

@tuxguys Agree Fully.Additionally though they are dated ; so what, its still timeless , a contradiction in terms. Quality will out!

[MelanieAF]

I love this movie, King Of Jazz, lots of great performers. This is one my favorite performances, with Ragamuffin Romeo.

[jimmbo13]

Oooh Bing, what a looker. Yea hes definitely got his customary cool onstage

[blackpoolbarmpot]

I believe this film was the last time that Bing Crosby sang with the 'Rythm Boys' and 'Pops' (Paul Whiteman),before pursuing a solo career. Bing was probably the greatest crooner of all time, and will probably remain so. I think I am right in saying:- Bing still holds the record for the biggest selling record of all time - "White Christmas" from "Holiday Inn" made in 1942.

[perfectjazz78]

He actually performed in one more film with the Rhythm Boys in 1931, Paramount's 'Confession of a Co-Ed", also he recorded with Gus Arnheim's in 1931.

[brosro]

@perfectjazz78 Bing also cameoed in Reaching For The Moon Paramount 1930 singing When The Folks High Up Do That Mean Low Down

[chem100]

It's called theatrical makeup. It works on the stage but not in movies. I think it took them a while to figure that out. (You should see what they used for very early TV! Yikes!) These guys are my all time favorite male singing group.

[DualThunder]

such a talented group of guys. Those really were the days.

[odietarceo]

you think something like this would be tacky, but so much class! Love it! But the make-up they had to wear for these old techincolor films is pretty ridiculous

[papillonslave]

I love how they sound and seem to be enjoying themselves. Bing already had this natural ease in front of the camera.

[kassandrasduplex]

From their first number..."when the Darkies beat their feet on the Mississippi mud.."????

Boy times have changed...I think.

[busessuck1]

@kassandrasduplex Mississippi Mud is among the top five single greatest white jazz recordings- would you rather listen to Kenny G than a great song with racist overtones? I most Cerfuckly wouldn't

[Berddog]

that's what you call stage make-up for the camera.

great post.

gotta love early Bing!

[anondrogys]

AWESOME

[wilso127]

Wow! Best YouTube I've ever seen!!!

[rickjolley]

This song helped me understand that the bluebird is a symbol of good luck and the black bird is "bad luck." (Nevermind that racial crap.)

The song..."Bye, Bye, Blackbird" means... bye bye, bad luck. Eh??

Rick Jolley

[rickjolley]

This is GREAT. The guys are SO made-up!!! Reminds me of something out of Steve Martin's "Pennies from Heaven"  I'll bet people in those days didn't think any thing about it!!

[stupat3]

Thats real entertainment. Did you ever see anybody enjoy themselves soo much!

[Matt3740]

If you notice in most of Bing Crosby's movie the pianist, Harry is always the conductor for the bands. Bing even young sounds great!

[olivej1914]

Of these three, Harry is my favorite. I read that his voice was so powerful that you could hear him all the way into the street from inside the theater! LOL. He might be my fave singer, but Al Rinker was a hottie.;)

[frankietrent]

Note the way Harry Barris prefigures modern day hiphoppers, Barenaked Ladies and Jason Mraz with his rapid syllabic "lookatthegoodluckandthebadluc­kthere"

[prodigiesofpeace]

So if this was from 1930... Bing was just 27.

Wow :)

[cherryberry360]

i've been looking for this forever, thanks so much!

[jimmbo13]

Seeing Crosby so young is excellent.

[Johnpoet47]

Wonderful! My Grandfather, Harry Barris is at the piano!

[prodigiesofpeace]

What year is this from? :)

[VE301w]

1930 !!!

[prodigiesofpeace]

Wow..

Thanks :)

[normatalmadge]

what a great video.... terrific song from KING OF JAZZ

[SyberkaPL]

Rhythmic music :)

[VintageLady1980]

Say, who the dickens are these revellers!? haha!

[manidig]

Oh I don't know...some quartet on the radio.

:-)

[VE301w]

"... doesn´t really matter ..."!!!

[VintageLady1980]

This is a great clip! Thanks for posting it! But I must say someone sure laid the makeup on a bit thick on these boys! ;)

[novatokate]

Thank you for posting this. Harry was step-cousin to my grandmother. Der Bingle really did a number on him. Harry was a nice looking man who composed I Surrender Dear (Mel Torme did a great arrangement). Glad to finally see him. karaokeKate, San Francisco Bay Area.

[23brookside]

Bing's style, when he went solo, became the prototype of all modern male ballad singers thru Presley. Crosby was and remains a giant in vocal music.

But we might never have heard of Bing without Harry's energy and composition skills in the beginning.

[Johnpoet47]

Kate, Harry was my grandfather. We will have to touch bases. D.J. (aka: John)

[irenenuky]

i love Harry Barris!!

[manokiller]

Soooo good!

[jimmbo13]

Haha Yea its hard to type out jokes on computer.

[jimmbo13]

Yea that guy at the piano is really neat, almost as cool as Bing

[bingcrosby1903]

Keyword: ALMOST

[bjomich]

Fancy and elegant touch, it´s typical for performance in the twenties and thirties - those 3 dandies are best male, as Boswell sisters was best female vocal trio of that period - WOW

[lochka]

gotta love Harry Barris. That man had such an amazing style.

[jimmbo13]

Wow Ive never seen video of him so young, quite a looker.

[brian2889]

Considering the newness of 2 color technicolor and sound this film is a magnificent technical achievment. Some superb performances of great musicians in the prime

[louswire]

GAWD! even Bing couldn't save this picture, but in retrospect, this is a wonderful post.

[kingfish196]

Some trivia about the "Rhythm Boys": Harry Barris was the uncle of the infamous Gong Show host Chuck Barris, and Al Rinker was the older brother of the great jazz singer Mildred Bailey. Both had long careers as songwriters and producers after the group broke up.

[bingcrosby1903]

...oh yeah, and that Bing Crosby fella' did a little bit after this picture too. ;-)

[kingfish196]

I think everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the last 75 years is aware of that, Bing03.

[bingcrosby1903]

uh, yeah, that was the point of the joke.

[Videotheque]

Oh God they are so fantastic!!!1

[irenenuky]

but king of jazza is a musical???i see a lot of video here called king of jazz

[twentiesDOLL12213]

Yes, he was, and he is Harry Barris, who was a professional pianist by the age of 14.

[bobnweave64]

I always thought it was a full circle kind of thing that the early swing had Harry Barris, and Be-bop had (and has!) Barry Harris.

[trestudios]

Wasn't the guy on the piano in Holiday Inn for a small moment?

[rowley555]

I am such a fan of early Bing. This is great are there more such video clips. Bing is the epitome of cool.

[mayuss]

thank you very much for posting this video

[VE301w]

I am great admirer of the "early" Bing and I love the Rhythm Boys and their sound - this is an absolutely great outtake from an almost lame film (`King of Jazz`) which got the real thing. Besides, did anyone notice, that they are joking about the "Revellers", their counterpart group in those days ...???

[Sicamous]

Great Video. Crosby is the best