Famous Today, Forgotten Tomorrow (We've forgotten Hope & Crosby. Will we forget the Beatles?)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Dec. 9, 2014 | Jim Fusilli

[presidio9]

Tributes to two of the most famous American entertainers of the 20th century serve as a reminder of how fame flees. The entertainers are Bing Crosby and Bob Hope; the reminders are the documentary “American Masters: Bing Crosby Rediscovered,” which had its premiere last week (and will run again on Dec. 26 ) on PBS, and “Hope: Entertainer of the Century,” a new biography by Richard Zoglin. Neither Crosby nor Hope have much cachet with contemporary consumers of art and culture, but the accounts of their careers make convincing cases that their contributions still influence their respective fields, even if some in those fields may not know it.

Given Crosby’s skill and stature as a vocalist, the PBS documentary raises the question of how future generations will think of the musicians of the ’60s who advanced popular music in their time. Will the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder be as marginalized, if not forgotten, as their significant predecessors?

-SNIP-

Thus, it would have been inconceivable in the mid-20th century that one day either man would be underappreciated or misunderstood. Few current-day music fans think of Bing Crosby as the man who invented the concept of the pop singer and elevated it to high art, swung with Louis Armstrong, and influenced Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Presley, Frank Sinatra and countless other vocalists and instrumentalists. In his time, Crosby was the pinnacle of popular music, but today he’s recalled primarily for his version of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.” As for Hope, -SNIP-

[04-Bravo]

I was talking with some younger people once, and somebody mentioned the Beatles. One young person asked, “Who are the Beatles?”

Another young person replied, “Oh, that was Paul McCartney’s first band.”

[Amity]

One of the best piano players there ever was, but most only know him as a singer.

Truth. I've been listening to Nat King Cole since I was a kid, but only discovered he played the piano this past year. Felt pretty dumb about that, since I've seen plenty of pictures of him AT the piano, but I guess I'd assumed he was one of those guys who could play enough to accompany himself while practicing or something, not that he was really good at it.

[jocon307]

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope are not forgotten. I’m also pretty sure the beatles will live forever.

Let me see if I can find something, brb.

[jocon307]

Here it is. I’m not the world’s biggest Paul McCartney fan, but I think this is great. And I’ve already had the pleasure of listening to it with my grandson, and I intend to get it into the full rotation, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

“Blackbird”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrxZhWCAuQw

[jocon307]

Dude, don’t be hating on the doo-wop! Sheesh almighty.

Doo-wop rules!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBT3oDMCWpI

Before the light

Hold me again

With all of your might

In the still of the night

In the still of the night

[Larry Lucido]

The Who’s on first!

[V K Lee]

Crosby, never as long as there continue to be White Christmas.

Ives, Frosty would become the nightmare on Elm Street

And the non-crooner, actors ....not when they believe as they did..
Bob Hope
youtube.com/watch?v=BAIpI8IxgFs
John Wayne
youtube.com/watch?v=btvSE6tVHzQ

[ADemocratNoMore]

Might I suggest Googling “Radio Dismuke”? All sorts of great music from
the teens through the twentys. Good stuff and almost a century old!.

[knarf]

Oh MY !

A couple of centuries ago ... 1962 or 3, ....

Boston area was served by a farm and conglomerate ... the HOOD milk company .. (quart bottles delivered by one of those cute trucks ...
bottles capped with cardboard caps
that, if you waited too long in the winter to get the bottles from your front stoop, the milk would freeze and push the cap up ...)

.. and the HOOD CO. had a treat called a HOODSIE, which was a small tub of ice cream that came with a wooden spoon/paddle ...
usually only eaten by kids under 12 because it was a sure sign you hadn't grown up yet if you still ate HOODSIE's

The local teenage dance at the Catholic church .. (make room for the Holy Ghost ... C'mon, you two ... separate a little ) ..
was called The Hoodsie Hop and the last dance was always In The Still Of The Night.

[wardaddy]

How many posts till Beatles suck anyhow poster?

I miss Bob Hope....

Vietnam.

[jocon307]

So cute! I loved eating ice cream with those little wooden spoons, something about that tasted so good.

[Sirius Lee]

Obviously, you have no knowledge of who Bing Crosby was.

A wife beater.

[Sirius Lee]

Acting and song style require creativity.

Maybe, but nothing like what is required to write, compose, paint. These are the true artists. These are the true creators. Without scripts to read and songs to sing, Bing would be selling shoes. But hey, if being one of the dwindling handful of the now dead drunken child abuser's fanboys gets you through the day, go for it.

[Fresh Wind]

A little known fact about Sinatra-he got his first big break on the 30s equivalent of American Idol.

[knarf]

It gets tiresome reading comments that denigrate a man or woman because of something that came out many years after ... sometime after their death ... and a lifetime of achievement(s) is reduced to a sound byte.

The entire Hollyweird scene could be reduced to some terrible event described in one word ...

whoremonger
whore
c***s***er
wife beater
wife killer
sexual deviant

The 50's and 60's were historical milestones in their own right and the preceding 30's and 40's generation(s) actually gave birth to them.

[morphing libertarian]

Idiotic

[captmar-vell]

I agree,

I’m a huge Beatles fan,

I was in Liverpool recently and was surprised at how little they have there to acknowledge them. I did visit the Albert dock and went through the ‘Beatles story’ museum, it wasn’t all that terribly impressive,

[nascarnation]

A prophet without honor .....

[presidio9]

Maybe, but nothing like what is required to write, compose, paint. These are the true artists. These are the true creators.

You are attempting, however inartfully, to quantify the value of the so-called "performing arts" versus the "creative arts." I am an architectural designer, who also draws and sculpts on the side -so I presume to speak with some authority on this issue. I am also a conservative heterosexual male -which makes me something of a rare bird in my field -but that's a different story.

The question of "what is art?" is something that has thus far never been successfully answered, and is best left to philosophers. For example, I still believe the sight of Barry Sanders running with the football was its own art form. I will say this on this issue: While there is no shortage of bad singers and bad actors, great singing or great acting takes talent and training, as do the creative arts. A great actor (the best I was ever lucky enough to see was Alec Guinness -on Broadway, not in a space ship) can take a script and play bring forth thoughts and emotions that weren't there). It is important to realize that the performing arts are, for the most part, collaborative pieces. Sort of like architectural design, come to think of it. And, as a capitalist, I will point out that in today's culture, the performing arts are, by far, the disciplines of greatest financial reward.

[Patriotic1]

homeschoolers music curriculum

Heck - a lot of adults (ahem) might be interested!