A History of the Christmas Classic: White Christmas
Bing Crosby’s White Christmas is one of the most loved of all holiday songs. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Crosby’s single is the best-selling single of all time, reaching estimated sales of 50 million copies around the world. Written by the famous Irving Berlin, the origins and reasons to why he wrote it is unknown and accounts vary; one story tells that Berlin wrote it in 1940 in California. The first public performance of “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby was on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941. The original recording was said to have not survived, however, he then recorded the song again with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers in May of 1942 and was released as part of the album from the film Holiday Inn. Although it initially received less-than-rave reviews and was overshadowed by the film’s first hit song “Be Careful, It’s My Heart”, by the end of October following the release, “White Christmas” topped the “Your Hit Parade” chart. It is said that the song’s comforting lyrics made it one of the most requested among American soldiers during WWII. The song was ranked as the #1 Christmas song on “ItsRanked” Top 40 Christmas Songs of all time. In 1999, NPR (National Public Radio) included “White Christmas” in the “NPR 100″ which compiled the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th-century. Crosby’s version of the classic melody holds the honor of being ranked #2 on the “Songs of the Century” list, behind Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow”. In 2002, the original version from 1942 was one of 50 historically significant recordings picked that year by the Library of Congress to be added to their “National Recording Registry”. “White Christmas” is one of the most recorded Christmas songs, with more than 500 versions of the song in several different languages. Here are a few more notable recordings of the holiday melody: o Perry Como in 1947 released his version of “White Christmas” with the backing orchestration by Lloyd Shaffer. O In 1963, Andy Williams recorded a version of the song that was included on his album The Andy Williams Christmas Album. Williams’ version also was released as a single and hit #1 on the Billboard’s special year-end Christmas Singles chart. O Also in 1963 Smokey Robinson and The Miracles sang the song for their holiday album Christmas with The Miracles. O In 1966, the legendary Dean Martin recorded the tune for his album, The Dean Martin Christmas Album. O Barbra Streisand recorded “White Christmas” for her album A Christmas Album, in 1967. o Michael Bolton and Garth Brooks each recorded the song for their respective holiday albums Timeless: The Classics (Bolton’s album was non-holiday, however) and Brooks’ album Beyond the Season.