By: Billy Gee
It was Socrates who taught by asking questions, so here goes: What do Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Destiny’s Child, Placido Domingo, The Drifters, Ringo Starr, Tammy Wynette, and The Blind Boys of Alabama all have in common? Well, in addition to being successful in the music business, they all have recorded Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”In a more contemporary twist, “White Christmas” got some “bling” when it was covered by Guess on the rap compilation album entitled – believe it or not – “Christmas on Death Row.”
According to Jody Rosen, the author of “White Christmas: The Story of An American Song,” Berlin’s classic has sold over 125 million copies since its debut. ‘’It is a quintessentially American song that the world has embraced,'’ Rosen says.
Quintessentially American though it may be, “White Christmas” has been translated and performed in Dutch, Hungarian, Japanese, Swahili, and Yiddish. It was the biggest-selling tune in history for over fifty years until Elton John’s 1998 tribute to Princess Diana, “Candle In the Wind,” stole the crown away (No pun intended, of course.)
Bing Crosby first performed the song live on Christmas Day 1941 on NBC’s Kraft Music Hall radio show. However, The John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers actually made the first recording of “White Christmas” at Decca Records on May 29, 1942.
As a result of damage to the original 1942 master resulting from overuse, on March 19, 1947 Crosby teamed up with the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers to rerecord it. Featured in two popular films, “Holiday Inn” (1942) and “White Christmas” (1954), the holiday favorite garnered an Academy Award for best song in “Holiday Inn.” The 1954 flick became the leading box-office draw for that year. Originally intended to reunite Crosby and Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin musical, Astaire decided against appearing in it, after reading the script. Donald O’Connor was chosen to replace Astaire, but he was unable to perform due to a back injury. Eventually, Danny Kaye accepted the role.
After having stayed up all night composing, the morning after Berlin penned the tune he reportedly 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… I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written!”
Ironically, Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin), was the son of Russian Jewish parents who immigrated to the United States in 1893, when he was just five years old.
In 1941, he was assigned the task of writing a song about each one of the major holidays of the year (hence, “Easter Parade”). In addition, Berlin’s second marriage was to Ellin Mackay, a Catholic heiress to the Comstock Lode mining fortune, so he was no stranger to Christmas.
As was mentioned earlier, “White Christmas” has been covered by practically every successful recording artist you can name, but oddly, Irving Berlin so hated Elvis Presley’s version of the tune that he launched a fierce campaign to ban Presley’s recording. Perhaps he was directing his disdain more so at the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll as a formidable foe in the music industry than toward “The King,” himself.
That is just about all we have time for today. Perhaps the nostalgic lyrics to “White Christmas” would be the best way to close:
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the treetops glisten,
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write.
May your days be merry and bright.
And may all your Christmases be white.”
Have a safe and happy holiday, folks. See you all next year!