Song:White Christmas
Album:20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection: The Best Of Bing Crosby
This time of year I am always asked about Christmas music. So I will feature Christmas CDs depending on what AccuRadio plays at random. Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the granddaddy of all Christmas songs. And it's the best selling record in Crosby's long career. Not to mention the 1954 film White Christmas is an annual TV staple. Of course White Christmas was written by legendary songwriter Irving Berlin. Crosby first performed it on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall Christmas Day 1941. Then it appeared in the 1942 film Holiday Inn starring Crosby with Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds and directed by Mark Sandrich. And then Crosby recorded White Christmas and Decca released it in 1942 as part of the Holiday Inn soundtrack. At first the song was not a hit because the film was not successful. White Christmas became a hit when Crosby performed it on his radio show Christmas Day 1942. I guess it resonated with folks as it was right after the Pearl Harbor attacks. It topped the charts for eleven weeks. The whole thing was a fluke because in Holiday Inn, the original plan was for Reynolds (dubbed by Martha Mears) to sing White Christmas. But they had her do it with Crosby instead. The song won an Oscar and White Christmas was the first Christmas perennial that topped the charts every year. Crosby recorded White Christmas again in 1947 because the original master was worn out. And then of course he sang it in the 1954 film White Christmas. That film is played every year because it's in color. It is not a remake of Holiday Inn. Actually I prefer Holiday Inn and it can be streamed on Amazon Prime but it does air on Turner Classic Movies. There are soundtrack CDs for Holiday Inn and White Christmas. But both are short. So I recommend this Crosby Christmas music budget comp first released in 1999 and then reissued under the 20th Century Masters banner in 2003. Here's Bing Crosby with Marjorie Reynolds (dubbed by Martha Mears) performing White Christmas in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.
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