Bing Crosby’s influence on popular culture and popular music is considerable, as from 1934 to 1954 he held a nearly unrivaled command of record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. He is usually considered to be a member of popular music’s “holy trinity” of ultra-icons, alongside Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
Bing Crosby popularized singing with conversational ease, or ‘crooning’. His musical interpretations amalgamated rhythm and romance with scat singing, whistling, rhythmic improvisation and melodic paraphrasing as elements of a hotter, sexier sound than had been conceived before.
Crosby is also credited as being the major inspiration for most of the male singers that followed him, including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dean Martin. Tony Bennett summed up Crosby’s impact, stating, “Bing created a culture. He contributed more to popular music than any other person - he moulded popular music. Every singer in the business has taken something from Crosby. Every male singer has a Bing Crosby idiosyncracy.”
Crosby’s recording of PlayWhite Christmas is recognized as the best-selling single in any music category with over 40 million copies sold.
In 1962, Crosby was the first person to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was a trumpet player, singer, bandleader, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz.
Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans, a culturally diverse town with a unique musical mix of creole, ragtime, marching bands and blues. Although from an early age he was able to play music professionally, he never traveled far from New Orleans until 1922, when he went to Chicago to join his mentor, King Oliver. Oliver’s band played primitive jazz, a hotter style of ragtime, with looser rhythm and more improvisation, and Armstrong’s role was mostly backup. Slow to promote himself, he was eventually persuaded by his wife to leave Oliver, and In 1924 he went to New York to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. At the time, there were a few other artists using the rhythmic innovations of the New Orleans style, but none did it with the energy and brilliance of Armstrong, and he quickly became a sensation among New York musicians. Back in Chicago in 1925, he made his first recordings with his own group, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and these became not only popular hits but also models for the first generation of jazz musicians, trumpeter or otherwise.
Other hits followed through the twenties and thirties, as well as troubles: crooked managers, lip injuries, mob entanglements, failed big-band ventures. As jazz styles changed though, musical purists never lost any respect for him —although they were sometimes irritated by his hammy onstage persona. Around the late forties, with the help of a good manager, Armstrong’s business affairs finally stablilized and he began to be seen as an elder statesman of American popular entertainment, appearing in Hollywood movies, touring Asia and Europe, and dislodging The Beatles from the #1 position with “Hello, Dolly”. Today more people may know him as a singer (a good one), but as Miles Davis said: “You can’t play nothing on modern trumpet that doesn’t come from him.”
Blueberry Hill
Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true
The wind in the willow played
Love's sweet melody
But all of those vows we made
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
(I found my thrill) Come climb the hill with me, baby
(On Blueberry Hill) We'll see what we shall see
(On Blueberry Hill) I'll bring my horn with me
(When I found you) I'll be wit' you where berries are blue
(The moon stood still) Each afternoon we'll go
(On Blueberry Hill) Higher than the moon we'll go
(And lingered until) Then, to a weddin' in June we'll go
(My dreams came true) Ba-ba-da-de-buzz-buzz va-de-n-da-day
The wind in the willow played (do you really love me)
Love's sweet melody (as I love you?)
But all of those vows we made (will you still remember)
Were never to be (when the night is through?)
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
The song "Blueberry Hill" was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1940 and then by a number of artists, but the Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong version is the most memorable. The song is about finding happiness in unexpected places and how love can make even mundane things special. The lyrics describe discovering love on a hill covered in blueberries, where the moon stops and lingers until dreams come true.
The wind plays a love melody and the vows made on the hill are never to be fulfilled, but the memories of the love remain. The song has a romantic sentiment to it, and the call to climb the hill together represents the idea of taking a journey together in love. The lyrics are simple, yet powerful, and the song has become a classic.
Line by Line Meaning
I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill
I found happiness and excitement on Blueberry Hill
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
It was on Blueberry Hill that I met you
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
The moon seemed to stop moving when I was on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true
The moon stayed and watched over me until my wishes and hopes became reality
The wind in the willow played
The wind blowing through the willow trees created a melodic sound
Love's sweet melody
This sweet sound reminded me of love
But all of those vows we made
We made promises to each other
Were never to be
But unfortunately those promises could not be fulfilled
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
Even though we are not together, you are still a significant part of my life
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
You were my source of happiness and excitement when we were on Blueberry Hill
(I found my thrill) Come climb the hill with me, baby
(Let's relive that happiness) Let's go climb the hill together again, my love
(On Blueberry Hill) We'll see what we shall see
(Let's see where life takes us) Let's explore and discover on Blueberry Hill
(On Blueberry Hill) I'll bring my horn with me
(I'll bring my music and talent) I'll bring my horn so we can make beautiful music together on Blueberry Hill
(When I found you) I'll be wit' you where berries are blue
(I'll be by your side) I'll be with you where the blueberries grow
(The moon stood still) Each afternoon we'll go
(The moon will be our witness) We'll go to Blueberry Hill every afternoon
(On Blueberry Hill) Higher than the moon we'll go
(Our happiness and excitement will skyrocket) We'll climb higher than the moon
(And lingered until) Then, to a weddin' in June we'll go
(And the moon will stay until our next milestone) Then we'll go to a wedding in June
(My dreams came true) Ba-ba-da-de-buzz-buzz va-de-n-da-day
(My wishes and hopes were fulfilled) Let's celebrate with music and dancing
The wind in the willow played (do you really love me)
The wind in the willow played a sweet tune that made me question if you truly love me
Love's sweet melody (as I love you?)
Love's sweet melody made me wonder if you love me as much as I love you
But all of those vows we made (will you still remember)
But even though we made promises, I wonder if you will still remember them
Were never to be (when the night is through?)
Unfortunately, these promises may never come to fruition, but I still wonder if they will be kept when the night ends
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bdmatzek5060
Great live recording! Thanks for posting.
@adolfocasanovalopez2388
Vaya par de monstruos. Eddy Nova. España. Madrid.