A Pocketful Of Dreams: Bing Crosby & The Classic Songbook at John G Shedd Institute for the Arts

In 1947 an Associated Press poll declared him "the most admired man alive"...ahead of Jackie Robinson, Pope Pius the XII and President Harry S. Truman. In 1948 Music Digest estimated that more than half of the 80,000 hours of recorded music broadcast on radio each week were filled with his recordings. In 1954 Decca Records declared that "the voice of Bing Crosby, has been heard by more people than the voice of any other human being who has ever lived." By mid-century, the crooner's voice, face and personality were indeed seemingly everywhere. Certainly the extraordinary technological developments in entertainment distribution in the late 1920s through '40s -- the phonograph, the radio, and motion pictures -- played a significant role in making such a thing possible...

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In 1947 an Associated Press poll declared him "the most admired man alive"...ahead of Jackie Robinson, Pope Pius the XII and President Harry S. Truman. In 1948 Music Digest estimated that more than half of the 80,000 hours of recorded music broadcast on radio each week were filled with his recordings. In 1954 Decca Records declared that "the voice of Bing Crosby, has been heard by more people than the voice of any other human being who has ever lived." By mid-century, the crooner's voice, face and personality were indeed seemingly everywhere. Certainly the extraordinary technological developments in entertainment distribution in the late 1920s through '40s -- the phonograph, the radio, and motion pictures -- played a significant role in making such a thing possible. But it was Crosby's brilliant understanding of the special requirements and potential of each of those new media, that set him apart, even from his many equally-successful and famous colleagues. Jesse Cloninger and The Jazz Kings pay tribute to Crosby with a choice selection of the best from his long career.

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