"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" was the theme
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
selected for his radio show. It was recorded in November 1931 with
Bennie Krueger and his Orchestra. The song was featured in a
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.
Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...
movie short starring Bing Crosby. Crosby recorded the song on several occasions starting with the November 23, 1931 version with Bennie Kruger and his Orchestra. He next recorded it on July 20, 1940 with The Paradise Island Trio. On July 17, 1945 he recorded it with
John Scott Trotter
John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader.
Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...
and his Orchestra and his final recording was on April 21, 1954 with
Buddy Cole and his Trio for his
Musical Autobiography set.
The song was originally "When the Gold of the Day Meets the Blue of the Night", but the title was changed before recording. Because Crosby wrote the verse for the song, writers
Roy Turk
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...
and
Fred E. Ahlert
Frederick Emil Ahlert (September 19, 1892 – October 20, 1953) was an American composer and songwriter.
Early life
He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially ...
included him in the songwriting credit. Although the song was popular and successful, Crosby did not take special pride in having written it, saying much later, "I really think I'd trade anything I've ever done if I could have written just one hit song." The Bing Crosby composition "
At Your Command
"At Your Command" is a 1931 song recorded by Bing Crosby on June 24, 1931 with piano accompaniment by Harry Barris. The lyrics were written by Bing Crosby and Harry Tobias, The music was composed by Harry Barris.
The song was released as a Brunsw ...
" was, however, number one for three weeks on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1931 and "
I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You
"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" is a 1932 song recorded by Bing Crosby with Orchestral Accompaniment. The music was composed by Victor Young, with lyrics written by Ned Washington and Bing Crosby. The song is a jazz and pop standar ...
", which he also co-wrote, is one of the most recorded pop and jazz standards of the 1930s.
The 1931 recording of "Where the Blue of the Night" reached #4 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles chart in 1932. Crosby charted again with the song in 1940, hitting #27 on charts with it in that year.
The 1958 remake by Tommy Mara entered the Billboard and Cashbox Top 100s.
The song was recorded by
Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934), known as Russ Columbo, was an American baritone, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madness ...
,
Will Rogers
William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
, In 1969, country artist
Hank Locklin
Hank Locklin (born Lawrence Hankins Locklin; February 15, 1918 – March 8, 2009) was an American country music singer-songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number one hits on ''Billboard''s country chart. His biggest hits included ...
had a charting single with his cover of the song. It peaked at number 34 on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart and was his last top 40 hit.
Eddie Fisher
Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...
,
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937),
known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...
,
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...
Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold records. She was a frequen ...
, Glenn Cross, Johnny Knight,
Bob Crosby
George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...
,
Phillip Crosby
Phillip Lang Crosby (July 13, 1934 – January 13, 2004) was an American actor and singer. He was one of the four sons of Bing Crosby and Dixie Lee; the others were his older brother Gary, his twin brother Dennis, and his younger brother Lin ...
,
Bob and Alf Pearson
Bob and Alf Pearson were an English musical variety double act, consisting of brothers Robert Alexander Pearson (15 August 1907 – 30 December 1985) and Alfred Vernon Pearson (15 June 1910 – 7 July 2012), who were mainly known for their singi ...
, Robin Ward, Harold Van Emburgh, and also in 1969 by
The Bachelors
The Bachelors were a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland, but primarily based in the United Kingdom. They had several international hits during the 1960s, including eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966.
Car ...
, a popular Irish band. The song "
When the Deal Goes Down
"When the Deal Goes Down" is a love song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, originally released as the fourth track on his 2006 album '' Modern Times'' and anthologized on the compilation albums ''Dylan'' in 2007 and ...
" by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
is based on the melody of this song, although performed as a waltz.
References
Sources
*Giddins, Gary. ''Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams''. 2001. pp. 259–60. and .
*Grudens, Richard (2002). ''Bing Crosby – Crooner of the Century''. Celebrity Profiles Publishing Co.. .
*Macfarlane, Malcolm. ''Bing Crosby – Day By Day''. Scarecrow Press, 2001.
*Osterholm, J. Roger. ''Bing Crosby: A Bio-Bibliography''. Greenwood Press, 1994.
{{Authority control
1931 songs
Bing Crosby songs
The Bachelors songs
Songs with music by Fred E. Ahlert
Songs with lyrics by Roy Turk