About Me
This is an unofficial fan page to honor the memory of Bob Crosby and his music.
Bob Crosby is best remembered for the Dixieland band that bore his name during the 1930s and early 1940s. The Bob Crosby Orchestra, along with its combo side group, the Bob Cats, was considered one of the greatest jazz bands of all time. The orchestra was actually led by sax player Gil Rodin, however. Crosby himself was simply the front man, chosen for his personality, looks, and famous last name.
The younger brother of Bing Crosby, Bob got his first break in show business when bandleader Anson Weeks offered him a singing job in 1931. He was working for the Dorsey Brothers in 1935 when asked by Rodin to front his new outfit, which had been formed the previous year by a group of disgruntled Ben Pollack bandmembers. Rodin's band had played briefly behind Red Nichols on the Kellogg College Prom radio series and recorded a few sides under the name of singer Clark Randall. When Benny Goodman made it big the group decided to strike out on its own. They offered Jack Teagarden the job as leader. Teagarden declined due to his contractual agreement with Paul Whiteman, and agent Cork O'Keefe offered three choices to Rodin: Fred Waring singer Johnnie Davis, Whiteman trumpeter Goldie, and Crosby. Rodin, who had met Crosby and liked him, offered Bob the position.
Crosby turned out to be the perfect front man. A friendly fellow who had a way with the crowd, he respected and admired all the musicians and made no effort to exert his influence on them, letting Rodin quietly run things behind the scenes. In return, the band made his name a household word and became one of the most respected of all time.
Their music was not appreciated by all, however. The two-beat Dixieland style they aggressively played was considered old-fashioned by many of the young hipsters who flocked around Goodman, but those worldly enough to appreciate them recognized the immense talent the band possessed and the fantastic music it produced. The band's rhythm section was led by drummer Ray Bauduc and bassist Bob Haggart. The duo wrote many fine numbers, including the now classic ''South Rampart Street Parade'' and the immortal ''Big Noise from Winnetka.'' In its early days the band featured such musicians as Charlie Spivak and Billy Butterfield. Singers included Kay Weber, Teddy Grace, Marion Mann, and, briefly, Doris Day.
The band continued to be critically successful until 1938, when Tommy Dorsey raided it, taking Spivak, pianist Yank Lawson and arranger Dean Kincaide. The loss of such integral members had an immediate effect on the group, which began to play less and less Dixieland and more commercial arrangements. In 1939 they became the featured orchestra on the Camel Caravan radio program. Dorothy Claire was vocalist at that time. Helen Ward and Johnny Mercer were also part of the program.
By 1940 the orchestra had abandoned Dixieland altogether, hiring such arrangers as Paul Weston, Ray Conniff, Henry Mancini and Nelson Riddle, and featuring a nondescript vocal group called the Bob-O-Links, which included future Glenn Miller military vocalist Johnny Desmond. In 1941, however, the band returned to its Dixieland roots, with Liz Tilton on vocals.
The following year saw many of the group's key members, including Rodin and Bauduc, fall victim to the draft. Crosby was offered a movie contract and, seeing the end near, accepted it, leaving Eddie Miller in charge of the band, which folded soon when Miller was drafted. Crosby himself didn't escape the draft, receiving a commission from the Marines. He spent his tour leading bands in the Pacific.
After his discharge Crosby continued with his movie career and formed a new orchestra. The new group, which focused on ballads, found success on the radio and television. The Bob Crosby Show ran on CBS daytime from 1953 to 1957. Crosby, who wanted the show to be aired in the evening, took it to NBC in 1958, where it premiered as a summer replacement series. By this time, however, rock and roll was all the rage and poor ratings doomed the program. After it was cancelled Crosby began to concentrate more on his solo career. Over the years he occasionally reunited the Bob Cats and in the early 1970s toured the country with a package orchestra. Bob Crosby died in 1993 after a battle with cancer.
Death Notice
Bob Crosby Dies at 80; Leader of Swing Bands
March 10,1993
Bob Crosby, a popular swing-era band leader who was a younger brother of the singer Bing Crosby, died of cancer today. He was 80.
Mr. Crosby led big bands from 1935 to 1942, starting the Bob Cats, an eight-piece band-within-the-band, during that time. He sang but did not play an instrument.
His bands were known for swing and Dixieland sounds. The Bob Cats' hit records included "Big Noise From Winnetka," "South Rampart Street Parade" and "March of the Bobcats." He continued working until last year, said his son Kris.
Mr. Crosby started his career with the Anson Weeks orchestra. In 1935, 11 New York musicians asked him to be their leader, and within three years the Bob Crosby Orchestra was playing in supper clubs and night spots across the country.
Soon after, the Bob Cats were appearing in movies, including "Let's Make Music," "As Thousands Cheer," "See Here, Private Hargrove," and "Pardon My Rhythm."
In World War II, Mr. Crosby spent 18 months with the Marines, touring with bands throughout the Pacific.
He is survived by five children and seven grandchildren.
Though he pretended to find it amusing, singer/bandleader Bob Crosby was rather sensitive about being constantly bracketed with his older brother Bing. At one point, Crosby observed in 1958, "it got so bad that whenever someone asked me what my occupation was, I used to answer automatically 'Bing Crosby's brother.'" To many jazz aficionados, however, Bob was the only Crosby, by virtue of his famous musical aggregation "The Bobcats," which he formed in 1935. Crosby and his able musicians Yank Lawson, Bob Haggart, Ray Bauduc, Eddie Miller, Bob Zurke, Jesse Stacey and Joe Sullivan delivered some of the hottest jazz ever to emanate from a primarily white orchestra. Because of Bing's movie popularity, Bob's handlers decided that records, radio and nightclubs weren't enough: the "other Crosby" would have to have a movie career as well, thus Bob made his film debut in 1935's Rhythm on the Roof. Crosby made a few tentative stabs at playing characters other than himself in films like Let's Make Music (1940) and The Singing Sheriff (1944), but he seemed more comfortable playing "himself' in guest spots. One of his more enjoyable screen appearances was in Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), wherein Crosby genially poked fun at brother Bing in the delightful production number "Let's Make Comparisons." He also popped up unbilled from time to time in Bing's pictures: in Road to Bali, Bob walks on, says hello to his brother, fires a gun into the air and walks off, whereupon Bing explains "I promised him a shot in this picture." Entering television as orchestra leader for The Jack Benny Show (a job he'd taken over from Phil Harris on radio), Crosby successfully starred on his own daytime program for CBS, which ran from 1953 through 1957; he then moved to NBC, where he headlined a prime-time summer replacement series for Perry Como in 1958. Bob Crosby made his final film appearance along with several other jazz greats in the Red Nichols biopic The Five Pennies (1959). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
