Craig Cronbaugh

Reaching For A Star:  A Memoir Of My Life, My Music, And My Friendship With Famed Singer Frankie Laine

AuthorHouse

by

Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

       Some people collect stamps or coins, but Craig Cronbaugh collects Frankie Laine. That's right... the 48-year-old Cronbaugh, a former musician who currently works as an information officer for the Iowa Legislature, is a life-long fanatical Frankie Laine fan. However, for the past twenty years, he also counts the hit-making singer as one of his closest friends. Now, Cronbaugh shares many personal encounters he has had with the now-92-year-old Laine in a new self-published book from AuthorHouse titled, Reaching For A Star: A Memoir Of My Life, My Music, And My Friendship With Famed Singer Frankie Laine.

Most people thought that when Cronbaugh first took a Greyhound bus in 1985 from his then-home in Cedar Rapids, IA, and traveled to San Diego, CA, to meet his idol, he wasn't reaching for a star, but rather, grasping at straws. Cronbaugh did get to meet Laine, who has recorded 21 gold records in his career, and a genuine and abiding friendship developed.

"I just went out there to shake his hand and he treated me like a son," recalls Cronbaugh in the book about his first meeting with Laine. "I got up bright and early, put my good suit on and called him. He said he'd pick me up at noon. He didn't keep early hours, but he took me on his rounds that day. I spent seven hours with him. He made me feel completely at home, and took me to a taping of a public service announcement he did. In fact, he even took me to his home, where I saw his gold records and studio. He even allowed me to look through his record collection. In the space of that time, I saw him get serious, laugh, get angry, and cry. He's a very emotional person."

It was at age 14 when Cronbuagh first got turned on to Laine's music after watching an old clip of an Ed Sullivan show. While his peers were listening to rock music, Cronbaugh, a drummer, was listening to Buddy Rich and other jazz greats, such as Billie Holiday  -  and then Frankie Laine. Over the years, Cronbaugh has amassed just about everything Laine has ever recorded  -  close to 1,000 songs and close to 40 video tapes  -  including feature films, television shows, and various television guest appearances. A few years ago, the devoted fan even produced a two-hour radio program called "The Laine Project," representing his admiration and a historical outline of the legend's life. The program was aired over KROS in Clinton, IA.

"What made me stick to him is his emotion," Cronbaugh writes. "Frankie is a very emotional singer. He makes me believe in the lyrics." 

The book has a sense of urgency about it as many of the entertainment greats of America's by-gone "Golden Era," including Laine, who has recorded such hits as Jezebel, That's My Desire, Shine, Mule Train, The Cry Of The Wild Goose, and the TV theme, Rawhide, are in their 80s and 90s, and are passing on.

"Frankie was a legend in his own time," Cronbaugh writes. "We need to remember him. My goal in writing this book is twofold. First, I needed to assemble all my wonderful Frankie Laine adventures and put them down on paper in an organized fashion before my memories of the events start to fade. To achieve this I poured through numerous videotapes, audiotapes, letters, photographs, and e-mail notes within my personal Frankie Laine library. Second, I aspired to relate to readers how an ordinary person (me), by sheer determination and action, transformed a quest into reality by meeting and subsequently becoming friends with a special famous singer who actually cares about music, feeling every lyric and note he sings." 

The book also contains personal recollections about Laine from other artists who have worked with him. Cronbaugh has gathered personal interviews from Jo Stafford, Patti Page, Teresa Brewer, Jerome Courtland, Connie Haines and Gene Pitney, among others. 

A unique and worthwhile addition for the serious Frankie Laine fan.

Reaching For A Star  can be purchased from AuthorHouse on line at  www.AuthorHouse.com   Hardcover edition is $23.25, and Paperback edition is $18.75. The book can also be purchased from Amazon.com at  www.amazon.com , and from Barnes and Noble Booksellers at www.barnesandnoble.com     

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