Richard Crooks

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Richard Crooks

Richard Crooks (Birthname: Richard Alexander Crooks b. June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey - d. September 29, 1972 in Portola Valley, California) was an American tenor.

1 Biography
2 Recordings
3 Sources
4 External links

[edit] Biography

After several busy concert seasons as an oratorio and song recital specialist, including the American premier of Das Lied von der Erde, Crooks traveled to Germany where he made his operatic debut in Hamburg as Cavaradossi in 1927. After his tour in other European cities like Berlin, Crooks returned to the United States and made his America debut in 1930 in Philadelphia. He became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, specializing in French and Italian operas, and participated in the farewell gala on March 29, 1936, for Italian soprano Lucrezia Bori, which was broadcast nationally and preserved on transcription discs.

For many years, Crooks was the host of the "Voice of Firestone" radio broadcasts, in which he sang operatic arias, patriotic songs, folk songs, and popular hits such as "People Will Say We're in Love" from Oklahoma! He also appeared on radio broadcasts with Bing Crosby, who remained a friend until Crooks' death.

Serious health problems forced Crooks to retire in early 1945. He continued to sing, however, at his church and some of his performances were taped and later issued by Delos Records. He had married his childhood sweeetheart and spent his later years in the rustic, wooded community of Portola Valley, California, south of San Francisco. An entire room in his house was devoted to framed, autographed photographs of singers, conductors, and U.S. presidents he had known. In conversations, he often praised two of the other great tenors he had heard in person: Enrico Caruso and Jussi Bjoerling. He was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-1960s and battled the disease until his death.

After years of singing, Crooks died at the age of seventy-two, leaving his own right of a legacy.

For his work in recording, Crooks has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[edit] Recordings

Aside from an unreleased disc for Columbia, Crooks recorded primarily for the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was renamed RCA Victor in 1929. His first recordings date from the mid-1920s and were devoted mainly to operetta, especially ensemble medley recordings by the "Victor Light Opera Company." Among these early electric recordings was a medley of The Student Prince by Sigmund Romberg, in which Crooks and Lambert Murphy alternated on the "Serenade." Most of Crooks' early Victor recordings appeared on the "budget" black label, normally reserved for popular artists. Crooks also made some recordings for Victor's German subsidiary, Electrola, in Germany during the late 1920s.

By the late 1920s, when Crooks' operatic recordings were released, he was promoted to the prestigious "Red Seal." Crooks often said that his personal favorite was a 1928 recording of "En fernem land" from Lohengrin and the "Prize Song" from Meistersinger. Crooks recorded a series of Schubert songs in the early 1930s, most of which RCA never released, that have now appeared on a Delos CD. Crooks also enjoyed making an album of Stephen Foster songs, which used authentic arrangements to recapture a vanished era of American music. Among his last commercial recordings, made in January 1945, was a patriotic song called The Americans Come, which he had actually recorded as a teenger for Columbia.

His final, private recordings were made in 1967 and 1968. The recordings of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (J.S. Bach) and For You With Love (Elinor Remick Warren) were made at a wedding in Southern California on April 8, 1967. The notes for the Delos CD erroneously state that these were Richard Crooks last recordings. Actually, on November 15, 1968, Crooks sang in a Christmas performance with the Portola Valley United Presbyterian Church Choir at the Sequoias in Redwood City. On the recording, he sings Panis Angelicus (in English) and Seek Ye The Lord. About the same time, RCA's Victrola label released an LP on Crook's operatic arias from the 1920s and 1930s.

Crooks' Delos recording

Delos has released a two-CD set of vintage Crooks recordings, produced in cooperation with the Stanford Archives of Recorded Sound, including some performances that were never issued commercially. They also included the 1967 recordings. There have been additional CDs released by ASV, which show the great diversity of Crooks' recordings, including selections from operettas and popular songs.