Happy Feet from the Paul Whiteman film : King Of Jazz 1930

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[virgil283]

Just for fun : "The beginning of the "Happy Feet" number from King of Jazz (1930). After setting the mood of the piece with some giant dancing shoes and the Rhythm Boys.This short video presents a song from the orchestra leader Paul Whiteman,..." --see if you can recognize the man in the middle....

[virgil283]

--Happy Feet

[the OlLine Rebel]

Bing Crosby.

He looks taller, probably just skinny.

[mass55th]

OlLineRebel is old like me, and is right...it’s Bing Crosby.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Only old at heart. I miss those days I never knew!

[mass55th]

Old in body, heart and mind here, but from the 40’s. You are more knowledgeable than many about days gone by.

[Fiji Hill]

Some more of my favorites from Whiteman's Rhythm Boys

"I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain" (aka "Mississippi Mud") (1928)

"That's My Weakness Now" (1928)

"My Suppressed Desire" (1929)

[Fiji Hill]

Bing Crosby's name doesn't even appear on my copy of this disc--probably because he was virtually unknown at the time it was made.

Old Man River--Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (1928)

[the OlLine Rebel]

Thanks, I just love history, including every-day things. Soaked up my parents’ lives from their stories. I am a ‘69 baby.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Well, he Was part of Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys, so probably didn’t get much separate billing.

[Fiji Hill]

as far as I know, this is Bing Crosby's first recording--and his name isn't on the disc.

Muddy Water--Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (1927)

My favorite recording by the Rhythm Boys--Wistful and Blue (1927). The lyrics were written by Ruth Etting

[greene66]

There was a series of LP’s by Jonzo Records (out of England) which were chronologically releasing a collection of every recorded Crosby item, and it starts with a 1926 Columbia recording of “I’ve Got the Girl” by one Don Clark and his LA Biltmore Hotel Orchestra. The second item is Paul Whiteman’s version of “Wistful and Blue.”

One of my favorite Whiteman/Crosby items is “Without a Song.” I’ve always liked Whiteman. He seems to get a lot of disparagement from some jazz buffs who like to deride his “King of Jazz” moniker. But frankly, it was reflective of how the term “jazz” in the 1920s had become rather broad in the public sphere, encompassing just about any particularly peppy dance-music. So I really don’t think Whiteman deserves the flak from modern-day buffs. And heck, he had some top-notch jazzmen in his band anyway, from time to time.

[Fiji Hill]

Dr. Demento once played “I’ve Got the Girl” on his radio program, and my cassette recorder was going at the time, so I had a recording of it—I may still have it somewhere.

My father was a choir director who also liked to perform solos, and “Without a Song” was in his repertoire.

Paul Whiteman’s influence even stretched into the rock and roll era. He helped to launch the career of Bobby Rydell by featuring him on “Paul Whiteman’s TV Teen Club,” a TV show that he hosted in the early 1950’s.