Bing Crosby: The Early Years

Gary Giddins is a prize winning author who has now written what must be the definitive book about the first half of Bing Crosby's life. The very strong opening introduction sets the scene brilliantly and a page of statistics contains almost breathtaking figures which should capture the interest of any casual reader. Detailed reviews of the family history before Crosby was born follow and perhaps there was almost too much detail there as I found myself eager to read about Bing himself. As he tells the story of Crosby's early life and then his show-business career, the author's musical and jazz knowledge comes to the fore as he analyses in depth many of Crosby's recordings. Every reader will learn much from the scholarly discourses on Bing's choice (and at times, not so choice) records. Every Crosby film up to 1940 is reviewed in amazing depth with much new information coming forward from the incredible number of peoople consulted by the author over the years. The section headed 'Notes and Sources' is remarkable in itself. Everything of significance in Bing Crosby's life up to 1940 is covered thoroughly and perhaps for some casual readers there may be too much detail. For the Crosby fans however, this book will be an absolute treasure and leave them hungry for volume two. There are some interesting photos but the decision to use low quality video capture frames for some of the early film shorts may be questionable. The book includes a discography up to 1940 and a complete filmography. This must be the most accurate in-depth assessment of Bing Crosby ever. Giddins started out believing the negative publicity which came out after Crosby's death but he has now turned almost full circle. He discusses some of the controversial aspects of Crosby the man in a balanced and logical manner. But it is Crosby the entertainer who has cast a spell over Giddins and he articulates his well thought-out views magnificently. An important book about the show-business scene of the last century. Heartily recommended.

Despite its length, if you are interested in the development of popular music between1920s and 1940, this book alone is worth a look.As a tale of an outstandingly successful performer and man of wide other talent this is a gem. So many singers and musicians site Bing as a major influence. It is not always easy to see why from this distance in time.This book shows how his unique style and (sometimes enigmatic) talents came to change music, recording, films and radio into so much that we recognize as normal 85 years on!I have been a fan of Crosby's music for 40 years but the background story has been incomplete or missing.I can understand the applause for this book, and would recommend it most highly.

For what I paid for this book, it's delivery and physical quality was excellent. As for the content of the book, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in the great Bing Crosby and the America he was born and grew up in. The writer goes into a lot of detail and I found it all interesting, helped by the high quality of the writing. What comes across very strongly is what a remarkably talented, interesting and influential man Bing Crosby was.

Bought this as part of my husbands Christmas as he is an avid Bing fan, he really enjoyed the book as it brought back a lot of memories for him and as he has problems with his memory now it really helped him.

Excellent im going to enjoy reading this book .its bigger than I thought with lots of information and it makes a perfect ornament for the coffee table in my jazz theamed room

In good condition. Delighted with my purchase

great read good condition and as discribed

Very good condition