Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, "MAKE BELIEVE" (1928)

[kingoliver45]

Listen to that Bass! Lord give me strength!

~Austin Casey (Kingoliver45)

[60sguitarchild]

very cool Crosby voice and orchestra sound from that era............mike in spokane

[1915fas]

Wasn't he trying to sing higher at this time in his career and hurt his vocal chords as a result? He developed nodules that gave him that rain barrel sound. I'm sure I remember hearing as a kid that he had those nodules insured!

[bsgs98]

@1915fas In 1933 Paramount Pictures had Bing's voice insured by Lloyds of London for $100K with the stipulation that the nodes NOT be surgically removed in order to maintain his characteristic husky sound. Bing, at times, had suffered from bouts of laryngitis, but his voice changed naturally as he matured.

[mikosaaol]

bing ruled

[MrNEStalgia]

I swear, i have memorized every lyric of this song in two or three days. Love it!

[toughcrowd94]

Thanks! Great song!

[Jamesmac30]

Thanks for this - I have never heard Bing sing this - I love it!

[damone77]

Beautiful montage!

[genia106]

I LOVE MAKE BELIEVE! It is one of the most beautiful songs from one of the greatest shows.

This rendition is Superb. Thank you so much.

[bassfiddlesteve]

Bing's vocals are accompanied by Steve Brown, the great New Orleans "slap" bassist who arrived with Bix, Tram and Bill Challis from the Jean Goldkette band.

[Corrie121]

This is quite delightful!!

Thank you for sharing.

[rogharm]

love this arrangement  with bing whiteman is great ROGHARM

[hebdag44]

Thanks for posting. This is certainly an interesting interpretation but only for its novelty value as far as I am concerned.

[colujomes]

Some see this as a lot more than mere novelty. Here Crosby is developing arguably the most influential vocal style of the 20th century (see Will Friedman, Jazz Singing, 1990, p.31).

[jazzgirl1920s]

One of my favorite Crosby recordings is from a little later than this, around 1931. It is from a radio broadcast with Gus Arnheim's Orchestra. It is "Out of Nowhere". I like it because Bing starts ad libbing with the lyrics to the tune and jokes with the audience. I like when he sings "See you at the track" probably referring to the Santa Anita race track. He must have liked horse racing because later he was part owner of a race track. Thanks for this early recording of Bing.

[1915fas]

@jazzgirl1920s Yeah and he built Del Mar too.

[rosieyposie7]

I just love this music & since theres no film of CROSBYsinging it...I hope you dont mind I make one soon" thanks for the posting 5stars, Rosiey

[fatsfan70]

A great performance - one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite musicals! Also love "Can't Help Lovin' That Man Of Mine" from the same show.

[beany94903]

Sounds Great!  Thanks.