Revisiting Bing's 'Waikiki Wedding'

About five years ago I shared picture labels of Bing Crosby issued on a 78 with two songs from his 1937 film Waikiki Wedding. I had found the record in Iceland, about as far away from Hawaii as you can get.

Bing actually recorded four songs from the film, and I have now discovered the two missing picture labels amidst the bounty of Internet Archive. They adorn the 78 of "In a Little Hula Heaven," where Crosby is backed by Jimmy Dorsey's band, and "Sweet Leilani," with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. The latter song was the handiwork of bandleader Harry Owens; the other three were by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger.

"Sweet Leilani" was the big hit from the score. Not content to provide the background, McIntire or one of his troupe handle the first few vocal choruses, adding to the charm of the record and providing contrast to Bing's warbling. 

These picture labels were a product of UK Brunswick, which seemingly made "In a Little Hula Heaven" the lead number of the four, with Crosby's name highlighted with the tag "in his hits from Waikiki Wedding." "Hula Heaven" is forgotten, but another song from the score, "Blue Hawaii," lives on, thanks not so much to Bing but to Elvis and his 1961 film of the same name. The Robin-Rainger song was the only one carried over from the earlier film to El's epic. The other big song from the 1961 film was "Can't Help Falling in Love," where Elvis attempted to out-croon Bing.

The download includes all four songs from Bing's film, taken from an LP release because neither the Iceland nor the Internet Archive 78 was in good condition. This time around I have added an ambient effect that provides some air around the mono sound.

Shirley Ross, Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, Bob Burns

Bing in Hawaii (and Iceland)

This is a tale of four locales - Hawaii, Hollywood, England and Iceland. They all pertain to the Bing Crosby picture-label 78 shown at right.

As you can see at right, the Hawaii location is the setting of The Groaner's 1937 flick Waikiki Wedding, produced of course in Hollywood. Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger wrote the tune "Blue Hawaii" for the film. Bing sang it with the wonderful Shirley Ross on the screen. For shellac purposes, he did a solo with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. McIntire was a steel guitar whiz who earned his island cred as a member of the legendary Sol Ho'opi'i Trio. "Blue Hawaii," although popular at the time, didn't really make a lasting impression on the public until murmured by Elvis Presley in the 1961 film of the same name.

Waikiki Wedding's big hit, which won an Academy Award, was "Sweet Leilani," a Harry Owens tune that Bing insisted on using in the film over the producer's objections. Owens led the band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, where Crosby first heard the number. On the commercial record, Bing cedes the first two vocal choruses to unnamed vocalists, presumably from the McIntyre ensemble.

Lobby card: Martha Raye and Shirley Ross flank Bing

Bing waxed two other songs from the score, both Robin-Rainger efforts. Victor Young provided the backing on "Sweet Is the Word for You"; Jimmy Dorsey handled "In a Little Hula Heaven." Young, Dorsey and McIntire were all on the payroll at Decca, where Crosby was the chief money-maker.

This post is designed to show off the nifty picture labels that Decca affiliate Brunswick slapped on the lacquer for sale in England and probably other markets. I found my copy in a interesting shop in Iceland, of all places. Brunswick issued two such 78s for Waikiki Wedding, and two additional discs for Bing's songs from Double or Nothing, also from 1937. I only have the "Blue Hawaii"/"Sweet Is the Word for You" coupling, alas. I'm not sure if Decca in the US employed a similar picture-label scheme, but I've never seen an example, if so.

My 78, visually mint, was almost unplayable. So I pulled out one of Decca's "Bing in Hollywood" reissue LPs from the 1960s and transferred the four Waikiki Wedding songs from that source. All are in the download.

Now that this blog has made a dramatic return to life, I'll see if I can locate a 78 or two by Crosby's co-star, Shirley Ross. Watch this space, just not too intently.