MY SINGING/ACTING SKIT PLAYING BING CROSBY AS A BOY STARTS c. 2:30 (Bobby)

(PHOTO) 11 year-old Bobby White with famous radio comedian FRED ALLEN  
(1948 NBC Studios - NewYork City)

Cuts From Bing Crosby; Bobby White; on The Fred Allen Show 1948

A charming ballad I recorded in 1988 with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.  It was one of my Galway-born Irish mother's very favourite songs!

(1). NEAR TO BANBRIDGE TOWN IN THE COUNTY DOWN
ONE MORNING IN JULY
DOWN A BOREEN GREEN CAME A SWEET COLLEEN
AND SHE SMILED AS SHE PASSED ME BY!
O, SHE LOOKED SO SWEET FROM HER SNOW-WHITE FEET
TO THE SHEEN OF HER NUT BROWN HAIR,
SUCH A COAXING ELF, I HAD TO SHAKE MYSELF
TO MAKE SURE I WAS REALLY THERE!

(Chorus) FROM BANTRY BAY, UP TO DERRY QUAY
AND FROM GALWAY TO DUBLIN TOWN,
NO MAID I'VE SEEN LIKE THE BROWN COLLEEN
THAT I MET IN THE COUNTY DOWN!

(2).AS  SHE ONWARD SPED, SURE I SCRATCHED MY HEAD
AND I GAZED WITH A FEELING RARE
AND I SAID, SAYS I, TO A PASSERBY
"NOW WHO'S THE MAID WITH THE NUT BROWN HAIR?"
OH, HE SMILED AT ME, AND WITH PRIDE SAYS HE,
"THAT'S THE GEM OF IRELAND'S CROWN!
YOUNG ROSIE McCANN FROM THE BANKS OF THE BANN,
SHE'S THE STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN!"

FROM BANTRY BAY......ETC.

(3). AT THE HARVEST FAIR, SHE'LL BE SURELY THERE
SO I'LL DRESS IN MY SUNDAY CLOTHES
AND I'LL TRY SHEEPS' EYES AND DELUTHERIN' LIES
ON THE HEART OF THE NUT BROWN ROSE
NO PIPE I'LL SMOKE, AND NO HORSE I'LL YOKE
THO' MY PLOW WITH RUST TURN BROWN,
'TIL A SMILING BRIDE AT MY OWN FIRE-SIDE
SITS THAT STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN....

FROM BANTRY BAY......ETC.

The Star of the County Down

My Heart Is In The East from Four Early Songs by Aaron Copland, poetry by Aaron Schaffer.  

Piano, Jeremy Weissmann
Recorded October 20, 2015

My Heart Is In The East

BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FURTHER FOR THE YEATS POEM!

I was asked  recently by a student at Juilliard, Which-- of the several hundred songs I've been lucky to have recorded so far in my singing career-- do I love the most?  After much thought, I answered that If I had to pick only ONE performance, it just MIGHT be this recording:
"DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS", with The Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Robin Stapleton conducting, in a hauntingly beautiful arrangement.  By the way, 'Salley' is old English for 'Willow Tree'....
ROBERT WHITE - Juilliard Voice Faculty

DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS - Wm Butler Yeats

Down by the salley gardens
My love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens
With little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy,
As the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish,
With her did not agree.

In a field by the river
My love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder
She laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy,
As the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish,
And now am full of tears.

13 The Sally Gardens

One of the most delightful 1920s "Songs that SMILE!".   I recorded it for RCA Red Seal c. 1979 -  under the direction of the Superb DICK HYMAN.  ALL YA GOTTA DO, ANY OLD NIGHT, WHEN YOU'RE FEELIN' OUT OF TUNE....PICK UP YOUR HAT, CLOSE UP YOUR FLAT.. GET OUT AND GET UNDER THE MOON!..UNDERNEATH THE BRIGHT SILVERY LIGHT,  YOULL BE FEELIN' BETTER SOON...PICK UP...ETC.. THE MOON.   LOOK!, LOOK!, LOOK AT THE STARS ABOVE;  LOOK!, LOOK!, LOOK AT THOSE SWEETIES LOVE, OOOOH BOY!!  GIVE ME A NIGHT IN JUNE! (I mean it!!)...ALL YA GOTTA DO...etc...

Get out and get under the Moon

The greatest of ALL 'Buddy' songs, where a guy can sing of another guy who means a lot to him, and Society-- ever since Gus Kahn wrote it in 1922--could care less!!.  It's such a lovely piece to sing...  I recorded it here with the incomparable William Bolcom at the keyboard.  Have a listen.  You know the song already.  ENJOY!!! Bobby White

(After a brief verse, the Chorus begins.....)

NIGHTS ARE LONG SINCE YOU WENT AWAY
I THINK ABOUT YOU ALL THROUGH THE DAY
MY BUDDY, MY BUDDY, NO BUDDY QUITE SO TRUE...

MISS YOUR VOICE, THE TOUCH OF YOUR HAND
JUST LONG TO KNOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, 
MY BUDDY, MY BUDDY, YOUR BUDDY MISSES YOU...

BUDDIES THROUGH ALL OF THE GAY DAYS,
BUDDIES WHEN SOMETHING WENT WRONG
I WAIT ALONE THROUGH THE GREY DAYS,
MISSING YOUR SMILE AND YOUR SONG.......

03 My Buddy (1)

The superb composer Carl Maria von Weber set the Scottish Folk song, LOCH LOMOND for voice and chamber ensemble with exquisite results!  I recorded the song with Samuel Sanders, piano; Mark Peskanov, violin; Nathaniel Rosen, cello; Ransom Wilson, flute.  it's one of my very favorite recordings.

ROBIN IS MY JOY (Vedder) 

Robin is my joy, my dear 
Robin reigns triumphant here. 
So to his suit I’ll lend an ear, 
because I’m sure he loves me. 

Happy, happy was the shower 
That led me to his birchen bower 
Where first of love I felt the power 
And kenned that Robin loved me. 

Tall and comely, frank and free, 
Loved by a’ but dear to me. 
Wi’ him I’d live, wi’ him I'd dee, (die)
Because my Robin loves me. 

The evening star is Robin’s e’e (eye)
When not a cloud hangs o’er the sea. 
Its brightest glows when he’s wi’ me, 
By that I ken he loves me. 


11 Robin Is My Joy (Vedder) (1)

A beautiful folk song setting by Beethoven of an old Irish air.

03 The Parting Kiss (Smyth)

(From - "BITTERSWEET" 1929)(Verse)
NOW MISS SARAH, IF YOU PLEASE, SING A SCALE FOR ME (Flute Scale...)
TAKE A BREATH, AND THEN REPRISE,  IN A DIFFERENT KEY (Flute Scale...)
ALL MY LIFE, I  SHALL REMEMBER KNOWING YOU,
ALL THE PLEASURE I HAVE FOUND IN SHOWING YOU
THE DIFFERENT WAYS, THAT ONE MAY PHRASE
THE CHANGING LIGHT AND CHANGING  SHADE..
HAPPINESS THAT MUST DIE, MELODIES THAT MUST FLY,
WHY SHALL I FEEL SO SAD..TREASURING THE MEM'RY 
OF THESE DAYS ALWAYS.....
(Chorus)
I'LL SEE YOU AGAIN, WHENEVER SPRING BREAKS THROUGH AGAIN,
TIME MAY LIE HEAVY BETWEEN, BUT WHAT HAS BEEN
IS PAST FORGETTING....
THIS SWEET MEMORY ACROSS THE YEARS WILL COME TO ME,
THO' MY WORLD MAY GO AWRY, IN MY HEART WILL EVER LIE,
JUST THE ECHO OF A SIGH.....GOODBYE!

The Art of Tenor Robert White

I'll See You Again (Coward)............ BBC Orchestra (From - "BITTERSWEET" 1929)

The Holy City is a religious Victorian ballad dating from 1892. The song is mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses (1922). It gained renewed popularity when it was sung by Jeanette MacDonald in the 1936 hit film San Francisco. The melody formed the basis of a Spiritual titled Hosanna, which in turn was the basis for the opening of Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy". In the 1970s it was also translated into Afrikaans and sung by South African baritone Gé Korsten under the title 'Jerusalem'. That version is still popular in South Africa today.

The Star of the County Down

Robert White

Related tracks