STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: BING AND FRIENDS

 I am not sure the date or what the picture was from. Does anyone out there know. What I do know is the photo is of Jerry Colonna, Groucho Marx, Bing, and Bob Hope. It's a great photo though...

BING CROSBY ON THE HOME SHOPPING NETWORK

GUEST REVIEWER: THE BELLS OF ST. MARYS

The late Bruce Kogan is back with his usual great reviews. This is the first time his review is being published since 2021. Bruce passed away in 2021...

Leo McCarey and Bing Crosby had such a mega-hit on their hands with Going My Way that a sequel in this case really was inevitable. If The Bells of St.Mary's does not quite hit the heights of Going My Way it's got nothing to apologize for. One thing that I do like about it is that you don't have to have watched Going My Way to get into the spirit of this.

Bing repeated his Father O'Malley character and in doing so got a second Oscar nomination. Until Al Pacino was nominated for Michael Corleone in both Godfathers One and Two, Crosby was the only performer ever to have been nominated twice for the same role. Because of Father O'Malley, Bing Crosby became probably the most well known Catholic lay person on the planet. And for better or worse it's the Crosby that is remembered when the knives came out for him after he died.

With Ingrid Bergman the damage was more immediate. Today if you asked the average movie goer to quickly name the part Bergman is best known for it would be Ilsa Lund from Casablanca. Back in the late 40s however the answer would be Sister Benedict. How a Swede who is identified as Swedish in the film could be a Catholic, let alone a nun is a mystery to me. But that's how good an actress Ingrid Bergman was. She became the personification of holiness so when Ingrid Bergman announced she was pregnant with Roberto Rosellini's child the reaction of the public was swift and terrible. Banish her from Hollywood and she was. Such is the power of the mass media. Consider folks like Errol Flynn and Robert Mitchum who had reputations as hell-raisers before scandal hit them. Such is the power of the silver screen and the images it creates.

Bing has some good songs here, he sings the title tune with different lyrics for the screen then for his record. It's the school anthem and he sings it with a chorus of nuns to back him. Those nuns do sing well and in key. I wonder if it was the inspiration for Sister Act.

Crosby also has two of his patented philosophical numbers, Aren't You Glad You're You and In The Land Of Beginning Again. And in keeping with the nature of the film, he sings Adeste Fideles and O Sanctissima.

Among the supporting cast I would single out Joan Carroll as the girl boarding with the convent housekeeper and Martha Sleeper as her mother. Sleeper had both looks and talent, she should have had a bigger career.

The Bells of St. Mary's is what we would deem fine family entertainment. It's also how the Catholic Church likes to see itself. It's a milestone movie for the careers of its stars. But what a cost...

BRUCE'S RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

CD REVIEW: BING CROSBY - RARITIES FROM HOLLYWOOD

Here is a review from the pen of the great Scott Yanow from the publication The Syncopated Times...

There has never been a shortage of Bing Crosby recordings that were readily available. The most popular (and one of the most versatile) singers of the 1930s and ’40s whether on records, in films, on the radio and in live performances, all other male singers (including Sinatra) during the time period were, at best, competing for the #2 spot.

The two-CD set Rarities From The Hollywood Studios 1933-1959, which was compiled by Crosby fanatic John Newton from his collection, has its good (CD #2) and bad (CD#1) points. The first disc can be thought of as an endless infomercial for Crosby’s movies in the 1930s. The initial transcription is actually for a film (42nd Street) that Bing was not in. However in 1933 he had recorded two songs from the movie (“You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me” and “Young And Healthy”) and excerpts from those recordings are used on that brief commercial. The other seven tracks on the first disc (three are around 4 1/2 minutes apiece while the last four clock in at 12-14 1/2 minutes each) are long advertisements for various Crosby movies. There are brief excerpts of Bing singing some of the songs from the films, bits of dialogue from the movies, and plenty of endless cheerleading for the movies by the announcers. These commercials were made for the radio with the goal of boosting the attendance of such then-current films as College Humor, We’re Not Dressing, Here Is My Heart, Double Or Nothing, Paris Honeymoon, and Rhythm On The River. It all gets boring very fast and few will want to hear this twice.

The second CD is a different story altogether. Dating from 1934-58, one gets to hear Crosby performing songs originally recorded for the movies that include alternate versions, lengthier renditions before they were cut for the films, numbers that were discarded and not used at all, and some of his singing at rehearsals. None of this music was available before. Some of the performances are jazz-oriented while others are ballads with strings. Among the highlights are “Takes Two To Make A Bargain,” “Smarty,” “It’s Always You,” an alternate rendition of “By The Light Of The Silvery Moon,” “Say It Isn’t So,” and “Blue Moon.”

Bing Crosby fans will find much of value on the second CD which I wish had been released by itself...

SOURCE

COMING SOON: BING CROSBY WINTER WARMER BEER

Bing Crosby Winter Warmer Returns!

The holiday season is here and we’re bringing back a fan favorite... our White Christmas Winter Warmer!

The holiday season is here and we’re bringing back a fan favorite... our White Christmas Winter Warmer! Inspired by Bing Crosby’s timeless classic, this winter brew pairs perfectly with chilly evenings by the fire or joyful gatherings with friends and family. With its rich, malty sweetness and warm spice notes, it’s crafted to keep your spirits bright throughout the season.

Whether you're enjoying it alongside a holiday meal or simply sipping while wrapped up in your favorite blanket, this delightful brew adds an extra touch of joy. Rush to the nearest store and bring home a taste of Christmas magic. Cheers to a warm and wonderful holiday season!

SOURCE

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND KATHRYN CROSBY

Here are some great candid shots of Bing and his second wife Kathryn Crosby...

REMEMBERING MITZI GAYNOR (1931-2024)

 I am sad to have to report that Mitzi Gaynor, Bing's co-star in 1956's Anything Goes has passed away. She appeared with Bing in that movie and on television. She was a talented all around entertainer and will be missed...

AUDIO ASPIRIN: I'LL BE SEEING YOU

BING: 47 YEARS LATER

It has been 47 years since Bing Crosby died now. I was three. Some people my age only know Bing as the Christmas carol singer if at all. Bing in my fifty years has meant so much more to me. Bing is what brought my Grandfather, and I together. Our love of music not only helped me to have a good relationship with my Grandfather, but it helped me to overcome a lot in my early years.

Bing to me represented a simpler time in the world. It was not neccessarily a better time, but a more laid back and relaxing time. 2024 is so busy and hectic, that I still listen to Bing to relax me. After a long day of work stress, nothing soothes me more than to listen to Bing Crosby on the way home. If more people listened to Bing that I think there would be a drop in anxiety, stress, and maybe even violence! 

In 2024, Bing Crosby still means the world to me. Yes Bing has been dead since 1977, but his memory is very much alive to me!

AUDIO ASPIRIN: BECAUSE OF YOU

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: SEPTEMBER 27, 1929

 Here is what Bing was recording on this day in the early years of his career some 95 years ago...

Date: 9/27/29
Location: Union Square, New York, NY
Label: COLUMBIA (US)
INSTRUMENTAL GROUP


Bing Crosby (voc), Charles Margulis (tr), Chester (Chet) Hazlett (cl), Roy Bargy (pno), Matty Malneck (vln)

a. W149066-3 Can't We Be Friends? (Paul James, Kay Swift) - 2:59
PROPER RECORDS (UK) CDP1233 — BING CROSBY: IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER (The Rhythm Boy) (2001)

NAXOS (UK) CD8120697 — THE EARLIEST BING CROSBY Vol 2 Rhythm King 1927 - 1931 (2003)

b. W149067-3 Gay Love (Sidney Clare, Oscar Levant) - 3:00

Both titles on:
CBS SPECIAL PRODUCTS (US) (CBS) CDA2 201 A203 — THE BING CROSBY STORY Volume 1: The Early Jazz Years 1928-1932 Disc 2 (1990)
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-07 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 07 (1999)
COLLECTORS' CHOICE (US) CDCCM-216-2 — LOST COLUMBIA SIDES: 1928-1933 (CD2) (2001)

REMEMBERING KATHRYN CROSBY (1933-2024)

Kathryn Crosby, a 1950s Hollywood starlet who gave up her film career to marry Bing Crosby, the Oscar-winning actor, radio star and mellifluous “White Christmas” crooner, and as his widow became chief protector of his legacy, died Sept. 20 at her home in Hillsborough, Calif. She was 90.

The death was announced in a statement by publicist B. Harlan Boll, who did not note a cause.

Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Kathryn Grant — as she was then known — dominated the Texas beauty contest circuit between Houston and Corpus Christi. A 5-foot-3, auburn-haired stunner, she was crowned “Golden Girl of the Texas Baseball League,” “Miss Buccaneer-Navy” (dressed in pirate motif) and “Queen of the Houston Rodeo and Fat Stock Exposition,” for which she was teased among rivals and friends alike as “Miss Fat Stock.”

She had met Crosby in 1953, a year after she was named first runner-up in the Miss Texas pageant and landed a Paramount studios contract. She was 20 at the time and was on the studio lot, breathlessly ferrying a load of petticoats to the wardrobe department, when she rushed past Crosby, then 50 and a recent widower. He was leaning against the doorjamb of his dressing room, casually whistling a tune.

"Howdy, Tex,” he asked with bemusement. “What’s your hurry?”

Crosby had been a box-office juggernaut on the lot for two decades, an audience favorite not only for his vaudeville-style “Road” movies with Bob Hope but also for his Oscar-winning turn as a singing priest in “Going My Way” (1944). In her spare time between walk-on roles, the starstruck young Kathryn filed dispatches for newspapers back home under the title “Texas Gal in Hollywood” and soon returned to Crosby to request an interview.

“You a reporter?” Crosby asked.

“I’m a columnist,” she said.

“The dickens you are,” he replied. “I didn’t know they came so pretty.”

Crosby agreed to the interview, then invited her to tea and later to dinner. She described an instant and mutual infatuation between herself and Crosby, who exuded a languorous sex appeal with his piercing blue eyes and the virile romantic baritone voice that had sold hundreds of millions of records, among them “Please” and “Pennies From Heaven.”

Their courtship lasted nearly four complicated years. Crosby disappeared from her life for months at a time and jilted her twice, only to emerge with reinvigorated ardor. As he pursued other on-set romances, including with actresses Grace Kelly and Inger Stevens, Kathryn was determined to focus on her own pursuit of stardom.

After being dropped by Paramount, she was picked up by Columbia studios and promoted as a versatile leading lady. She had a featured role as a card dealer in the anti-corruption drama “The Phenix City Story” (1955) and co-starred opposite Audie Murphy in the western “The Guns of Fort Petticoat,” Jack Lemmon in the military comedy “Operation Mad Ball” and Tony Curtis in the drama “Mister Cory,” all in 1957.

She was a princess in “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), a trapeze artist in “The Big Circus” (1959) and, in perhaps her best performance, a surprise witness in “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959), holding her own in a cross-examination showdown with a slick attorney played by George C. Scott.

By the time Bing Crosby eloped with her to Las Vegas in 1957, Kathryn, a Methodist, had converted to Catholicism at his insistence but extracted a promise that she could continue her career after their marriage. But he soon reneged, preferring she stay at home as he wound down into semi-retirement and managed his many business interests and investments, ranging from baseball teams to thoroughbred horses to real estate.

She ultimately went along. Mrs. Crosby later said she wished to give her husband a life vastly different from his anguished and thoroughly dysfunctional first marriage, to actress Dixie Lee, whose alcoholism left him so despairing that he often stayed away from home, leaving her and his children to fend for themselves.

By the early 1960s, Bing and Kathryn had left Southern California and settled in a 24-room Norman-style mansion in Hillsborough, an upscale suburb of San Francisco. She had three children with Bing — including actress Mary Frances Crosby, whose character shot J.R. on the TV series “Dallas” — and spent five years completing a degree in registered nursing. She also was a public-school teacher, host of a morning TV talk show in San Francisco, and the author of a rosy 1967 memoir (“Bing and Other Things”).

She modeled clothes for designer Jean Louis, did occasional summer stock with Bing’s approval, accompanied her husband and children on bird-hunting and fishing expeditions and helped him manage his constellation of properties across the West and in Mexico. She vivaciously sang duets with Bing on TV specials, including his annual Christmas show, and appeared with their children in Minute Maid frozen orange juice commercials, a product Bing endorsed.

As a more contented spouse and father, Bing spent a great deal more time with his second family than he had with his first, Mrs. Crosby said. Nevertheless, she said, he could be a controlling and mercurial perfectionist at home, even as he tried to live up to the laid-back Mr. Lucky persona he had long cultivated — the charming and carefree all-American fellow who just happened to have a voice of peerless emotional resonance.

“He doesn’t exactly lose his temper in the traditional way,” Mrs. Crosby told an interviewer. “He just gets very quiet. That’s when I start wondering what I’ve done. You see, Bing will never say what is bothering him.”

With her nursing credentials, she looked closely after Bing’s well-being amid health setbacks, including after he plummeted 20 feet from a sound stage in March 1977 while rehearsing a TV show, seriously injuring his back. “She really took care of him,” said jazz critic Gary Giddins, an authoritative Bing biographer. Because she was emotionally stable and the family disciplinarian, he added, “She also allowed him to be the kind of father he had not been in the first marriage.”

In October 1977, he was on a golfing trip in Spain with friends when he died suddenly, at age 74 after a heart attack, just after completing a round of play.

Mrs. Crosby gradually restarted her acting career, mostly with touring theater companies and also in a cabaret act that paid tribute to Bing.

To tell her own story, Mrs. Crosby wrote “My Life With Bing” (1983) and “My Last Years with Bing” (2002). Of all the roles she would play — on screen and stage and in private life — she said there was one that made all the others possible. “I want you to understand,” she once told People magazine, “that my position in this world rests on being Mrs. Bing Crosby.”

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS: BING MELLOW AS EVER

 Here is an interesting clipping from August 11, 1974 - when Bing missed a performance because of surgery...

BING ON REDDIT

I am not an avid reader to Reddit, but it is an online forum for questions and comments. I found a thread regarding what people think of Bing. Here's a few interesting comments...

BING AND WOODBURY SOAP

Here is a great vintage ad that Bing did for Woodbury Soap. Woodbury Soap was Bing's sponsor from 1933 to 1935...

BING'S GOLD RECORDS

Here is a some reference informtation on all of Bing's gold records...

BING'S GOLD RECORDS:
1937: Sweet Leilani
1941: San Antonio Rose
1942: White Christmas
1942: Silent Night
1943: I'll be Home for Christmas
1943: Sunday, Monday or Always
1943: Pistol Packin Mama (w Andrews Sisters)
1943: Jingle Bells (w Andrews Sisters)
1944: Swinging on a Star
1944: Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra
1944: Don't Fence Me In (w Andrews Sisters)
1945: I Can't Begin to Tell You
1946: McNamara's Band
1946: South America, Take it Away (w Andrews Sisters)
1947: Alexander's Ragtime Band (w Al Jolson)
1947: Whiffenpoof Song
1948: Now is the Hour
1949: Galway Bay
1949: Dear Hearts and Gentle People
1950: Sam's Song / Play a Simple Melody (w Gary Crosby)
1956: True Love (w Grace Kelly)
1956: High Society soundtrack
1970: Merry Christmas (an album anthology)
1977: Seasons (Bing's last album went gold in England)

OSCAR FLASHBACK - 1944

World War II was still raging in May 1944. The allied invasion of Normandy — aka D-Day — was just around the corner on June 6th. Americans kept the home fires burning and escaped from the global conflict by going to the movies. Two of the biggest films of the year, Leo McCarey’s “Going My Way” and George Cukor’s “Gaslight,” recently celebrated their 80th anniversaries.

Actually, “Going My Way” had a special “Fighting Front” premiere on April 27th: 65 prints were shipped to battle fronts and shown “from Alaska to Italy, and from England to the jungles of Burma.” The sentimental comedy-drama-musical arrived in New York on May 3rd.

And it was just the uplifting film audiences needed. Bing Crosby starred as Father O’Malley, a laid-back young priest who arrives at a debt-ridden New York City church that is run by the older, set-in-his ways Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). The elder priest initially isn’t happy with O’Malley’s newfangled ways, but soon he and the rest of the parish realize O’Malley is someone special.

Though not specifically a musical, Crosby does sing the title tune as well as “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and duets on “Ava Marie” with his co-star, Metropolitan Opera soprano Rise Stevens. The fun “Swinging on a Star” by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, which Crosby sings with Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, became a huge hit for Crosby. The ending was a real four-hankie weepie moment as O’Malley reunites Fitzgibbon with his elderly mother.

The New York Times’ Bosley Crother was besotted with “Going My Way” calling it a “tonic delight,” adding that Crosby “is giving the best show of his career” …” he has been beautifully presented by Mr. McCarey.” The top box office attraction of 1944, “Going My Way” turned Crosby into the No. 1 box office star and proved he was more than comedic actor playing “pat-a-cake” with Bob Hope in the popular “Road” films.

“Going My Way” had strong competition at the Academy Awards most notably from Billy Wilder’s crackling film noir “Double Indemnity,” which earned seven nominations. But “Going My Way” won by a knockout leaving “Double Indemnity” in the dust. “Going My Way” earned seven Oscars including best film, director, song, actor for Crosby and supporting actor for Fitzgerald. And for the first and only time in Oscar history, Fitzgerald was also nominated for best actor.

Crosby would be the first actor to earn an Oscar nomination for reprising a role. The following year, he returned to the Academy Awards’ race in the beloved sequel “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” which earned eight Oscar nominations winning for best recording. Ironically, Wilder’s dark “The Lost Weekend” was the big winner at the 1946 ceremony...

SOURCE

A LETTER FROM BING: FEBRUARY 28, 1945

In recent years, letters from Bing to soldiers fighting in World War II have been discovered, and it shows what a caring man Bing was. The war and the plight of these brave men affected Bing greatly...

BING'S MOVIE SHORTS

Mack Sennett was to Bing's film career what Paul Whiteman was to Bing's music career. Sennett, who had brought the film world Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone Kops and Charlie Chaplin, first met Bing on the Lakeside golf course in Los Angeles and in March, 1931, caught Bing's act with the Rhythm Boys at the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel. "What struck me about this guy," Sennett said of Bing, "was that all the stuffed shirts at the Grove stopped dancing and gathered around the bandstand to watch him croon. They came to hear him night after night. He held them."

Sennett was impressed enough with Bing's performance at the Grove that he signed him to do a short musical-comedy film that month in which Bing would play himself. The film, I Surrender Dear, was named after Bing's first solo hit recording and was filmed in March, 1931, and released in Los Angeles the following June. The film was so successful that it led to 5 more with Sennett. Bing was paid $750 for each 20-minute picture.

Sennett was more famous for his slapstick and special effects than his dialogue. Crosby worked without formal scripts for these movies ... only outlines. During the filming Crosby found himself dunked in water tanks, chased by lions and half-baked in quick-rising dough. Bing's success with Sennett helped convince him that the time was ripe to leave the Rhythm Boys and get on with his solo career. The Rhythm Boys dissolved following the release of "I Surrender Dear."

The six Sennett two-reelers in the order of their filming were:"I Surrender Dear" (March 1931)
"One More Chance" (June-July 1931)
"Dream House"
"Billboard Girl"
"Sing, Bing, Sing" (Summer 1932)
"Blue of the Night"

"Sing, Bing, Sing" and "Blue of the Night" were released in 1933...

BING AND INGRID BERGMAN

Here's a great candid photo of Bing and Ingrid Bergman. They were holding their Oscars that they received for best performances in 1944, in Hollywood, USA, March 16, 1945. Crosby won for 'Going My Way' and Bergman for 'Gaslight'...

AUDIO ASPIRIN: TRADE WINDS

NEW CD: BING CROSBY - RARITIES FROM THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Another masterpiece from Sepia Records is coming out! The 2 CD set of previously unavailable tracks are taken from studio playback and movie exploitation discs or alternative versions from 1933 to 1958, spanning 25 years of Bing Crosby's career. The contents of both CDs were produced by and for the film studios for differing uses in the making of the films and the records themselves were never intended to reach the hands of the public. These unusual and rare tracks have been remastered and sound amazing...

Title: Rarities from the Hollywood Studios 1933-1958 (2 CD Set)
Artist: Bing Crosby
Catalogue No.: SEPIA 1388
Barcode: 5055122113881
Release Date: June 2024

CD 1

1. 42nd STREET: You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me; Young And Healthy
2. COLLEGE HUMOR: Learn To Croon; Moonstruck
3. WE'RE NOT DRESSING: Once In A Blue Moon; Love Thy Neighbor; It's A New Spanish Custom
4. WE'RE NOT DRESSING: I Positively Refuse To Sing; May I?
5. HERE IS MY HEART: Love Is Just Around The Corner; June In January; With Every Breath I Take
6. DOUBLE OR NOTHING: It's The Natural Thing To Do; Smarty; All You Want To Do Is Dance; The Moon Got In My Eyes; After You
7. PARIS HONEYMOON: I Have Eyes; You're A Sweet Little Headache; The Funny Old Hills; Joobalai
8. RHYTHM ON THE RIVER: Rhythm On The River; What Would Shakespeare Have Said; When The Moon Comes Over Madison Square; I Don't Want To Cry Any More; That's For Me; Ain't It A Shame About Mame

CD 2

1. I'm Hummin', I'm Whistlin', I'm Singin'
2. Old Folks At Home
3. I Wished On The Moon
4. Takes Two To Make A Bargain
5. Empty Saddles
6. Our Last Hawaiian Moon
7. Blue Hawaii
8. In A Little Hula Heaven
9. Smarty
10. Small Fry
11. A Man And His Dream
12. Music from 'The Star Maker': Medley: "Go Fly A Kite" - "If I Was A Millionaire" - "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" "School Days" - "Go Fly A Kite"(reprise)
13. It's Always You
14. By The Light Of The Silvery Moon
15. Swinging On A Star
16. In The Land Of Beginning Again
17. Say It Isn't So
18. Get Yourself A Phonograph
19. Camptown Races
20. You've Been Looking Thru My Dreams
21. You're The Top
22. Blue Moon

SOURCE

FLASHBACK: 1952

Here is a sad photo, but I wanted to share it. It ia the closet picture I have found of Bing at his wife Dixie's funeral on November 3, 1952. I feel that Dixie's death changed Bing's life...

JOHNNY HOLIDAY: NOT RELATED TO BING

 As a Bing Crosby fan and writer, I have come in touch with some of the wonderful people in Bing's family. I have had the pleasure to correspond with his nephew Howard Crosby (Ted's song) and his grandson Phil Crosby Jr. Off and on through the years though I have crossed paths with someone claiming to be related to Bing. His stage name is Johnny Holiday and "performs" the old standards and claims to be the great nephew of Bing Crosby, but he has not relation to Bing. Johnny Holiday (aka Scott Ables) claims to be the grandson of Bing's sister Mary. However, no one in the Crosby family has ever met him!

Howard Crosby, genuine nephew of Bing Crosby on Mary Rose, sister of Bing Crosby and supposed grandmother of Scott Ables/Johnny Holiday:

“Aunt Mary Rose had two children, cousin Carolyn who is 89 and lives in Las Vegas, and her son Bill Miller who died many years ago. Carolyn had 6 children, the Quinns, 5 of whom are still with us. I know them all...”

“This guy is NOT one of our relations, that's for sure!”

Furthermore, Johnny Holiday claims to have gotten his start on The Lawrence Welk Show, but I contacted someone I know in the Lawrence Welk organization, and they have no record of him. There are no pictures of Scott with his world-famous great uncle Bing, and when he presented a picture to the woman who woman who produced a channel spot on Cicada club (where he performs) of supposedly himself with Bing. It was actually a picture of Harry Crosby with his father Bing.

Reportedly Kathryn Crosby, the widow of Bing, has sent this Johnny Holiday letters to cease and desist using the Crosby name. There are no records of Johnny Holiday online prior to 2004. If his real name is Scott Ables there is even less online about him than Johnny Holiday.

His last posts were regarding cancer treatment. If he is suffering from cancer, godspeed and no one deserves to have that infliction, but someone close to him that wishes to remain anonymous claims that Scott/Johnny has been "suffering" from cancer for years. The source claims people feel bad for him, and think he is delusional. Whether he is delusional or just trying to make a buck, I do think the truth needs to come out. There are talented people in the Crosby family that are trying to keep the memory of Bing alive, and while Johnny Holiday is saying good things about Bing, he is also spreading lies that he is part of the Crosby family.

I have reached out to Scott Ables/Johnny Holiday for comments and/or his side of the story, but I have not heard back from him. If anyone knows the truth of how Scott Ables came to be called Johnny Holiday, please reach out to me...

BING AND MINUTE MAID

 Here is another great advertisement Bing did for Minute Maid. This looks to be from the 1950s. It is interesting that they were giving away orange juice too...

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND FRANK SINATRA

Here are some wonderful photos of the two blue eyes - Bing and Frank Sinatra. They appeared together many times during their careers...

BING AND HIS FAITH

In 1916, Bing became an an altar boy for St. Aloysius Church. Every third week, he attended and served mass at 6:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.

One of Bing’s friends asked him if he would like to sing at the church. Bing was hesitant, but ended up singing with the choir, and also doing a solo. Crosby impressed the other boys and many attending the church service.

St. Aloysius and Gonzaga were very important to Crosby. Both institutions played a big role in his upbringing and life. Crosby would later star in a movie that was based on his friendship with one of the priests at Gonzaga.

The Spokane neighborhood where Bing Crosby lived was mainly Catholic and was sometimes referred to as the “Little Vatican,” or the “Holy Land.”

SOURCE