‘Selections From Irving Berlin’s White Christmas’ Returns To Vinyl
Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Peggy Lee feature on the holiday soundtrack.
Selections From Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, which features performances from Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, and many others, is now available to pre-order on vinyl.
The reissue takes classics written by Irving Berlin and used in the beloved 1954 film White Christmas, including all-time holiday gems like “Sisters,” “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” and the title track.
Speaking of, the story behind “White Christmas” is as mesmerizing as the song itself. Crosby’s original version, recorded in May 1942 for Decca, is not the one featured on Selections From Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. 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.
The song’s writer, Izzy Baline, the former singing waiter from New York’s Chinatown neighborhood, was born Israel Berlin in Belarus; he later became the aforementioned Irving Berlin, one of America’s preeminent songwriters.
Berlin, who also wrote “God Bless America,” had a musical secretary, because he could not read or write music – he could only hammer out a melody on the black keys of a piano. When writing a song, Berlin generally hummed the tune and dictated the words. A number of years after writing “White Christmas,” Berlin was asked how a member of the Jewish faith could write such a song. “I wrote it as an American,” he replied. Berlin was just five years old when his parents and eight siblings moved to America in 1893. When Crosby was given the song, it took him just 18 minutes to record.
White Christmas, originally released in 1954, included an updated version of the title song, which was introduced by Crosby in another film he starred in, 1942’s Holiday Inn. The film — and its accompanying soundtrack — was an instant sensation upon its release. It was the highest-grossing film of 1954 and was also the highest-grossing musical film at the time.
