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Bob Crosby was born on August 25, 1913 in Spokane, Washington, one of seven children born to Harry Lowe Crosby, a bookkeeper at a Tacoma brewery, and his wife Kate Harrigan Crosby. Bob was 10 years younger than his brother Harry, who as "Bing Crosby," achieved fame as the most popular singer of the first half of the 20th century. After matriculating at Gonzaga University, Bob followed his older brother into the music business, and while he never achieved Bing`s level of fame (few did), he made a good career for himself as the front man for one of the premier white jazz bands of the 1930s.

The band-leader Anson Weeks offered Bob a singing job in 1931. Possessed of only a good but not spectacular voice, Bob had a way with audiences, which helped make him a success. In 1934, he was hired by the Dorsey Brothers, whom he continued to sing with until 1935, when he was given the chance to front a new band that had been resurrected from the ashes of Ben Pollack`s old orchestra.

The members of Ben Pollack`s band had been left stranded in New York City when Pollack quit. After breaking up, the band regrouped without Pollack in New York in 1934 with the saxophonist Gil Rodin, Pollack`s former right hand man, as leader. They played for Red Nichols on the `Kellogg College Prom` radio show, and subsequently recorded under the name of their singer Clark Randall. A year later, the band ditched Randall to try to make it on their own.

When Rodin decided he didn`t want to be the front man for the band, he offered Jack Teagarden the job as leader. Contracted to Paul Whiteman, Teagarden declined the offer, and agent Corky O`Keefe suggested three alternatives: singer Johnnie Davis of Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, Whiteman trumpeter Harry "Goldie" Goldfield, and Bob Crosby. Rodin had met and liked Crosby, and he was offered the position. The Bob Crosby Orchestra was incorporated with Rodin, Crosby and the Rockwell-O`Keefe Booking Agency as owners. Rodin remained the guiding force behind the band.

Ironically, Bob Crosby was one of the least important members of his own orchestra, but he was aware of this and had no qualms about ceding most of the solo time to the band`s talented sidemen. The Bob Crosby Orchestra, and its combo side group, the Bob Cats, became one of the greatest jazz bands of all time. Crosby turned out to be the perfect front man as proved popular with the audience. A friendly man, Crosby respected and admired his musicians and never interfered with Rodin`s running of the band.

Although in the mid- to late-1930s, when swing was king, Dixieland was considered old-fashioned by many young hipsters who lionized Benny Goodman, Crosby`s band fueled a revival of the New Orleans sound. The rhythm section was led by bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc, the duo who wrote "South Rampart Street Parade" and "Big Noise from Winnetka," the latter which proved a huge hit. Other musicians in the band were Charlie Spivak and Billy Butterfield, and its singers included Kay Weber and Doris Day. The band`s arranger was Dean Kincaide.

Tommy Dorsey raided the Crosby band in 1938, purloining Kincaide, Spivak, and pianist Yank Lawson. As a consequence, the band began to deemphasize Dixieland in favor of more commercial arrangements. With lead vocalist Dorothy Claire, who was backed by Helen Ward and Johnny Mercer, the Bob Crosby Orchestra became the featured band on the `Camel Caravan` radio program in 1939. With