It was just another Wednesday in Crieff in the summer of 1976 when Ferntower golf course received a visit from Hollywood royalty.
There had been no indication that something special might be in the air, but word began to spread about the chauffeur-driven limousine which was sitting in the car park.
And then slowly but surely, it was confirmed that Bing Crosby, the crooner known all over the world for singing White Christmas, acting in the Road movies with Bob Hope, and appearing in such films as High Society and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, was on the fairways and greens with his sons Nathaniel and Harry.
By the time they marched down the 18th hole, a large crowd had arrived to watch the party – and they couldn’t possibly have mistaken Bing because he was carrying a special Bicentennial driver, which was beautifully painted in the US colours.
As he waved to the gallery, he shouted “How’s tricks?” and said after finishing: “We enjoyed our game very much. You should be proud. Your golf course is in fine shape.”
Bing organised two charity concerts in 1976
However, the 73-year-old, who had enjoyed many previous excursions to Scotland, and proved himself a highly capable player at the game’s spiritual home St Andrews, wasn’t merely in Perthshire for a spot of rest and relaxation with his family.
Instead, Bing Crosby was determined to help raise funds for Ochtertyre Theatre in Crieff – of which he and Hope were patrons – and had organised two charity concerts to help the venue.
At this stage, it’s probably wise to remember that Bing was one of the few entertainers in history who didn’t need to use his surname to be instantly recognisable.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, perhaps only Elvis Presley had the same aura and was known across the planet in just five letters.
For Bing, it was one fewer, and, given how many times he had travelled to Scotland, it seems astonishing that he didn’t perform his maiden live concert here until July 15 1976, only 15 months before his death.
This was at the beginning of the punk rock explosion and when pop rockers Bay City Rollers and disco legends Abba were at the summit of the charts.
For most of the record-buying public, Bing wasn’t so much uncool as totally melted, but he never lost his ability to find common ground with new musical tastes – and, just five weeks prior to his demise in October 1977, he joined forces with David Bowie for the No 1 hit The Little Drummer Boy.
There were more than 2,000 people in the audience for his concert at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and they savoured a greatest hits display from the crown prince of crooning.
As The Courier said: “The audience were treated to the very best of the ‘Old Groaner’, who was donating his fee to Ochtertyre Theatre, of which he is an honorary patron – but not only that, they had the opportunity to hear the entire Crosby family make music.
“You name it, Bing sang it – there seemed to be nothing missing in this 50th anniversary concert and the only sad thing about the occasion was that the crowd surely realised almost from ‘curtain-up’ just what they had been missing since 1926.
“Bing’s wife, Kathryn joined in the choruses, along with daughter Mary-Frances and sons, Nathaniel and Harry – with the latter doing a solo spot and showing his talent.
“But Bing’s vocals were what the people had come to hear and, even though he has been singing his heart out to the tune of hundreds of millions of records, these tones are so unique and soothing that they left their mark on everybody who was listening.
“And when you’ve sung as many songs in your times as Bob Hope has told jokes, then you are going to forgiven for slipping up on the odd lyric here and there. Even ‘I’ve forgotten the lines here, boh-boh-boh-boh….” was pure magic in the way he did it.
“No doubt Ochtertyre Theatre, which has long faced a financial crisis, thought it was all sheer magic, with Bing stepping in to help them out and raise their profile.
“Indeed, with the success of Friday’s second and final show, it’s understood that the theatre should receive something in the region of £10,000.
“And the Crosbys aren’t finished here yet.
“In a few weeks, Kathryn and Mary-Frances will star in The Heiress at the 100-seat theatre before moving on to Edinburgh. So they have all clearly taken this part of the world in Crieff to their hearts.”
Even as Bing recorded a number of TV specials and chat-show appearances during his trip to Britain, the Press & Journal secured an interview with Texas-born Kathryn, who had obviously been smitten by her visits to Scotland in the previous decade.
And she revealed that, despite being in his 70s, Bing was relaxed about flying all over the world on a whim and booking into small hotels with the minimum of fuss and a wish to stay out of the limelight and join with the locals.
She said: “Oh, he’s marvellous and he keeps springing surprises on me. Usually, he tells me only the day before that we are going on a trip abroad, even though he has arranged it all several weeks before. But that just makes things all the more exciting.
“We have really enjoyed coming to Scotland, the people are so friendly, the places are so clean, and they are very down-to-earth when you go to a golf club or a theatre or restaurant. Nobody wants to make a big fuss or disturb you and that suits us just fine.
“We went to Gleaneagles 10 years ago, then saw quite a bit of Perth and Edinburgh, and I’m hoping to see more of the country this time round, because we are here for a month.
“I’ve got a bit of Scottish blood, along with English, Irish, French and German. Did you know that they call Bing ‘Der Bingle’ in Germany? Both of us like that.”
Sadly, Bing Crosby didn’t have much time left, but while his efforts to rescue the Ochtertyre Theatre were ultimately unsuccessful, he made a positive impression on so many of those he met in Crieff.
He and his sons received a standing ovation after they all birdied the last hole on another round of his beloved passion.
Then it was time for contemplation.
As The Courier recorded: “Bing attended morning mass at Crieff’s St Fillans Church on Sunday morning and sung along with the members of the congregation.
“After the service, he slipped out immediately afterwards through a side door.”
No fuss, no look-at-me prima donna, just a desire to do his own thing, preferably with a bag of clubs for company.
As he said in an interview with Scottish Television: “I love golf. If I ever die on a golf course, at least I’ll die a happy man.’’
That was his fate in Madrid shortly after the chat happened and STV executives, realising they had a scoop on their hands, eagerly went in pursuit of the recording.
Sadly, they discovered that the tape with “Crosby interview” on it, had the title scored out and replaced with “Curling from Crossmyloof”.
It was gone forever.
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