Tabulating record sales was low on America’s “to do” list. His songs, listed here,  have been and are still recorded by top performers. "White Christmas" the song was also featured in the successful Crosby/Astaire film "Holiday Inn" in 1942. For composer Berlin — who also wrote “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “God Bless America” — “White Christmas” was an unexpected hit. It turns out, the song has a sad back story too. "The kind of deep secret of the song may be that it was Berlin responding in some way to his melancholy about the death of his son," Rosen said. What caught Berlin by surprise, however, were the requests for White Christmas on radio starting in the early fall. It was covered by Bill Perry [1], Blue Seven, Tim McKee, The Overtones [GB] and other artists. Maybe not, but we can always dream and share our dream with others. Then in 1989, Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), star of the 1954 movie, White Christmas, recorded the song. Will this year’s holiday ever equal the ones of the past? To read the story of how the song, White Christmas, was part of the coded signal about the fall of Saigon, click here. The song was called Marie from Sunny Italy. White Christmas (uncredited) Words and Music by Irving Berlin Sung by Bing Crosby Reprised during the finale by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and … But his time at the Pelham Café gave him invaluable experience. Crosby's rendition quickly became an American favorite, even though the original radio recording was lost and the 1942 version, which is said to have only taken 18 minutes, was worn out, according to Seattle's KUOW. White Christmas is a popular song which was written by Irving Berlin. Songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine wrote the classic song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for Judy Garland's 1944 movie, Meet Me … The song “Snow,” originally called “Free,” was written by Irving Berlin himself. Not as well known is the fact that Irving Berlin wrote the song. White Christmas is a Christmas song strongly connected with Bing Crosby. Beloved Christmas carols: White Christmas, by Irving Berlin - Musicology for Everyone. White Christmas was actually the most successful movie in 1954, bringing in millions of dollars and securing “White Christmas” as a beloved song by kids and adults of all ages. 9. It was constantly requested by troops during Bing's USO appearances overseas, which gave the singer some mixed feelings. Berlin would sing the song and work carefully with Kresa, until the melody Kresa wrote sounded just as Berlin heard it in his head. A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general. But by October, “White Christmas” had hit #1 on the charts and had blown the first single out of the water. She included the first verse. Exact numbers are difficult to pin down even by the careful staff of Guinness Book of World Records. What's the Meaning of "Sweet Home Alabama"? He wrote "White Christmas" for a musical that eventually morphed into the movie Holiday Inn and ended up winning an Academy Award for the song. And may all your Christmases be white. A 16-bar verse led into a 32-bar chorus, and with almost all songs it was the chorus that people remembered. The set on the Paramount lot was refurbished for the next Christmas classic. Michael Curtiz behind the scenes during the filming of "White Christmas," a movie/musical that released January 1, 1954. He notified his publishing company that going forward all recordings and sheet music should be published without the first verse. On December 7, 1941, a surprise attack by the Japanese did unfathomable damage and caused great loss of life at the American port at Pearl Harbor. Berlin's three-week-old son had died on Christmas day in 1928, so every year on December 25, he and his wife visited their baby's grave, Jody Rosin, author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song, told NPR. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas has notched many top positions on “best-selling” and “most–recorded” lists. Not only were you the first, but you remain the best.”, Later Berlin was to write that after Berlin first played White Christmas for Bing Crosby at Paramount, Crosby said, “You don’t have to worry about this one, Irving.”. When the sheet music came back from the publisher, there was a typo: I. Baline became I. Berlin. He liked it so much he told a secretary “I’ve just written a new song. Written by Irving Berlin and made famous by Bing Crosby, White Christmas is the quintessential Christmas song of mid-20th century American popular music. White Christmas was also originally written as a satire. Then-host, Bing Crosby, crooned the carol, which is soulful, longing, and sad anyway, but especially so at the time. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Berlin found the assignment a challenge for two reasons: As a Jewish man who had grown up in an Orthodox household, he had no real experience with Christmas. Irving Berlin (1880-1989) was born Israel Baline in Tyumen (part of western Siberia). On November 21, White Christmas began a 10-week run on top of the Hit Parade. The film helped earn “White Christmas” the Oscar for Best Song in 1943, and over the course of the 1940s the song climbed to #1 on the charts several times. In 1940, hit composer Irving Berlin, best known for “God Bless America,” was commissioned to write a Christmas song for a new movie starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. President Franklin Roosevelt summoned his military leaders to the White House and ordered a bombing raid on Japan. America's favorite Christmas song actually has a pretty dark back story. "White Christmas" is a song written in 1940 by Irving Berlin, and released in 1942 by Bing Crosby. The following year (1942), many of the “plays” of the recording were on Armed Forces Radio, at a time when the world was at war. Just a few days after this—December 24, 1941—Bing Crosby introduced White Christmas, perhaps as a note of hope, on his highly successful radio broadcast, Kraft Music Hall. She included the first verse. The song was already the most successful song of all time in sales - this movie must have added to that success considerably. (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. It would be performed tongue-in-cheek by sophisticates, drinks in hand, standing around a Hollywood pool surrounded by palm trees. He wrote "White Christmas" for a musical that eventually morphed into the movie Holiday Inn and ended up winning an Academy Award for the song. When Berlin came in, he announced that he wrote the song “over the weekend.” The Berlin family was in New York through the holidays that year, so he must have written or at least polished it there. By the end of the War it had become the biggest-selling single of all time. Like writers of all types, Berlin had a habit of writing something and putting it away if he wasn’t satisfied. When people today talk about White Christmas, the conversation usually begins with, “Did you know it was written in Beverly Hills?” or “…Palm Springs?” The thought of this ballad to a wintry white holiday being written by a pool in 80-degree weather seems to fascinate. HGTV Is Premiering White House Christmas Special, True Story Behind 'The Man Who Invented Christmas', The Real Story Behind the Song "Moon River", 'A Christmas Story' Live Musical Event Is Happenin. The verse of White Christmas became problematic for Berlin when he saw what people looked for in listening to the song. He began composing with a partner, and because he performed what he wrote, he learned about audience reaction and what makes a song a crowd-pleaser. The gimmick was that it was a “holiday inn,” open for overnight guests only on holidays. It is also the name of a 1954 movie, and an album by Bing Crosby which was originally titled Merry Christmas. It remained in that position until well into the new year. White Christmas, a song of peace and yearning for "the ones we used to know," was released to a war-torn public during the darkest days of World War II. On that day, Berlin appeared in his business office to meet with Helmy Kresa, the fellow who scored his music. He called these his “trunk songs.”. According to Jody Rosen, author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song, the song may have been drafted in or near Los Angeles, but it was undoubtedly finished in New York or at the Berlin family’s weekend house in the Catskills. He got a huge hit with and the first public performence took place at Christmas Day 1941. According to Erskine Johnson (Los Angeles Mirror, December 21, 1954), the melody was written in August 1938, then left on the shelf for four years (actually two years) until Berlin was signed by Paramount to write Holiday Inn. “White Christmas” is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. By late December of 1941, Americans were enlisting in the military in record numbers as America mobilized for war. Izzy, as Irving was then called, sold newspapers and delivered telegrams during grammar school. History and facts about White Christmas. In the midst of planning for Holiday Inn, Berlin, Crosby, and all Americans were rocked by national tragedy. For this reason, several times I tried to cut it out of the show, but these guys just hollered for it. As Berlin envisioned it, the song would be part of a musical revue. It's also the most popular song, ever. The song’s popularity and staying power proved irresistible to Hollywood executives who in 1954 released the hit feature film “White Christmas” starring Crosby and Danny Kaye. While many assume the song “White Christmas” was at the root of the movie, Crosby had actually first performed his version of the song 13 years earlier for a radio show. Berlin—ever the savvy song plugger–was happy about this as he planned a push for White Christmas closer to the December holiday. "Heaven knows, I didn't come that far to make them sad. This became the start of speculation as to where Berlin was when he wrote the song. “It’s a little late—after almost twenty-seven years—to send you a fan letter about White Christmas,” wrote Irving Berlin to Bing Crosby in 1967. In 1954, it was the title track of another Bing Crosby Christmas musical, White Christmas. When Holiday Inn was released in 1942, the hit song was as expected: Be Careful It’s My Heart, which tied into the Valentine’s Day celebration at the fictitious Holiday Inn. Taysha Murtaugh was the Lifestyle Editor at CountryLiving.com. White Christmas was to become the most popular Christmas song ever written. 10 Houseplants That Can Survive the Darkest Corner, Ben & Erin Napier Talk 'Home Town' Season 5, 93 Best Easy Low-Carb Recipes With Tons of Flavor. "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". According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Danny Kaye in a scene from "White Christmas" His father, a cantor, had trouble finding steady work in America, so the children accepted after-school jobs. Some of you will try and argue with me using It's A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, but you will be wrong (sorry Erin).This movie has it all -- love, comedy, singing, dancing! General Waverly's Columbia Inn in fictional Pine Tree, Vermont, made it's debut a decade before, in Holiday Inn. The song—written in 1940-41 was introduced at a time when sheet music sales were more important than record sales. Speaking generally, however, the Bing Crosby recording of the song has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. White Christmas is the greatest classic Christmas movie ever made, imho. When the recordings by other artists are added to Crosby’s, the sales of the song reach a very impressive 150 million. Izzy had a fine singing voice and a superior ear for music. Long after the film disappeared, “White Christmas” kept going, Crosby’s recording sold more than 30 million copies – more than any other pop song in history. It was a simple song: just 54 words and 67 notes. “Fairy tale” holidays are rare, and White Christmas reminds us that others, too, identify with the song’s ambivalence. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, Pamper Any New Moms You Know With These Gift Ideas, 42 Fitness Gifts for the Gym-Lover in Your Life, 49 Sweet Gifts to Give Your Husband This Year, The Best Winter Movies to Watch All Season Long, Shop These Christmas Tree Storage Bag Options, All the Best After Christmas Sales in 2020, Best Gingerbread Dessert Ideas for the Holidays, Christmas Recipes That Healthy Eaters Will Love, Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, John Swope/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. The song Berlin wrote for this scene, “Be Careful with My Heart,” was the first real hit that came out of the movie in August of 1942. And Christmas as we spent it in the 50’s through 80’s, Pingback: Beloved Christmas carols: White Christmas, by Irving Berlin - Musicology for Everyone, Your email address will not be published. Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters recorded White Christmas late in 1954, a version which has since gained popularity.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 success of the song led eventually to a movie based on the song. Few critics even mentioned “White Christmas” in the reviews. “But I heard you sing it last night on the Hollywood Palace show. By the end of October 1942, however, it topped the "Your Hit Parade" chart. The movie was supposed to reunite Crosby and Astaire for their third Irving Berlin extravaganza of song and dance. Country Living editors select each product featured. By introducing a song to the public in this way, the companies hoped to stimulate sheet music sales.). He taught himself the basics of piano playing, but he was never skilled at it, nor did he ever learn to write music. And for more about the music technology of the era, read “How a 1920s Technology Changed Music.”. His verse, which set up the satirical scene he envisioned, was: Berlin rapidly saw that the soldiers took a very different sentiment from White Christmas, and he wanted to honor the spirit of his listeners. That spring (1940), Berlin signed to do a musical for Paramount. By October, White Christmas was topping the charts. It first aired during the Kraft Music Hall radio show (yes, sponsored by the food company) on December 25, 1941. Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby were forever united by what turned out to be one of the best decisions either of them ever made. While most other holiday songs promise a time of unmitigated joy and merriment, the melancholy undertone of White Christmas continues to appeal. His first published song—written and published while he was still at the Pelham Café—led to his name change. Clearly, they identified with the wistful lyrics about holidays at home. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards. "White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. And isn't so saccharine that it makes me want to punch reindeer like some other movies I may or may not have just mentioned. "I hesitated about doing it because invariably it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men, that it made them sad," Crosby said in an interview. This is a photo montage of the classic 1942 movie 'Holiday Inn', which is one of my favourite old Christmas movies. More about us. It inspired musicals and numerous renditions by various artists, and its popularity remains unchanged to this day. Pearl Harbor had been attacked just a few weeks before. Berlin went on to be one of the most successful songwriters of all time. Using just 54 words and 67 notes Irving Berlin composed White Christmas over the holiday season of 1940. In 1954, it was the title track of another Bing Crosby Christmas musical, White Christmas. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requ… With Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen. It was written by Irving Berlin (the same composer behind "Cheek to Cheek," "God Bless America," and many more classics), a Russian-born immigrant who, interestingly enough, did not celebrate Christmas, as he was Jewish. The only other song to come near this—and perhaps surpass it—is Elton John’s 1997 recording of Candle in the Wind, a song he wrote in 1973 in memory of Marilyn Monroe but re-recorded in 1997 after Princess Diana died. Curtiz was born in Hungary on December 24, 1886. In 1942, one million copies of sheet music and 2 million copies of Bing Crosby’s recording sold…it was huge, and it’s a big part of holiday music every year since. This became the start of speculation as to where Berlin was when he wrote the song. The success of the song led eventually to a movie based on the song. Songs like White Christmas, written during the Tin Pan Alley era, had a prescribed format. The country was at war. Casting for the film and early rehearsals for Holiday Inn began in the autumn of 1941. In the film, the song begins with this verse: The sun is shining, the grass is green. With 50 million copies sold, not only is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" the best-selling Christmas song of all time, it's also the best-selling single ever, according to Guinness World Records. Not only is the best song I’ve ever written, it’s the best song anybody’s ever written.” This content is imported from YouTube. At 16, he became a singing waiter at the Pelham Café in Chinatown in New York City. This 8-line song that paints a picture of holiday nostalgia was written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, where Bing Crosby sings it from the perspective of a New Yorker stranded in sunny California during Christmas. After “Holiday Inn” I will be watching “White Christmas”, Love the old movies! Country Living participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. White Christmas. They heard White Christmas not as a spoof but as a longing for days “just like the ones I used to know.”  The lyrics took on a whole new meaning for soldiers on their way overseas. Though many tie the song "White Christmas" to the movie, the song was first performed by Bing Crosby 13 years earlier, on the radio show The Kraft Music Hall. Here’s how White Christmas became one of the most successful songs ever. He was the youngest of eight children, six of whom emigrated with their parents to the U.S. in 1893. The song White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin and was first recorded and released by Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra in 1942. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Since then, "White Christmas" has been covered by everyone from Elvis to Karen Carpenter to Lady Gaga—but its timeless message remains the same. Wonderful story, wonderfully told. The plot Berlin had in mind featured a vaudeville performer retiring to run a country inn. After his father died in 1901, Izzy left school and supported himself as a “song plugger.” (Sheet music companies hired “buskers” or “song pluggers” to travel the city and perform new songs in saloons, vaudeville theaters, and on street corners. The song was written by Berlin for the musical film Holiday Inn, released in 1942. The movie "White Christmas" was released in 1954 and became the leading box-office draw of 1954. … Bing Crosby was the first to sing this song on his radio show on Christmas day in 1941. • “White Christmas” was picked to be included in the 1942 Bing Crosby movie Holiday Inn—both Crosby and his producer thought that the song wouldn’t have much worth outside of the movie with that verse. The first time the song was introduced to his staff was on January 8, 1940. Berlin imagined the lyrics and the tune; Crosby could evoke just the right feeling. He knew the song was good. For many years, no one thought about the original first verse of the song. It continues to be a December perennial, recorded by many solo artists and orchestras. Berlin would provide a holiday-themed score that would take viewers through the year of holidays. The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by the film's first hit song: "Be Careful, It's my Heart". "White Christmas" is a holiday tradition beloved by millions. Berlin was worried the song’s popularity would die down, but his worries were unfounded. White Christmas: The Story of an American Song. Then in 1989, Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), star of the 1954 movie, White Christmas, recorded the song. Irving Berlin knew his recently finished song, White Christmas, was a good one. ", "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". So was White Christmas written in California? The deal he made with Paramount was that White Christmas would be part of the film only if Paramount managed to sign Bing Crosby (1903-1977). 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