![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Barry_Wood.jpg)
Barry Wood
Barry Wood (February 12, 1909 - July 19, 1970) was an American singer and television producer. He is best known for being Frank Sinatra's immediate predecessor as the lead male vocalist on the long running NBC radio program Your Hit Parade. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Wood was the younger brother of bandleader Barney Rapp. He attended Yale (where he swam and played water polo). He was a sideman for Buddy Rogers's band. He left Rogers to become a singer, and he eventually signed on at Your Hit Parade, where he maintained his popularity for several years and was promoted as the nation's "sweater boy" (a counterpart to the sweater girl pin-ups popular in the World War II era). Wood was identified with several popular wartime songs. In 1941 he introduced and recorded Irving Berlin's "Any Bonds Today?" and "Arms for the Love of America". In 1942, recording as Barry Wood and the Wood Nymphs, he had a hit with "We Did It Before (And We Can Do It Again)", written by Charles Tobias and Cliff Friend; this song became a popular wartime anthem, and was later used in a number of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons. Another notable song he recorded for a war bond drive was called "Ev'rybody Ev'ry Payday", written by Tom Adair and Dick Uhl, and heavily promoted by the radio division of the United States Treasury to encourage workers to purchase bonds through payroll deductions. According to music critic Will Friedwald, Wood had "an interesting voice, gray and appropriately woody", and a "sort of robust charm", but "his super-stiff rhythm makes him tough to listen to today." Sinatra replaced Wood on Your Hit Parade in 1943. Wood had his own show on NBC from 1943 to 1945, first called The Million Dollar Band and then (with Patsy Kelly as co-star) the Palmolive Party. In 1948, his quarter-hour radio program, Barry Wood Show, was syndicated by Frederick Ziv via electrical transcription. He later became a television producer. His producing credits included Kate Smith's show, Wide Wide World, and The Bell Telephone Hour. He died in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1970. In 1948-1949, Wood hosted and produced Places Please, a three-nights-a-week variety TV show on CBS. |
Birth and Death Data: Born February 12, 1909 (New Haven), Died July 19, 1970
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1932 - 1942
Roles Represented in DAHR: baritone vocal
Notes: Sometimes listed as Louis Rapp (original name) or Lou Rapp.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 69 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BRC-72595 | 10-in. | 5/18/1932 | With my sweetie in the moonlight (Under dreamy southern skies) | California Cavaliers ; Buddy Rogers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BRC-72597 | 10-in. | 5/18/1932 | Ask yourself who loves you (Tell yourself it's me) | California Cavaliers ; Buddy Rogers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-82306 | 10-in. | 4/12/1934 | Butterfingers | Vincent Lopez ; Lou Rapp ; St. Regis Hotel Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-82307 | 10-in. | 4/12/1934 | Somebody cares for you | Vincent Lopez ; Lou Rapp ; St. Regis Hotel Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-058236 | 10-in. | 12/6/1940 | It all comes back to me now | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-058237 | 10-in. | 12/6/1940 | America, I love you | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-058265 | 10-in. | 12/17/1940 | Dear old pal of mine | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-058266 | 10-in. | 12/17/1940 | Magic mountain | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060367 | 10-in. | 1/23/1941 | You stepped out of a dream | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060368 | 10-in. | 1/23/1941 | I, yi, yi, yi, yi (I like you very much) | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060369 | 10-in. | 1/23/1941 | Boa noite | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060370 | 10-in. | 1/23/1941 | Too beautiful to last | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060675 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | A little old church in England | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-060676 | 10-in. | 2/20/1941 | Because I love you | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-062759 | 10-in. | 3/14/1941 | Talking to the wind | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-062760 | 10-in. | 3/14/1941 | The things I love | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-063815 | 10-in. | 4/24/1941 | An old corral in heaven | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-063816 | 10-in. | 4/24/1941 | Wanderlust | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-063817 | 10-in. | 4/24/1941 | Tell me pretty maiden | The King Sisters ; Barry Wood | Male vocal solo and female vocal quartet, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-063818 | 10-in. | 4/24/1941 | Bless 'em all | King Sisters, The ; Barry Wood | Male vocal solo and female vocal quartet, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-065687 | 10-in. | 6/9/1941 | Arms for the love of America | Leonard W. Joy ; Lyn Murray Singers ; Barry Wood | Male vocal solo and male vocal ensemble, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-065688 | 10-in. | 6/9/1941 | Any bonds today? | Leonard W. Joy ; Lyn Murray Singers ; Barry Wood | Male vocal solo and male vocal ensemble, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-066187 | 10-in. | 7/7/1941 | City called heaven | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-066188 | 10-in. | 7/7/1941 | The cowboy serenade | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | BS-066189 | 10-in. | 7/7/1941 | Call it anything, it's love | Barry Wood | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wood, Barry," accessed September 3, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/113230.
Wood, Barry. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/113230.
"Wood, Barry." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Wood, Barry, 1909-1970 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006104356
Wikidata: Barry Wood - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4864909
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/46524774
MusicBrainz: Barry Wood - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e821ba79-b639-449d-b15c-14b1e7e2831f
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.