Gone Fishin' is a song written by

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

and

Charles Kenny Charles Francis Kenny (June 23, 1898 – January 20, 1992) was an American composer, lyricist, author, and violinist. He was born in Astoria, New York. His hit songs include "There's a Gold Mine in the Sky", "Love Letters in the Sand", "Laughi ...

Background

The song had been published in 1950 and was recorded by

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...

The Three Suns The Three Suns were an American pop group, most popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Career history The group was formed in 1939 by brothers Al Nevins (guitar) and Morty Nevins (accordion) and their cousin, radio and vaudeville veteran Artie Du ...

with Texas Jim Robertson, and by the

Johnny Guarnieri John Albert Guarnieri (March 23, 1917 – January 7, 1985) was an American jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City. Career Guarnieri joined the George Hall orchestra in 1937. He is possibly best known for his big band stints with Be ...

Quintet in 1950. None of these recordings charted. The version by The Three Suns with Texas Jim Robertson, became the theme song for the TV show "American Sportsman" featuring Harold Ensley, which ran for 48 years on Television.

Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong recording

In 1951, "Gone Fishin'" was recorded by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

. The Crosby recording came about when the singer had Armstrong as a guest on his

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

which was being taped on April 19, 1951 for broadcast on April 25 that year. As was customary, the songs to be used in the broadcast were taped in advance as a back-up in case the live broadcast versions did not go well. The song was so well received that

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

decided to issue the pre-recording commercially and it charted briefly in June 1951 with a peak position of #19. Crosby used the song in his concert performances in 1976 singing it with comedian Ted Rogers. The duet with Louis Armstrong is still heard frequently on radio.

Later recordings

The song was later recorded by: *

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

recorded it for his '' Yes Indeed!'' LP (1958) *

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...

References

{{authority control Louis Armstrong songs Bing Crosby songs 1951 songs Songs with lyrics by Charles Kenny Songs with lyrics by Nick Kenny (poet)