Click on the speaker to download a Real Audio version of Bing's recording of the Whiffenpoof Song with the Fred Waring Glee Club (345K).

The Yale University Whiffenpoofs are the senior a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment) men's singing group in the United States. The Whiffenpoof Song was written for the Whiffs when they were formed in 1909, but the song did not reach national prominence until 1946, when versions by Tex Beneke, Rudy Vallee and Robert Merrill hit the charts. Belatedly, Bing recorded Old Whiff on June 5, 1947 with the Fred Waring Glee Club. Bing's version topped all the others, reaching as high as #7 in December. Bing and Bob Hope sang an excerpt from the song accompanied by a flock of sheep in their 1953 flick Road to Bali.

To the tables down at Mory's
To the place where Louie dwells
To the dear old Temple bar we love so well
Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled with their glasses raised on high
And the magic of their singing casts its spell

Yes, the magic of their singing of the songs we love so well
"Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen" and the rest
We will serenade our Louie while life and voice shall last
Then we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest

We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, baa, baa
We're little black sheep who have gone astray
Baa, baa, baa

Gentleman songsters off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
Lord have mercy on such as we
Baa, baa, baa