My favorite Irish tune is "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen." It is such a truly emotional song, and I  adore Bing Crosby's version as well as the one performed by the vocal group Sons of the Pioneers. The latter was the first version I heard as a child as featured in the 1950 John Ford film Rio Grande, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Interestingly, the lyric "since first you were my ... bride" differs among versions: Bing sings "bonnie bride," while the Pioneers sing "blushing bride," which is the original phrasing. I wonder if Bing had a different lyrical version in his hands or if he made the change by mistake.

Bing as he stated in his 1966 Dublin special "had a musical love affair with Ireland" since he heard  "The Rose of Tralee," by  John McCormack, a record he owned as a child in Spokane. Bing later recorded  the best version of the song for Decca in 1945. A lovely and really sweet song.

Of course, the most famous Irish song Bing ever recorded was "Galway Bay," that was written by the Irish immigrant Dr. Arthur Colahan in 1947. Later that same year, Bing Crosby recorded the song, making it famous worldwide. His record reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Victor Young, the prolific and talented composer conductor and arranger that worked with Bing many times (Home on the range, Country Girl, Emperor Waltz, Connecticut Yankee,) played a significant role in shaping Irish music as we now know it. Young was connected with Bing's iconic records such as "Galway Bay," "The Rose of Tralee," and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." Furthermore Victor Young's work composing the score of John Ford irish themed films like The Quiet Man (1952) that introduce the Isle of Inisfree (written a year earlier) into the general public, Bing included the song in his Irish 1966 special with a children choir creating a truly magical moment that showcased the enduring beauty of Irish music.

Last edited by Pantelis Kavouras (16/3/2025 6:17 pm)

My three  favorite Irish recordings by Bing are "Too Loo La Loo Ra (An Irish Lullaby)", "Galway Bay" and "The Isle Of Innisfree" which was on the first published UK record chart in November 1952.

Larry Adler was a guest on Bing's Kraft Music Hall show on two occasions. On the 9th November 1939 and again on 30th April 1942. Looking at the listings in Lionel Pairpoint's invaluable 'Radio Directories', it doesn't appear that they actually performed together.

The 1942 show survives in its entirety and can be heard on Vol. 3 of the 'Spokane' LP series and also on a subsequent CD release on the Redmond Nostalgia label. (Incidentally - and again thanks to the information in Lionel's book - the track listing on the LP sleeve is for a different KMH show. The correct track listing is on the sleeve for Spokane Vol. 4.)

The 1951 Decca recording was arranged by the good old John Scott Trotter. Bing did a second version in 1966 for A Little Bit of Irish, featuring the marvelous Little Dublin Singers. This time Buddy Bregman served as the orchestra conductor, and I’m assuming he also handled the arrangements

Re Larry Adler on that 1939 KMH show. He accompanied Bing on "Dinah". I'd love to hear that.

No.  158  9th November 1939 With Ken Carpenter, The Music Maids, Lou Holtz, Larry Adler, Lucille Ball and Chester Morris.
 
*Are You Having Any Fun?                                           (a)         with The Music Maids
*Are You Having Any Fun?  (parody)                            (a)        with Lou Holtz
  Lou Holtz spot
*If I Knew Then (What I Know Now)                            (a)
  Lucille Ball spot
*My Melancholy Baby                                                               with The Music Maids
*Day In, Day Out
  Chester Morris spot
*Can't We Talk It Over (parody)                                                with Lou Holtz, Lucille Ball and Chester Morris
  Estrellita                                                                                    Larry Adler
*Dinah                                                                                         with Larry Adler
  South American Way                                                                Larry Adler
  In An Eighteenth Century Drawing Room                                John Scott Trotter Orchestra
*Over The Rainbow                                                                    with The Music Maids

 
 

Last edited by Malcolm Macfarlane (22/3/2025 5:58 am)

Ian Kerstein wrote:

 It's beyond beautiful and makes me want to visit there. 

Though the Isle of Inisfree is an entirely fictional location in The Quiet Man, the village of Cong in County Mayo in Ireland was actually used to bring the fictional Isle of Inisfree to life. 

Blonde56 wrote:

Pantelis, Really? I never knew that. But we will send Ian there anyway! Just joking Ian. Lol! Love the Quiet Man movie. Maureen O'hara's brothers are in that movie, they were handsome! Maureen was always Great with the Duke!

I never knew that Maureen O'Hara's brothers were in the film. She was one of my favorite movie stars, and I still remember the sad day she passed away when I was 11. It was said at the time that she had just listened to the music from the film—'The Isle of Innisfree.