Among those that have recorded it in the last 80 years are The Supremes, Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. It first aired on singer Eddie Cantor’s American radio show in 1934, and is another of those songs that has become a standard. Another perennial, “Jingle Bells,” dates from the 19th Century, while “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is one of the earliest Christmas recordings of the modern era. To begin with, there were many recordings of Christmas carols, mostly done by choirs. Such is “White Christmas”’ status, many think it was the first festive record, but this is not the case. You can understand his point on the day Berlin walked into his office on Broadway with the song in his head, he said: “Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.” Irving Berlin even fought a legal campaign to get Elvis Presley’s version banned. They range from Bob Marley to Stiff Little Fingers, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, U2, Elvis Presley, and Gwen Stefani. Berlin was just five year old when his parents and eight siblings moved to America in 1893.Ĭonsidering that Bing’s version of “White Christmas” (which, incidentally, took only 18 minutes to record) is definitive, it is amazing just how many people have had a go at covering it. A number of years after writing “White Christmas,” Berlin was asked how a member of the Jewish faith could write such a song.
When writing a song, Berlin generally hummed the tune and dictated the words. Berlin, who also wrote “God Bless America,” had a musical secretary, because he could not read or write music – he could only bash out a melody on the black keys of a piano.
The song’s writer, Izzy Baline, the former singing waiter from New York’s Chinatown, was born Israel Berlin in Belarus he later became Irving Berlin, one of America’s greatest ever songwriters.
Crosby made an almost identical version in 1947 because the original master tape had worn out, as the single had been constantly re-pressed to meet with demand. Crosby’s original version, recorded in May 1942 for Decca – most Christmas songs over the years have been made during the summer months – is not the one we usually hear today. The story behind “White Christmas” is fascinating.
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