"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song whose lyrics reminisce about White Christmases. Irving Berlin (11 May 1888 &ndash 22 September 1989 was a Russian-born American Composer and Lyricist, and one of the most prolific American songwriters A white Christmas, to most people in the Northern Hemisphere, refers to Snowy weather on Christmas Day. The morning after he wrote the song — Berlin usually stayed up all night writing — the songwriter went to his office and told his musical secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — hell, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"[1]
Berlin wrote the song in early 1940 while sitting poolside at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. The original verse pokes fun at a well-off Los Angeleno who, amid orange and palm trees, longs for traditional Christmas "up north". Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Berlin later dropped the verse but kept the now-famous chorus. [2]
"White Christmas" was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 musical Holiday Inn. Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby ( May 3, 1903 &ndash October 14, 1977) was an Academy Award winning American Popular The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative Holiday Inn is a 1942 Film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, which featured the music of Irving Berlin. In the film, he sings it in a duet with Marjorie Reynolds. Marjorie Reynolds (b August 12 1917, Buhl Idaho - February 1 1997, Manhattan Beach California) was an American The song went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Though Marjorie Reynolds was the actress playing Linda Mason, her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears for the movie, and in the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not Crosby, was to sing the song. Martha Mears ( 18 July 1910, Missouri - 13 December 1986, Versailles Missouri) Martha Mears was the female singing [3]
The first public performance of the song was also by Crosby, on his top-rated NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941;[3] the recording of that performance is not believed to have survived. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. He recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942 and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film. Ken Darby ( May 13 1909 - January 24 1992) was an American Academy Award and Grammy Award winning Composer, vocal Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off [3] The song initially performed poorly and was far overshadowed by the hit song of Holiday Inn, "Be Careful, It's my Heart". [3] By the end of October, "White Christmas" topped the "Your Hit Parade" chart and remained in that position until well into the new year. [3] (It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy — "just like the ones I used to know" — with comforting images of home — "where the treetops glisten" — resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II and the Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for it. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including [3]) In 1942 alone, the song spent eleven weeks on top of the charts. It returned to the #1 spot again during the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946 (on the chart dated January 4, 1947), thus becoming the only single in history with three separate runs at the top of the U. Events 46 BC - Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. S. charts. Eventually, Crosby's "White Christmas" single sold more than 50 million copies. The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists the song as a 100-million seller (this encompassing all versions of the song, including on albums). Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records (and in previous U
History
The most familiar version of "White Christmas" is not, however, the one Crosby originally recorded in 1942. He was called back to the Decca studios on March 18, 1947, to re-record "White Christmas" as a result of damage to the 1942 master due to its frequent use. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mastering, a form of audio Post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a Data storage device Every effort was made to reproduce the original Decca recording session, once again backed by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers. The resulting rerecording is the one that has become most familiar to the public. Crosby himself was dismissive of the achievement, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully. The Jackdaw ( Corvus monedula) sometimes known as the Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or caddow, is one of the smallest species (34–39 Cleft lip (cheiloschisis and cleft palate (palatoschisis which can also occur together as cleft lip and palate are variations of a type of clefting Congenital "
The song was also the title theme for the 1954 musical White Christmas, starring Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, which was the highest-grossing film of 1954. White Christmas is a 1954 Jukebox musical movie starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that featured the songs of Irving Berlin Danny Kaye ( January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American award-winning Actor, Singer and Comedian Rosemary Clooney ( May 23, 1928 &ndash June 29, 2002) was an American Singer and actress whose warm radiant Vera-Ellen ( February 16, 1921 - August 30, 1981) was an American actress and stage and Film
Crosby's single of "White Christmas" is recognized as the best-selling single in any music category and Crosby's recording has sold millions of additional copies as part of numerous albums, including his best-selling holiday collection Merry Christmas, which was first released as an LP in 1949 and has never been out-of-print since. A gramophone
"ItsRanked" has Crosby's version of "White Christmas" as the number one Christmas song on its Top 40 Christmas Songs of all time ranking. [4]
The Crosby recording is the biggest selling single of all time, as confirmed by the 2008 Guinness Book of Records.
In 1999, National Public Radio included it in the "NPR 100", in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.
The recording was broadcast on the radio as a pre-arranged signal during the U. S. evacuation of Saigon on April 30, 1975 (see Fall of Saigon). Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Fall of Saigon (in Vietnamese: Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 - April 30 Incident; Giải phóng miền Nam - The liberation of the south
In 2002, the original 1942 version was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally historically or aesthetically important and/or inform or reflect life in the United States
Clyde McPhatter's group, The Drifters, covered "White Christmas" late in 1954. Clyde McPhatter ( November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an influential American R&B singer The Drifters were a long-lived American Doo wop / R&B vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1962 though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today In Popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition ( Performance or Recording) of a previously recorded commercially released For decades, this version was primarily heard on R & B radio stations, and got little exposure elsewhere. Beginning in the 1970s oldies stations also began playing this version in search for product within their core artists. Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a Radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the 1950s 1960s and 1970s (about 1955-1977 In the early 1990s, after being heard on Home Alone (in the scene where Kevin is putting on his dad's aftershave and while doing that lip-sychs to the song), radio stations with formats as diverse as Adult Contemporary, Top 40, and Country, began playing this version. Home Alone is a popular movie series The term usually refers to the first film in the series, which by the end of its run was the third highest grossing film of all Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, refers to styles of popular music that ranges from "lush Sixties pop often vocal -based and rooted in The Top Forty or Top 40 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity It was also heard on "The Santa Clause". The Santa Clause ( 1994) is a Christmas Film released by both Walt Disney Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, starring The popularity of this version over the years has grown as a result. Today this version gets almost as much airplay as Bing Crosby's versions
Recording History
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Notes and references
- ^ White Christmas
- ^ White Christmas
- ^ a b c d e f Mueller, John (1986). Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith ( May 1, 1907 &ndash June 17, 1986) was an American Singer, best known for her rendition Charlie Spivak ( 17 February 1905 or 1907&ndash 1 March 1982) was an American Trumpeter and Bandleader, best known Jo Elizabeth Stafford ( November 12, 1917 &ndash July 16, 2008) was an American singer of Traditional pop music Ringo Starr, MBE (born Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940 is an English Musician, Singer, Songwriter and Actor Stiff Little Fingers are a punk band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1977 George Harvey Strait (born May 18, 1952) is an American Country music singer Barbra Streisand (ˈstraɪsænd "STRY-sand" born April 24 1942 is an American Singer, Film and Theatre Actress Sugababes are a BRIT Award -winning English pop group trio from London. Charlotte Maria Church (born 21 February 1986 is a Welsh singer actress and television presenter The Supremes were an American female singing group that first formed as a quartet called The Primettes The Swingle Singers are a vocal group formed in 1962 Paris, France with Ward Swingle, Anne Germain Jeanette Baucomont and Jean Cussac The Temptations (sometimes abbreviated as The Temps or The Tempts) are a Grammy -winning vocal group that achieved fame as one of the most successful The Three Tenors is a name given to a consort of singers who held concerts under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s Spaniards Plácido Domingo Melvin Howard Tormé ( September 13, 1925 &ndash June 5, 1999) nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician known as Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City. Caterina Valente (born January 14, 1931 in Paris) is a singer dancer and actress The Four Seasons (known off and on since 1967 as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - although not shown that way on any of their hit records is an American Jacquelyn Davette Velasquez (born October 15 1979) is a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award -nominated Dove Award -winning The Ventures are an American Instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Westlife is an Irish pop band that was formed on 3 July 1998 They were signed on by Simon Cowell and are currently managed by Louis Walsh. Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (born December 3 1927 in Wall Lake Iowa) is an American pop singer Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette ( May 5, 1942 - April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer-songwriter ( February 4, 1953 - is a Japanese Singer-songwriter, and Record producer. Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films. London: Hamish Hamilton, pp. 204,425. ISBN 0-241-11749-6.
- ^ Top 40 Christmas Songs (Lyrical) - ItsRanked!
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| Preceded by "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good | Academy Award for Best Original Song 1942 | Succeeded by "You'll Never Know" from Hello, Frisco, Hello |
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