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WIKIMAG n. 1 - Dicembre 2012
White Christmas (song)
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"White Christmas" is an
Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an
old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the
Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by
Bing Crosby is the
best-selling
single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million
copies worldwide.[1][2][3][4]
Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song.[4]
One story is that he wrote it in
1940, in warm
La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a
frequent Hollywood retreat also favored by writer-producer
Frank Capra, although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was
written there.[5]
He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your
pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever
written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"[6]
Bing Crosby
version
The first public performance of the song was by
Bing Crosby, on his
NBC radio
show
The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941; a copy of the
recording from the radio program is owned by the estate of Bing Crosby
and was loaned to CBS Sunday Morning for their December 25, 2011,
program.[4]
He subsequently 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
Holiday Inn.[4][7]
At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just
said "I don't think we have any problems with that one, Irving."
The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by the
film's first hit song: "Be Careful, It's my Heart".[7]
By the end of October 1942, however, "White Christmas" topped the "Your
Hit Parade" chart. It remained in that position until well into the
new year.[7]
(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. The
Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song.[7])
In 1942 alone, Crosby's recording spent eleven weeks on top of the
Billboard charts. The original version also hit number one on
the
Harlem Hit Parade for three weeks,[8]
Crosby's first-ever appearance on the black-oriented chart. Re-released
by Decca, the single returned to the #1 spot during the holiday seasons
of 1945 and 1946 (on the chart dated January 4, 1947), thus becoming the
only single with three separate runs at the top of the U.S. charts. The
recording became a chart perennial, reappearing annually on the pop
chart twenty separate times before
Billboard magazine created a distinct Christmas chart for
seasonal releases.
Following its prominence in the
musical
Holiday Inn, the composition won the
Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942.[9]
In the film, Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas" as a duet with actress
Marjorie Reynolds, though her voice was dubbed by
Martha Mears. This now-familiar scene was not the moviemakers'
initial plan; in the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not
Crosby, was to sing the song.[7]
The version most often heard today is not the original 1942 Crosby
recording, as the
master had become damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded
the track on March 18, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra
and the Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original
recording session.[6]
There are subtle differences in the orchestration, most notably the
addition of a celesta and flutes to brighten up the introduction.
Crosby was dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying later
that "a
jackdaw with a
cleft palate could have sung it successfully." But Crosby was
associated with it for the rest of his career. Another Crosby vehicle —
the 1954 musical
White Christmas — was the highest-grossing film of 1954.
Sales figures
Crosby's "White Christmas" single has been credited with selling 50
million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the
biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. The Guinness Book of
World Records 2009 Edition lists the song as a 100-million seller,
encompassing all versions of the song, including albums.[3][4]
Crosby's holiday collection Merry Christmas was first released as
an
LP in 1949, and has never been out-of-print since.
There has been some confusion and considerable debate on whether
Crosby's record is or is not the best-selling single in the world, due
to a lack of information on sales of "White Christmas," because Crosby's
recording was released before the advent of the modern-day US and UK
singles charts.[10]
However, after careful research,
Guinness World Records in 2007 concluded that, worldwide,
Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" has, in their estimation, sold
at least 50 million copies, and that
Elton John's recording of "Candle
in the Wind 1997" has sold 33 million, making Crosby's recording the
best-selling single of all time.[1]
However, an update in the 2009 edition of the book decided to further
help settle the controversy amicably by naming both John's and Crosby's
songs to be "winners" by stating that John's recording is the
"best-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s,"
while maintaining that "the best-selling single of all time was released
before the first pop charts," and that this distinction belongs to
"White Christmas," which it says "was listed as the world's best-selling
single in the first-ever
Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and - remarkably -
still retains the title more than 50 years later."[11]
Historic influence
"ItsRanked" ranked Crosby's "White Christmas" as the number one
Christmas song on its Top 40 Christmas Songs of all time.[12]
In 1999,
National Public Radio included it in the "NPR 100", which sought to
compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the
20th century. Crosby's version of the song also holds the distinction of
being ranked #2 on the "Songs
of the Century" list, behind only
Judy Garland's "Over
the Rainbow," as voted by members of the RIAA.[13]
In 2002, the original 1942 version was one of 50 historically
significant recordings chosen that year by the
Library of Congress to be added to the
National Recording Registry.
The recording was broadcast on the radio on April 30, 1975, as a
secret, pre-arranged signal precipitating the
U.S. evacuation from
Saigon (see
Fall of Saigon, the end of
Vietnam War).
Original
introduction
Irving Berlin's opening bars are often dropped in recordings, but are
included on
A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, sung by
Darlene Love, on
Barbra Streisand's
A Christmas Album, on
The Carpenters
Christmas Portrait, on
Bette Midler's
Cool
Yule, on
Libera's Christmas Album, and on
Crash Test Dummies'
Jingle All the Way.[6]
The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There's never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it's December the twenty-fourth,—
And I am longing to be up North—
—Verse dropped from original version [14]
This opening verse was also included on country singer
Collin Raye's version of the song, as featured on his 2004 album,
Christmas: The Gift. British band
Keane's version of the song also included this introduction, but
with changed lyrics to give the song a melancholic feeling:
The sun's been hiding, the streets are gray,
The rain has been falling down.
Seems everyone wears a frown
for Christmas in London town
It reminds me each time I roamed.
I'm longing to be back home
—Keane version of the introduction
Other versions
"White Christmas" is the most-recorded Christmas song; there have
been more than 500 recorded versions of the song, in several different
languages.[15]
- 1942:
Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (with
Bob Carroll on lead vocal) released a version of the song that
reached number 16 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.[16]
- 1942:
Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra (with Garry Stevens on lead
vocal) released a version of the song that reached number 18 on
Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.[17]
- 1942:
Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (with Clyde Rogers on lead
vocal) released a version of the song that reached number 20 on
Billboard magazine's pop singles chart (this same version
charted on the Billboard pop singles chart again in December
1945, reaching number 16).[18]
- 1944:
Frank Sinatra released a version of the song (with backing
orchestration by
Axel Stordahl) that reached number 7 on Billboard
magazine's pop singles chart (this same version charted on the
Billboard pop singles chart two more times: in December 1945,
reaching number 5, and in December 1946, reaching number 6).[19]
- 1945: On December 23,
Kay Thompson performed her version of the song on the CBS radio
program Request Performance backed by the Kay Thompson Rhythm
Singers and an orchestra conducted by
Leith Stevens. A recording of this radio performance has
survived and can be heard on Sepia Records' 2009 3-CD compilation
Think Pink! A Kay Thompson Party produced and annotated by
Sam Irvin, author of Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise
published by
Simon & Schuster in 2010.
- 1946:
Jo Stafford (with backing vocals by the Lyn Murray Singers and
backing orchestration by
Paul Weston) released a version of the song that reached number
9 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.[17]
- 1947:
Eddy Howard and his Orchestra released a version of the song
that reached number 21 on Billboard magazine's pop singles
chart.[20]
- 1947:
Perry Como (with backing orchestration by Lloyd Shaffer)
released a version of the song that reached number 23 on
Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.[21]
- 1948: R&B vocal group
The Ravens released a version of the song that reached number 9
on Billboard magazine's
Rhythm & Blues Records chart in January 1949. Their version was
released as the flip-side of a single that included their version of
"Silent
Night".[22]
- 1952:
Mantovani and His Orchestra released a version of the song that
reached number 23 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.[18]
- 1954:
The Drifters released a
cover version of the song that showcased the talents of lead
singer
Clyde McPhatter and the bass of
Bill Pinkney. Their recording of the song peaked at number 2 on
Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart in December 1954 (it
also returned to the same chart in the next two years). In December
1955, "White Christmas" became the Drifters' first of 34 singles to
register on the mainstream Billboard Top 100 singles chart,
reaching number 80.[25]
For decades, the Drifters' version of the song was primarily heard
on
R&B radio stations, getting little exposure elsewhere. The song
received a boost in the early 1990s,[citation
needed] when it was prominently featured in the
film
Home Alone during a scene in which the lead character Kevin
(Macaulay
Culkin) is applying his father's
aftershave while mouthing the lyrics. Radio stations formats as
diverse as
oldies,
adult contemporary,
Top 40,
and
country began playing the Drifters' version of the song, which
was also featured in the 1994 film
The Santa Clause.
- 1961:
Mitch Miller included the song on his album Holiday Sing
Along with Mitch. Instead of the lyrics, Miller printed a
disclaimer on the album cover stating "The publisher assumes
everyone knows the lyrics to this song!"
- 1961: Haunani Kahalewai sang the song, including some lyrics in
Hawaiian language, on the holiday album A Merry Hawaiian
Christmas by the
Hawaii Calls Orchestra and Chorus.
- 196?: Before he emigrated to the USA, Italo-American tenor
Sergio Franchi recorded an Italian language version of the song
titled "Bianco Natale." It was recorded in Italy and produced in
Canada (Durium DC 26099).
- 1963:
Andy Williams recorded a version of the song that was included
on his first holiday album,
The Andy Williams Christmas Album. This version of "White
Christmas" was also released as a single, and reached number 1 on
Billboard's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Singles chart
(the B-side of the single contained Williams's version of "The
Christmas Song"). This same version of "White Christmas" charted
again on Billboard's Christmas Singles chart again in 1967,
reaching number 22.
- 1963:
Jimmy McGriff recorded the song for his holiday album,
Christmas with McGriff.
- 1963:
Jim Reeves recorded the song for his holiday album, Twelve
Songs of Christmas.
- 1965:
Bob Marley recorded the song with
The Wailers and released it as a single. This version later
appeared on his compilation album, Destiny: Rare Ska Sides from
Studio 1.
- 1966:
Dean Martin recorded the song for his holiday album, The Dean
Martin Christmas Album.
- 1966:
Eydie Gorme, backed by Trio Los Panchos, recorded "Blanca
Navidad", a Spanish-language version of the song.
- 1967:
Barbra Streisand's version of the song, recorded for her first
holiday album A Christmas Album, contains the seldom-heard
verse.
- 1968:
Otis Redding's version of the song was released as a single
(posthumously), and reached number 12 on Billboard magazine's
special, year-end, weekly Christmas Singles chart in December of
'68.[22]
- 1968:
Lana Cantrell released a version of the song on the various
artists holiday album, Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders.
This version was later included on other various artist Christmas
albums.
- 1972:
Keith Lamb recorded a reggae version of the song with his band
Hush in December 1972 (EPW 263) for Warner for an EP
entitled "Hush Power".
- 1973:
Shu-Bi-Dua, Denmark, released a rock version of the song under
the title "Rap Jul" ("Quack Christmas") with Danish lyrics depicting
a duck (that turns out to be none other than
Donald Duck) not looking forward to Christmas, because all
humans tend to eat duck at Christmas Eve.
- 1979:
Stiff Little Fingers covered the song and released it as part of
the "Silly Encores" B-side to their UK 7" single, "At the Edge".
This version also appeared as a bonus track on the American 2005 CD
reissue of the band's 1980 live album,
Hanx!
- 1981:
Boney M. covered the song creating a reggae-version in the
process and included it on their album,
Christmas Album.
- 1985:
The Canadian Brass recorded an instrumental version for their
holiday album, A Canadian Brass Christmas.
- 1991: Marco T. La Voz del Rock and Roll in Colombia recorded the
song for his album Pequeño Pueblo de Belen is an Elvis cover
in Spanish.
- 1992:
Garth Brooks covered the song for his first holiday album,
Beyond the Season. This version of the song reached number
70 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in
January 1995.[27]
- 1993:
Shu-Bi-Dua, Denmark, this time under the synonym "Shu-Bi-40"
(parodying British based reggae-band
UB 40), recorded a Christmas album containing reggae versions of
well-known Christmas songs including "White Christmas" making it
their second cover version of the song (see also 1973).
- 1998:
Martina McBride covered the song for her holiday album,
White Christmas. This version of the song charted twice:
reaching number 75 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles &
Tracks chart in December 1999, and number 62 on the same chart in
December 2000.[28]
- 2003:
Michael Bublé covered the song for his five-track holiday EP,
Let It Snow!
- 2004:
Dionne Warwick recorded the song for her holiday album, My
Favorite Time of the Year.
- 2005: Dutch singer
René Froger covered the song on his first holiday album, Pure
Christmas (re-released as Happy Christmas in 2009).
- 2008:
Neil Sedaka recorded the song for his first-ever holiday album,
The Miracle of Christmas.
- 2008:
Al Jarreau recorded the song for his holiday album, Christmas.
- 2008:
Edyta Górniak recorded the song for her holiday album,
Zakochaj się na Święta w kolędach (Fall in love for Christmas in
carols), with Polish/English lyrics.
- 2008: Italian singer
Irene Grandi recorded an Italian version of the song, titled
"Bianco Natale", for her Christmas album, Canzoni per Natale.
- 2008:
Rick Astley sang the song at the DR Christmas Show.
- 2009:
Andrea Bocelli recorded the song for his first holiday album,
My Christmas. The song debuted at No. 30 on the
Portuguese Singles Chart; it spent the following two weeks at
No. 19, then rose to No. 18 in its fourth week, before reaching No.
16 in its fifth week.[31]
The song also debuted at No. 7 on the
Hungarian Singles Chart.[32]
- 2009:
Boy George recorded a cover of the song that was released as a
single in digital download format.
- 2010: In October,
Argos released an advert appearing to show Crosby beatboxing to
the tune of the song.
- 2010:
Panic! at the Disco released their version of the song to their
fanclub "Northern Downpour".
- 2011:
Michael Bublé recorded the song again in a duet featuring
Shania Twain, this time for his full-length holiday album,
Christmas. This version is based on the 1954 arrangement by
The Drifters.
- 2011: Asker recorded and released a version for their holiday
EP, A Yuletide Yell.
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