A collection as big as its inspirer’s voice
10/4/2023
Craig Cronbaugh’s extensive collection spans decades, including movie posters, albums, singles, unreleased music and one of Frankie Laine’s 21 certified gold records.
When starting a collection, most don’t expect or even dream of meeting the person who inspired it. Comic book collectors aren’t going to meet Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t count) and sports card collectors won’t meet Babe Ruth (for obvious reasons). It was a different story for Craig Cronbaugh and his Frankie Laine collection.
Cronbaugh is currently a director and secretary for the Midwest All-Music Association Hall of Fame. He also became an inductee in 2022.
“When I was a teenager, ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ had a retrospective with a handful of the guests he had on through the years. I was 14, and I got my cassette tape recorder because I wanted to tape the Beatles because I knew they’d be on. They showed a clip of Frankie singing ‘Jezebel,’ and while I was playing my audio back later, I thought, wow, I love that voice,” said Cronbaugh.
Cronbaugh’s father told him that was the voice of Frankie Laine. Laine spent nearly 70 years in showbusiness with his earliest performances dating back to the 1930s. Laine amassed 21 gold records and sold more than 100 million. Laine is most commonly known for singing the theme song to the classic TV western “Rawhide” and the songs for the Academy Award nominated satire “Blazing Saddles.”
After repeatedly calling Laine’s secretary in an attempt to meet him, with $100 in his pocket, Cronbaugh made the risky play of hopping on a Greyhound bus to see the singer at a show in San Diego in 1985. Laine’s secretary had reluctantly given him Laine’s number, and Laine not only agreed to meet him, but he also recommended a place to stay and took Cronbaugh along on a full day of his schedule. It was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until Laine’s passing in 2007.
“He loved it. He thought it was great. That was just one of the things about Frankie — he loved his fans,” said Cronbaugh on what Laine thought about his collection.
Before diving into his collection in search of his favorite items, Cronbaugh tossed on a record of Laine’s greatest hits to listen to during the searching. A greatest hits album was one of the first pieces in Cronbaugh’s collection.
“I just loved every song I listened to, and I had to get more and more. So I just started collecting records. Over the years, my goal was to find out everything he recorded and have a copy of it on cassette tape,” said Cronbaugh.
That he did, and more. Items within the collection vary widely, from cabinets filled with audio recordings of unreleased music to singles, signed albums, movie posters and more.
Just a few of the pieces Cronbaugh highlighted were the incredibly rare, two of four “standing Eddie” records that are normally made for disc jockeys only, including a “cartoon Eddie.” These records depict Mercury Records’ mascot “Little Eddie.” Cronbaugh also owns Laine’s first record that was released in 1945. A cherished item pulled from deep within his collection was a set of chopsticks that Laine used to eat with when Cronbaugh made his journey to San Diego to meet him.
One thing has eluded his all-encompassing collection — as well as every other Laine enthusiast.
“Edward R. Murrow had a TV show in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They would set up a remote camera in a movie star or singing star’s location, and Murrow would sit in the studio and talk to him through the screen. He did one with Frankie, and nobody has that; nobody can find it,” said Cronbaugh.
However, one item stands above the rest: the gold record Laine received for his song “Jealousy.”
“Frankie had 21 gold records that he had on his walls in every house he’s lived in. I actually got to see them when I was at his house. Jimmy Marino, who was Frankie’s manager, Frankie gave him that gold record, and he hung on to it for 20 some years. Last year or two years ago, Jimmy said, ‘I have a surprise for you.’ He said, you know, ‘I’m old, and I wanted to get rid of it. I know you have a library, and you’re taking care of it,’ ” said Cronbaugh.
Cronbaugh’s wife, Marlene, also has a personal favorite item: a bottle of champagne from the Galleron Laine Winery that Laine sent the two as a wedding gift. It remains unopened to this day. ♦
