Bing Crosby–Just a Gigolo, 1931, broadway discussion

Our second post for today reveals a very different song and a very different delivery by Bing Crosby. This was recorded in March 1931 with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra on the Victor label. It has a strange parentage; the lyrics were written by a German, Julius Brammer in 1924; and in 1928, the music was mated to the lyrics by Leonello Casucci.

What we notice almost immediately is that the music is a tango, the music of love. And yet, when we listen to the English lyrics, written by Irving Caesar, we realize that this type of love is tawdry, one that is bought and paid for in a business transaction. Cole Porter wrote about this type of love, in his show, The New Yorkers, in 1930; the song was the haunting “Love For Sale.” It was sung sotto voce by a trio of women. and it was one of Porter’s favorite songs when he was alive. I suspect but don’t know that he admired the contrast between the sound of the song and the lyrics of the song.

In the same year, 1930, Rodgers and Hart came out with their musical, Simple Simon; it contained the Ruth Etting hit song, “Ten Cents a Dance.” We have featured this song previously, with Doris Day singing the song in the biopic of Ruth’s life in Love Me or Leave Me.

We rarely hear the introduction to the song, “Just a Gigolo,” but it provides the entire key to the song. The singer is also the narrator, much like Somerset Maugham would begin his novels, giving us a bit of the context for the story. In this introduction, we learn that the singer first met the gigolo in Paris. The man was a decorated French soldier in WWI, but the war shattered his life (subtly phrased as “knew better days”) and left him with nothing but some “worthless medals.” Now, he goes to the same cafe each night and sings that he is just a gigolo who asks the women to hire him if they admire him.

It is sung by Bing with simple, understated empathy for the war hero who has seen better days; the orchestration emphasizes piano and strings. It is a gem.