Tribute to Bing Crosby, A

Ryan Nowlin

Medley arranged by Ryan Nowlin

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General Info

Year:
Duration: c. 7:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: U.S. Marine Band
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

American singer and actor Bing Crosby was one of the most popular recording artists of the twentieth century, contributing to forty-one separate chart-topping hits, including the best-selling single of all time, White Christmas. Known as one of the first crooners, Crosby’s intimate, conversational style of singing was made possible in part because of the introduction of the microphone, eliminating the need to strain to be heard in large spaces.

This medley by Captain Ryan Nowlin begins with the beloved 1944 song Swinging on a Star by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke which was composed for the film Going My Way. The song’s quirky alternatives to self-improvement are said to be inspired by Crosby’s interaction with his kids over dinner when Van Heusen heard Crosby admonish: “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule.” The medley continues with You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby by Harry Warren with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, featured in the 1938 movie Hard to Get. The mood then slows down with the sentimental Irving Berlin number Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep from the 1954 movie White Christmas before ending with the optimistic favorite Blue Skies.

- Program Note from U.S. Marine Band concert program, 24 July 2016

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

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• United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Lucia Disano, conductor; Kevin Bennear, baritone) - 28 July 2016

Works for Winds by this Composer

• Amazing Grace (as arranger)
• As We Forgive
• Blue Cathedral (as transcriber) (1999/2002)
• Century of Service (2018)
• Copland Portrait, A (as transcriber)
• Deadline (2012)
• Enchanted
• Fanfare: A Vision and a Dream (2013)
• Fanfare for the Centennial (2011)
• Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor (as arranger)
• Folksong Festival (2016)
• Godspeed, John Glenn (2018)
• I Hate Music! (as arranger) (1943/)
• In the Words of Johnny Mercer (as arranger) (2017)
• Legacy Fanfare (2017)
• Let Freedom Ring (2014)
• The Maker's Mark (2012)
• A Medieval Memory (2015)
• Mid-American Sketches (2016)
• Montford Point Marines (2013)
• No Greater Joy (2018)
• Oh, Henry! (2012)
• Pompeii Unearthed
• Pressure
• Ragtime (as arranger) (1997/)
• Shipwrecked
• Sleep Cycle (arr. Nunmer)
• Song of Remembrance
• Starburst (as transcriber)
• Steadfast Overture
• Suite from "Band of Brothers" (as arranger)
• Synergy Rising
• Toccata and Fugue in D minor (as transcriber) (1705/2015)
• Tribute to Bing Crosby, A (as arranger)
• A White House Cantata (as transcriber) (1997/)

Resources

• Bing Crosby, Wikipedia Accessed 16 August 2016