WHITE CHRISTMAS

Created on 11/12/2006
Latest update on 26/12/2021

Artist: Bing Crosby
Author: Irving Berlin
Label: Decca
Year: 1942

In film Holiday Inn with Marjorie Reynolds and Fred Astaire. In that film every American holiday (4th of July, Thanksgiving Day, ...) was treated with a song. Only the Christmas one stuck, thanks to a simple peace on earth message presented as an effective bypass for public attention to forget about the raging war situation. It first hit among troops in the South Pacific, far from home, let alone from snow in wintertime. N°1 US. Irving Berlin's only Academy Award for Best Song. More than 25 million sold in this version alone. The original version's first lines situate the action in Beverly Hills, which was soon regarded as too restrictive and was skipped in all later versions. Best selling song in history, cut in over thirty languages. Written in one night but the most valuable copyright ever. In fact this consecutive Holiday season megaseller started the whole X-mas shopping ball rolling.

Covers:

1942:

Vera Lynn

1942:

Gordon Jenkins

1942:

Freddy Martin

1942:

Johnny 'Scat' Davis [for Hit]

1942:

Mel Tormé [including introductory sixteen measures explaining the longing: the action takes place in sunny southern California where it never snows, let alone on Christmas day]

1944:

Frank Sinatra [n°1 US]

1947:

Ink Spots

1948:

Guy Lombardo

1948:

Gracie Fields

1949:

Ernest Tubb

1949:

Ravens

1951:

Jo Stafford

1952:

Perry Como

1952:

Louis Armstrong

1952:

Mantovani

1953:

Les Paul & Mary Ford

1954:

Drifters

1954:

Bing Crosby [in film White Christmas featuring Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney]

1956:

Eddie & Tania Constantine [as Noël blanc]

1957:

Elvis Presley [using the Drifters' arrangement]

1957:

Pat Boone

1959:

Dean Martin

1963:

Andy Williams [n°1 US]

1963:

Darlene Love

1967:

Barbra Streisand

1980:

Darts

1989:

Max Bygraves

2000:

Flaming Lips [as White Christmas (Demo For Tom Waits)]

2000:

Garth Brooks

2003:

Blind Boys Of Alabama [with Les McCann]

2003:

Michael Bublé

2005:

Diana Krall

2005:

Brian Setzer

2006:

Bette Midler

2006:

Aimee Mann

2007:

Toby Keith

2008:

Al Jarreau

2009:

Andrea Bocelli [as Bianco Natale]

2011:

Michael Bublé

2012:

Rod Stewart

2012:

John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

2015:

Michael Bublé & Shania Twain

2017:

Gwen Stefani

2018:

Eric Clapton

2018:

Michael McDonald [in medley with Winter Wonderland]

2021:

Norah Jones

2021:

José James

2021:

Michael Bublé

And so Hollywood used Christmas for propaganda reasons, with the Coca Cola Company as a clever ally: since their colours match perfectly with Santa Claus, they put him on the payroll. A whole new industry started from here, also musically. After all, you can count popular Christmas songs older than Crosby's on one hand: Silent Night, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (see there).

Contact


If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:

Arnold Rypens
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B-2840 Reet (Rumst)

info@originals.be

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