31/8/2012 1:32 am  #1


The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I just dug out my weathered copy of this book by brother Ted Crosby, and I am going to read it again. It is great to get a 1946 view of Bing before the tabloids and gossip started. Does anyone else have this book and what is your opinion of it...


 

31/8/2012 9:16 am  #2


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I've not come across this one! Thanks for pointing it out. Several copies listed on Amazon US and one on Ebay at the moment. Must have had some good sales. Eight pages of photos according to the Ebay description.

 

31/8/2012 11:42 am  #3


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Coincidentally, I am also reading this book at the moment! It is the only book on Bing that they have at the library of the University of Tennessee at Martin, where I teach, so a few days ago I checked it out of the library and started reading it in the evenings before going to bed. So far I really like it. You can feel Ted's love for his brother in all of its pages, as well as the sheer joy that he feels at simply reminiscing about their lives. At times, I feel that it reads like a novel, and in my opinion, it is quite well written. The foreword by Bob Hope is also very funny!

 

31/8/2012 1:32 pm  #4


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I thought the copies were pretty rare but I had two copies at one time. It is a great book, and Ted Crosby (who you hear very little about) was a good writer. I recommend this early book on Bing's life.

     Thread Starter
 

31/8/2012 10:44 pm  #5


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I have this book BIA. The cover is a bit worse for wear. I seem to recall that some of it is fictional, which was disappointing to read.
Perhaps Howard has more info on the book.

 

01/9/2012 1:37 am  #6


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Yeah it is not a fact based book, but it is fun to read nevertheless.

     Thread Starter
 

01/9/2012 5:48 pm  #7


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Ron Field wrote:

I have this book BIA. The cover is a bit worse for wear. I seem to recall that some of it is fictional, which was disappointing to read.
Perhaps Howard has more info on the book.

Lobosco wrote:

Yeah it is not a fact based book, but it is fun to read nevertheless.

Those comments are intriguing. With what fictional activity might Bing have been accused of/credited with?

 

01/9/2012 7:22 pm  #8


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

There is a lot of dialogue in the book - like how Everett told Bing to go it alone after Paul Whiteman, that I doubt was true. I mean when Ted wrote the book in 1946, did he actually remember word from word a conversation that Bing and Everett had 16 years earlier.

What was detailed more than in most books and articles was Bing's life as a child and in high school - after all Ted was there, so there is a lot about Bing growing up that is fascinating.

     Thread Starter
 

02/9/2012 9:55 am  #9


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Lobosco wrote:

There is a lot of dialogue in the book - - --- did he actually remember word from word a conversation that Bing and Everett had 16 years earlier.

An old ploy frequently used to add ''corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald - - - narrative'' (WS Gilbert).
It can be difficult for the untrained writer to give a sense of conversations without resorting to apparently verbatim reporting, and allowances have to be made in that context.

 

02/9/2012 3:02 pm  #10


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Yes, you can tell that Ted Crosby wasn't an experienced writer - but his love and admiration for Bing clearly showed through.

     Thread Starter
 

09/9/2012 1:29 pm  #11


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I'll have to wach for this book!

 

20/4/2013 3:58 am  #12


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

As I said in message # 3 of this thread, I have been reading Ted Crosby's book on Bing and thought it was so interesting that I have decided to write an article about it which I will submit to be considered for publication in Bing Magazine in the future. As I begin my research, I have found out that there are two editions of the book, one from 1937 (written by Ted and Larry Crosby) and another one from 1946 (credited only to Ted), and there are a few differences between them. I have read the 1946 edition because that is the one that is available at the library of the university where I teach, but I have found out that the earlier edition was reissued in 2005 by Kessinger Publishing, and it may be obtained from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Bing-Ted-Crosby/dp/1432606948/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366430163&sr=1-1&keywords=ted+crosby

My question for everybody, though, is: where can I find some reliable information about the lives of Ted and Larry Crosby? Are there any good books and/or websites to which I might be able to turn for information on the two of them? This would be extremely helpful as I do some research for my article. Thanks in advance for your time and help.

Last edited by Anton G.-F. (20/4/2013 4:00 am)

 

20/4/2013 12:30 pm  #13


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

I read the book a couple a years ago. I had my copy signed by Ted's son-Howard Crosby. If you could get intouch with Howard Crosby, he could tell you a lot.


Peace and Love! 
 

20/4/2013 12:35 pm  #14


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Just looked on ebay. They have one reissued 2010.


Peace and Love! 
 

30/4/2013 4:19 pm  #15


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

If I considered Ted's book about Bing's life from his family-member perspective to be part of the "memoir" genre, I might not expect every conversation depicted to be precisely what was said.  Recalling myself drafting the story of a memorable experience from early in my childhood some years back, I found myself including conversations with and between my parents, brother, and grandparents that would have taken place on the same day.  I know such conversations happened, and I know each of those voices, the kinds of words they chose, how they talked, even the cadences of their speech, not to mention the kinds of concerns each might bring to a situation.  So, if Ted found himself doing that sort of thing, he might be presenting true-to-life words between people he knew in conversations he remembered happening, with the meaning he remembered those conversations as having.  Some of the language he might have remembered verbatim, of course, but some would no doubt be simulated. Would others present remember it exactly the same way, probably not, though they might agree about the essence  I suppose the question for me would be whether anything was intentionally desceptive.  We might safely count on a certain amount of unconscious bias, based on his closeness to Bing. 

 

30/4/2013 7:24 pm  #16


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

Trying to remember what was said etc reminds me of a course that I attended. There was a drawing put on the board and we had to take in all that was on it - barn, house, blue sky, umbrella, car etc. etc.
Then the person had to relate to the next person what was in the drawing, then the 2nd. person to the 3rd. person. By the time we got to the end it was a very different drawing and not much like the original.
A little bit like 'The Mouse That Roared' where Peter Sellers and his men arrived in NYC, to declare war on the U.S. and lose the war and have millions of dollars put into his country, on a neclear bomb evacuation day and the streets were cleared as people were in tunnels etc.
There were only about a dozen men in the landing. In a shelter one bloke says there are 50 invaders and so it goes the rounds and when it got back to where the rumour had started there were supposedly thousands and thousands of soldiers invading NYC.
So, time does shade the memory and of course all conversations would not be exactly word for word.

 

17/5/2013 11:44 am  #17


Re: The Story Of Bing Crosby By Ted Crosby

In 1939 an Australian radio station, 3KZ in Melbourne, received from Bing six copies of Ted and Larry's book to give to its listeners. They had sent, via the station, a recorded message of greetings to Bing. In return, Bing sent a single-sided 12 inch Decca record which began with a message 'Hullo friends in Australia. I was tremedously delighted with the prodigious record...You know if time permitted and I had my way I would hop on a boat and come to see you all...'. The record concluded with Bing singing 'If I had my way'. Each copy of the book was autographed by Bing.

 

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