Bing Crosby said, inter alia, to his biographer Pete Martin in 1957 when asked about Elvis Presley: “….He's gonna be a very big star, I mean, in a lot of fields ... he sings in tune, and he's got good rhythm, he just hasn't developed enough voice just yet to handle the ballads but that'll come…”

14 years later, on 28th August 1971, Elvis received the "Bing Crosby Award" from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).  Previous winners include: Bing Crosby (for whom it was later renamed), Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and composer Irving Berlin. The photo below, NARAS representatives and Bing's nephew, Chris with Elvis Presley (in glasses!).




Elvis did sing ballads very well and in fact quite early on in his recording career plus in personal appearances on USA TV during 1956 - 1958.  I am thinking of ballads such as “Love Me Tender”, “Is It So Strange”, “Don’t”, “Loving You”, “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” , “Love Me”, “As Long As I Have You” (the closing song to “King Creole”). After his return from the US Army (1958 - 1960), Elvis sang “Blue Hawaii” in his 1961 film of the same name, which was originally Bing Crosby’s song from “Wakiki Wedding” (1937) as performed by Bing via the link below:




Here is Elvis's ballad singing which opened the film of the same name "Blue Hawaii" (1961). Hopefully, Bing approved.



 

Last edited by VictorM (26/5/2020 10:08 pm)