Something that has always fascinated me is how often two or more members of the same family find musical fame, even if in varying degrees. I suppose it's not that unusual for offspring, siblings, cousins, and the like to gravitate to the field that has provided success for others in the family, whether it's music, acting or carpentry for that matter, but it's still surprising how many of them achieve at least a measure of fame.
In an earlier piece about musical brothers I briefly mentioned the Crosbys — Bing and Bob — and I've featured Der Bingle separately, but I thought it was time to refocus and dig a little deeper into the lesser-known of the two. Bob Crosby was a well-known entertainer for many years, even if he was overshadowed by his older brother.
Bob was a passable vocalist but he didn't reach professional success quite as quickly as Bing. After dropping out of college to pursue a singing career in the midst of the Depression — a gutsy move — he found himself picking cucumbers for a while, but finally caught a good gig appearing with Anson Weeks' band. He hung on for a couple of years and eventually moved up to singing for the Dorsey Brothers.
His biggest break came when a group of musicians from various bands decided to form a cooperative group, an idea that was sometimes used in those days to allow the musicians to share ownership. (Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra was also a cooperative.) They needed a someone to front the outfit and by then Bing had made the name Crosby a recognizable one, so Bob joined up. It was the start of a long musical career, but ironically the new band's nominal "leader" didn't play an instrument and couldn't even read music.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Funny, I always thought David was the other Crosby.
2 - Big Geez
No, he's the other, other Crosby.