Customer Reviews (2)

Same as the regular text - the worst!
This is the same review I gave the book in it's original edition. The larger type hasn't changed anything!..............
In this book, we learn that, among other things, Bing's partner in the Rhythm Boys was named Harry "Berris"...... That Bing made "4000 different recordings"....... That Bing's famous singing rivalry known as the "Battle Of The Baritones" was with Rudy Vallee..... That another popular singer of the early days was Russ "Colombo"..... That Bing's mother was born in Canada..... That Bing's lung operation in 1974 was due to cancer..... That Bing's appearances on the "Hollywood Palace" TV show consisted of hosting "once a month, between 1968 and 1970 ...., sharing the role with George Burns, Martha Raye, and Judy Garland"........ That in 1962, Bing recorded "Let's Not Be Sensible" for a film soundtrack, "...but for reasons no one could adequately explain, the last word of the song, 'love', was mangled on tape...." and that Bing refused to re-record it because he was a "star", so .."Michael Holliday, a Crosby sound-alike, was brought in to finish the line for him......" This book further reveals that all of Al Jolson's legendary 1940s radio appearances with Bing were on Bing's series, "The Kraft Music Hall", and that Bing's very first TV appearance was "...as the guest of Jack Benny's first special in 1953...." WHEW!!!! What a bunch of junk! Folks, every single fact I've just related comes randomely from the pages of this half-baked un-researched hatchet-job, and is totally wrong!! What's more, These are just errors I picked at the last minute, thumbing through the book as I was composing this review: there are so many more! I've read hundreds of entertainment bios in my life (including others by Freedland), and NEVER have I encountered such a lame work with so many blatant errors of fact, chronology, and spelling (the spelling errors listed above for "Berris" and "Colombo", are not random typos, but are mis-spelled every time the names appear in the text!) How did this get published? Of course, the piece is also a hatchet-job, featuring alusions and conclusions re: Crosby's behavior that have absolutely no basis in fact. You want Crosby? Order Gary Giddins' new masterpiece "Bing Crosby- A Pocketful Of Dreams - The Early Years", and you'll get the REAL Bing, in a scholarly, analytical epic that makes this howler look like the misbegotten little essay that it is.

Review of Bing Crosby by Michael Freeland
This book is a great read for all those interested in Bing Crosby. It states a truthful but fair opinion of the crooners life, works, personality, and his family life. It is also easy to read and enjoyable too. The pictures in it are also great and soom I have never seen before. I t is truly a great buy! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: People From Spokane, Washington, Chuck Jones, Bing Crosby, David Eddings, Todd Mcfarlane, Clyfford Still, Billy Tipton, George Nethercutt, Stephen C. Meyer, C. J. Cherryh, Ryne Sandberg, Don Monson, John Babcock, Arthur C. Brooks, Darren Mcgavin, Myles Kennedy, Mark Fuhrman, George Lynch, Jan-Michael Gambill, Eric Johnston, Ryan Crocker, Ken Brett, Adam Morrison, Tom Foley, John Stockton, Doc Hastings, Mark Few, Chris Tormey, Dan Monson, Kitty Kelley, Mark Rypien, Vance Haynes, Ed Craney, Elwood Zimmerman, Wilder Penfield, Tom Sneva, Debbie Rowe, Julia Sweeney, Max Krause, Michael Winslow, Chief Garry, Rick Emerson, Lars Larson, Robert Lee Yates, Frank S. Reasoner, Sally Pierone, Charlene Teters, Michael Philip Anderson, Laurin Lyman Williams, List of People From Spokane, Washington, Michael Farris, Craig T. Nelson, Chad Little, Susan Peters, Kevin Coe, Lyle Beerbohm, Steve Emtman, Lemuel H. Wells, John Mcintire, Harry Wayland Randall, Mark Tucker, Jason Hanson, Lewis B. Schwellenbach, Larry Lujack, Jimmy Rowles, Rick Rydell, Edward Kienholz, Debra L. Stephens, Jerry Holkins, Shawn Smith, Thomas Hampson, Wesley Englehorn, Scott Levins, Irwin Rose, Gerry Lindgren, Mike Krahulik, Chester Gillette, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Lee Hansen, Bruce Alan Grandstaff, Terry Davis, George Nakashima, Michael Clarke, August Paulsen, Craig Montoya, David P. Jenkins, Jesse R. Drowley, Kirtland Cutter, Albert Johnson, Paul D'amour, Compton I. White, Jeffrey Morgan, P. Cameron Devore, Hal Moe, Alex Prugh, Clarence Dill, Bill Sheffield, Paul Johansson, Danny O'keefe, Rod Funseth, Frank William Erickson, Karl Sax, Kathleen Rockwell, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Sol Lesser, Joseph French Johnson, Trevor St. John, William H. Clagett, Compton I. White, Jr., Neil Everett, Wayne Shannon, Barbara Moore, Frank Fontaine, Steve Gleason, Thomas H. Moodie, Louis Davenport, Monrad Wallgren, Frances Rich, Cory Withrow, Tommy Maxwell, Kenneth Callahan, Samuel ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4010 ... Read more

Product Description
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Bing Crosby recorded nearly 2,000 songs, appeared in more than 100 films, starred in radio shows for nearly 30 years, and remained a hit on television for 25 years. He produced the best-selling record of all time, was the nation's leading film star for a record five years, and was voted one of the most influential Americans of the century by LIFE magazine. This book overviews his life and provides detailed information for all of his performances and appearances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Comprehensive Reference Work
This excellent overview of the life and career of Bing Crosby is one of precious few serious works to have been published on the subject since the late 1940s. Of course, we now have volume I of what will ultimately be the definitive bio, the landmark "A Pocketful of Dreams" by Gary Giddins, which covers Crosby's life up to 1940 - but until the proposed second volume is completed, Osterholm's "Bio-Bibliography" remains, along with Malcolm Macfarlane's "Bing Crosby - Day by Day", one of the most comprehensive pure reference works available on the most popular entertainer of the first half of the 20th century. For the Crosby researcher, this book is simply indispensable.

Completely inadequate
This is one hundred pages of pure fluff, poorly arranged, dismally presented and written apparently in the span of six days. Bing Crosby was a towering figure in American entertainment for thirty years, his influence upon Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Pat Boone and scores of other singers is glaringly obvious. He was also an Academy Award-winning actor who starred in some of Hollywoods most stellar movies. This book simply doesn't do justice to Bing, his life, talent or the monumental impact he had upon popular culture.

The Bing biography to own and cherish is Gary Giddon's recent Bing book, available on Amazon. That books swings, this book is a dismal and shoddy job, worthy of an elementary school report, not a published book. ... Read more

Product Description
192 pages ... Read more