BING'S FIRST RECORD

Don Clark, a former member of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, offered Bing and Al Rinker an opportunity to make their first record while they waited to join the Whiteman band. On October 18, 1926, Bing and Al recorded "I've Got the Girl" accompanied by Don Clark's Biltmore Hotel Orchestra in Los Angeles.

The song was recorded using an electrical, not acoustic, microphone. "I've Got the Girl" was released on a 78rpm disk as Columbia #824-D. On the flip side was Don Clark's instrumental version of "Idolizing." Two months later Bing and Al joined the Whiteman Orchestra in Chicago, where they cut their first records with Whiteman -- "Wistful and Blue" and "Pretty Lips" -- on Dec. 22.

If anyone has a 78rpm copy of this first record for sale, please contact me. I have been searching for it for my collection....