Bing Crosby
ListenI’ve Got the Girl! · 1927
Don Clark’s orchestra with Bing Crosby and Al Rinker — I’ve Got the Girl! The uploader presents this transfer at 71 rpm.
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1927 · Columbia
I’ve Got the Girl! / Idolizing
Bing Crosby’s voice first reached record buyers without his name on the label. On “I’ve Got the Girl!” he shares a brief vocal with his friend Al Rinker, guests of Don Clark’s Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra at an October 1926 session. [2] [3]
| Accession | OMMA-0123 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Don Clark and His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra |
| Release | 1927 · United States |
| Label | Columbia · 824-D |
| Format | 10-inch shellac single · 78 rpm |
| Issue | Original US commercial issue |
| Runouts | I’ve Got the Girl!: W142785 Idolizing: W142784 |
| Recorded grade | VG- · VJM VV- |
Release history and significance
Crosby and Rinker had come to Los Angeles from Washington in 1925 and were beginning to attract attention on the stage. By the following autumn, Paul Whiteman had hired the pair. Don Clark, a former Whiteman musician, brought them into a Columbia session on 18 October 1926. Crosby was twenty-three; Rinker was still eighteen. [3]
Their contribution to Walter Donaldson’s “I’ve Got the Girl!” was a short duet inside a dance-band performance. Three takes were made. Rinker’s higher voice stands out in the blend, while the baritone who would become one of America’s most familiar singers is still an uncredited newcomer. [3]
Columbia paired the performance with “Idolizing,” featuring singer Betty Patrick, and issued the record as 824-D. The January 1927 issue date places this modest dance-band single at the beginning of Crosby’s recorded career. [1] [4]
Market context
The attraction of Columbia 824-D lies in the uncredited voice within a Don Clark dance-band record. Crosby’s participation escaped discographers for decades. Surviving copies have since become part of the collector-led recovery of his earliest work; a 2024 transfer project, for example, drew on a disc from Ed Mitchell’s collection. [5]
Physical Description
A black shellac disc with Columbia labels crediting Don Clark and His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra. Crosby and Rinker are not named on the label. The two songs have different vocalists: their duet on “I’ve Got the Girl!” is paired with Betty Patrick on “Idolizing.” [1]
Condition
Graded VG- (recorded VJM grade VV-). The “I’ve Got the Girl!” side has light staining reported to have no audible effect, and its label has semicircular damage attributed to a steel needle. The labels remain legible.
The available audio samples have strong musical sound with continuous crackle and no reported skips.
Provenance
Acquired from Carolina Soul Records on 8 June 2026. The dealer reported receiving the record on consignment from an anonymous owner.
Sources
- Discogs, Don Clark and His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra – Idolizing / I’ve Got the Girl, release 11201725. Columbia 824-D, vocal credits and matrix-to-title identification.
- Bing Crosby, official career chronology. The first recording, 18 October 1926.
- Paul R. Spitzzeri, The Homestead Blog: Don Clark and His Biltmore Hotel Orchestra. Los Angeles recording context and the Crosby–Rinker session.
- 45cat, Don Clark and His Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Orchestra – Columbia 824-D. January 1927 issue date.
- Early 1900s Music Preservation, Bing Crosby’s First Recording, 5 May 2024. Collector history and a transfer from Ed Mitchell’s collection.
Catalogue text reviewed 13 September 2026.