Editing Crooner (section)

{{short description|Type of singer}}
{{for|the film|Crooner (film){{!}}''Crooner'' (film)}}
{{redirect|Croon|the rower|Bernardus Croon}}{{More citations needed|date=August 2024}}[[Image:Frank Sinatra by Gottlieb c1947- 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Frank Sinatra]] in 1947]]

A '''crooner''' is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better [[microphones]] that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a greater [[dynamic range]] and exploit the [[Proximity effect (audio)|proximity effect]]. This suggestion of intimacy was supposedly wildly attractive to women, especially a youth subculture known at the time as "[[Bobby soxer (subculture)|bobby soxers]]". The crooning style developed among singers who performed with [[big band]]s, and reached its height in the 1940s to late 1960s.

Crooning is epitomized by jazz vocalists of the era such as [[Bing Crosby]], [[Rudy Vallee]] and [[Frank Sinatra]], although Sinatra did not consider himself or Crosby to be "crooners".<ref>CBS Special [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LesuXaSkDDc "Sinatra The Legend"] recording of It Was A Very Good Year (1965)</ref> Other performers, such as [[Russ Columbo]], also rejected the term.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p_wjAAAAIBAJ&pg=5345,2605998&dq=russ+columbo&hl=en |title=Russ Columbo Doesn't Croon |date=1 November 1931 |work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|Milwaukee Journal]] |access-date=24 June 2010}}{{dead link |date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>