The Whiffenpoof Song in 1937

In 1937, when Route 1 was just 11 years old, Rudy Vallee released his first big hit: “The Whiffenpoof Song”. Although Hubert was his given name, Vallee earned his nickname “Rudy” at the University of Maine, where, as a freshman, he tirelessly played along with saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft’s entire catalog of records.

Vallee transferred to Yale, continuing to play big band music. According to legend, he tried out to sing for the Yale Glee Club.

Rudy was turned down by the Director, Marshall Bartholomew, and was encouraged to stick to the saxophone. Undaunted, Vallee started vocalizing through a megaphone to front his band, “The Yale Collegians”. They were pioneers in the crooning style well ahead of Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Dean Martin.

After graduation in New York City, Vallee became the host of the first radio variety talk show in the USA. The Fleischmann Yeast Hour, which became wildly popular, made him a household name. He also got a bit of revenge for his rejection by Bartholemew by copyrighting “The Whiffenpoof Song”, which had been written in 1909 (when the “Whiffs” were formed) by founding members Tod B. Galloway, Meade Minnigerode, and George S. Pomeroy.

The Copyright Controversy

There ensued a long and bitter fight between Yale University and Vallee’s publisher, Miller Music. The fight was over the 1936 copyright claim to the song.  Miller compensated Minnigerode and Pomeroy for the lyrics, and even got approval from the estate of Rudyard Kipling, since Kipling’s poem, “Gentlemen Songsters” was the model used for the lyrics.

Eventually, after a long legal battle, Yale attained the right to include it in G. Schirmer’s “Songs of Yale” 1953 edition.  Yale had published the song in the 1928 and 1934 editions of the collection.

Vallee’s crooned version of the Whiffenpoof Song was the singular reason for its popularity while flivvers rumbled up and down Route One. Recognition of the song opened many doors for the collegiate group that first sang it around the tables down at Mory’s in 1909.

The plot thickened after the death of Tod Galloway in 1935. Galloway had been credited with the music of the Whiffenpoof Song. However, a claim arose from Harvard graduate Hamilton Scull (1898).

Scull had “composed” the same music. However, the tune turned out to be an appropriation of an African-American spiritual! I think it is fair to say that a fair claim can not really be made by anyone at this point.

A Personal Encounter with Rudy Vallee

I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Rudy Vallee in Los Angeles while on tour with the Whiffenpoofs of 1980. He spoke bitterly about his contentious fight with the University over the song, but said that time had healed many old wounds.

He invited the group the next day to his beautiful contemporary home in the Hollywood Hills. His private lane was named “Rue de Vallee”! He put on a short show for us there and then we all sang the Whiffenpoof Song together.

Being surrounded by the memorabilia of his 33 films was surreal. As was hearing stories from “back in the day” at Yale.  Vallee died from cancer 6 years after that encounter.

The tradition of the “Whiffenpoof Song” is to close each appearance of the group by inviting former Whiffenpoofs in the audience to the stage to sing the song with the current group. The Whiffenpoofs are the oldest collegiate a cappella group in the US. The song has been recorded by Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, The Lettermen, Mitch Miller, Perry Como, The Statler Brothers, The Mills Brothers, and Ella Fitzgerald.

I had the honor of singing the song with Ella. She was made an Honorary Whiffenpoof (the first female!) in 1980, at the Ambassador’s Residence in London.

Timeline

– 1909: “The Whiffenpoof Song” is written by founding members Tod B. Galloway, Meade Minnigerode, and George S. Pomeroy.

– 1926: Rudy Vallee graduates from Yale University, and Route 1 is established by the US Highway Administration.

– 1928: Yale publishes “The Whiffenpoof Song” in the “Songs of Yale” collection.

– 1934: Yale publishes “The Whiffenpoof Song” again in the “Songs of Yale” collection.

– 1935: Tod Galloway, credited with the music of “The Whiffenpoof Song,” dies.

– 1936: Rudy Vallee copyrights “The Whiffenpoof Song.”

– 1937: Rudy Vallee releases his version of “The Whiffenpoof Song,” which becomes a big hit.

– 1953: After a long legal battle, Yale attains the right to include “The Whiffenpoof Song” in G. Schirmer’s “Songs of Yale” edition.

– 1980: The author meets Rudy Vallee in Los Angeles while on tour with the Whiffenpoofs of 1980.

– 1980: Ella Fitzgerald is made an Honorary Whiffenpoof, the first female, and sings “The Whiffenpoof Song” with the group at the Ambassador’s Residence in London.

– 1986: Rudy Vallee dies from cancer, 6 years after meeting the author.

TheWhiffenpoof website has a calendar of upcoming events. Highly recommend!