Although they worked with a number of musicians, singers, and radio voices, the Boswell Sisters were particularly fond of their radio work (though never so much as a collaboration) with Bing Crosby. Bing Crosby got started professionally in the singing business in 1926. He and Al Rinker made up a singing duo and had the good luck of Mildred Bailey (Rinker's sister) introducing them to Paul Whiteman, the leader of the most popular "jazz" band in the United States. They were hired as "vocal accompaniment". Not long after, a third singer was added to the orchestra, Harry Barris (also a songwriter), to form Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys of whom Bing would gradually and naturally lead as primary soloist. As they grew in popularity, the Rhythm Boys gained special arrangements and numbers that highlighted only them. They developed a routine that involved a mixture of harmony, call-and-response, stop-and-go delivery, showmanship, and humor. In his first year of recording, Bing was never credited as a solo artist (though he had a couple small solos) and recorded under the likes of Don Clark and His Hotel Biltmore Orchestra, Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, and Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys.
Here is the discgoraphy surrounding Bing Crosby's first recordings:
The Chronological Bing Crosby, Volume 1 1926-1927
"Sweet Li'l / Ain't She Sweet" by Bing Crosby (with Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys)
Pass the Headphones!!
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