AUDIO ASPIRIN: WHITE CHRISTMAS (1977)

BING, IRVING BERLIN, AND WHITE CHRISTMAS

Irving Berlin was a Jewish immigrant who loved America. As his 1938 song “God Bless America” suggests, he believed deeply in the nation’s potential for goodness, unity and global leadership.

In 1940, he wrote another quintessential American song, “White Christmas,” which the popular entertainer Bing Crosby eventually made famous.

But this was a profoundly sad time for humanity. World War II – what would become the deadliest war in human history – had begun in Europe and Asia, just as Americans were starting to pick up the pieces from the Great Depression.

Today, it can seem like humanity is at another tipping point: political polarization, war in the Middle East and Europe, a global climate crisis. Yet like other historians, I’ve long thought that the study of the past can help point the way forward.

“White Christmas” has resonated for more than 80 years, and I think the reasons why are worth understanding.

Christmas in America had always reflected a mix of influences, from ancient Roman celebrations of the winter solstice to the Norse festival known as Yule. Catholics in Europe had celebrated Christmas with public merriment since the Middle Ages, but Protestants often denounced the holiday as a vestige of paganism. These religious tensions spilled over to the American colonies and persisted after the Revolutionary War, when slavery divided the nation even further.

After the Civil War, many Americans pined for national traditions that could unify the country. Protestant opposition to Christmas celebrations had relaxed, so Congress finally declared Christmas a federal holiday in 1870. Millions of Americans soon adopted the German tradition of decorating trees. They also exchanged presents, sent cards and shared stories of Santa Claus, a figure whose image the cartoonist Thomas Nast perfected in the late 19th century.

The Christmases that Berlin and Crosby “used to know” were those of the 1910s and 1920s, when the season expanded to include the nation’s first public Christmas tree lighting ceremony and the appearance of Santa Claus at the end of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Despite these evolving secular influences, Christmas music and entertainment continued to emphasize Christianity. Churchgoers and carolers often sang “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” Berlin’s inspiration for the song came in 1937, when he spent Christmas in Beverly Hills. He was near the film studios where he worked but far from his wife, Ellin – a devout Catholic – and the New York City home in Manhattan where they had always celebrated the holiday with their three daughters.

Being apart from Ellin that Christmas was particularly difficult: Their infant son had died on Dec. 26, 1928. Irving knew his wife would have to make the annual visit to their son’s grave by herself.

By 1940, Berlin had come up with his lyrics. In his Manhattan office, he sat at his piano and asked his arranger to take down the notes.

“Not only is it the best song I ever wrote,” he promised, “it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.”

Berlin had connected his lonesome Christmas to the broader turmoil of the time, including the outbreak of World War II and fraught debates about America’s role in the world.

This new song reflected his response: a dream of better times and places. It evoked a small town of yesteryear in which horse-drawn sleighs crossed freshly fallen snow. It also imagined a future in which dark days would be “merry and bright” once again.

Berlin soon took “White Christmas” back to Hollywood. He wanted it to appear in his newest musical, one that would tell the story of a retired singer whose hotel offered rooms and entertainment, but only on American holidays. He titled the film “Holiday Inn” and pitched it to Paramount Pictures, with Crosby as the lead.

Raised in Spokane, Washington,  Bing Crosby had launched his music career in the 1920s. A weekly radio show and a contract with Paramount led to stardom during the 1930s. With his slim build and protruding ears, Crosby did not look the part of a leading man. But his easygoing demeanor and mellow voice made him immensely popular.

“Holiday Inn” premiered in August 1942. Reviewers barely mentioned the song, but ordinary Americans couldn’t get enough of it. By December it was on every radio, in every jukebox and, as the Christian Science Monitor newspaper noted, in nearly “every home and heart” in the country.

“White Christmas” was not overtly patriotic, but it made Americans think about why they fought, sacrificed and endured separation from their loved ones. As an editorial in the Buffalo Courier-Express concluded, the song “provided a forcible reminder that we are fighting for the right to dream and for memories to dream about.”

This made it a song all Americans could embrace, including those not always treated like Americans. During World War II, aspects of the Christmas holiday – family, home, comfort and safety – took on 

Berlin and Crosby didn’t set out to change how Americans celebrate Christmas. But that’s what they ended up doing. Their song’s universal appeal and phenomenal success launched a new era of holiday entertainment – traditions that helped Americanize the Christmas season.

Like “White Christmas,” popular songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1943) tapped into a longing for being with friends and family. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949) and other new songs celebrated snow, sleigh rides and Santa Claus, not the birth of Jesus.

“White Christmas” had already sold 5 million copies by 1947 when Crosby recorded “Merry Christmas,” the first Christmas album ever produced. On the album, “White Christmas” appeared alongside holiday classics such as “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

AUDIO ASPIRIN: WHITE CHRISTMAS (1943)

BING'S DISCOGRAPHY: DECEMBER 12, 1938

 On this date, Bing did not record any Christmas songs, but he died go into the Decca studio to make some great records...

Date: 12/12/38
Location: Los Angeles, Calif
Label: DECCA (US)

a. DLA1633-A My Melancholy Baby (George A Norton, Ernie Burnett) - 2:58
b. DLA1634-B I Cried For You (Arthur Freed, Gus Arnheim, Abe Lyman) - 3:06
c. DLA1634-C I Cried For You (Arthur Freed, Gus Arnheim, Abe Lyman) - 3:14
d. DLA1635-A The Lonesome Road (Gene Austin, Nathaniel Shilkret) - 2:53
e. DLA1636-A When The Bloom Is On The Sage (Fred Howard, Nat Vincent) - 2:52

Bing Crosby (voc), The Foursome (vgr), John Scott Trotter and his Frying Pan Five (ing)

All titles on:
JONZO (UK) CDJZCD-24 — THE CHRONOLOGICAL BING CROSBY VOLUME 24 (2001)

SPOTLIGHT ON LOUISE CAMPBELL

Louise Campbell is just a footnote in Hollywood history. She made films for just a short 10 year period, and her most famous work was probably with Bing Crosby. Louise Campbell Weisbecker was born on May 30, 1911 in Chicago. Despite her success in Hollywood, she made it clear she preferred the stage.

Campbell attended St. Michael's School.and DePaul University, studying dramatic arts at the latter. She gained additional dramatic training at the Chicago School of Expression. She said that when she was 6 years old, she decided to be an actress after she watched a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

At one point, she worked as a dental assistant, an experience which she said was "invaluable to me in my acting" as she observed changes in patients' facial expressions in the dentist's office, with their changing expressions displaying "their real character."

Campbell gained early theatrical experience by performing in stock theater. Her Broadway debut was in Three Men on a Horse (1935). Her other Broadway credits include Julie the Great, Guest in the House (1941), A House in the Country (1936) and White Man (1936). A column in the June 13, 1942, issue of Billboard complimented "Louise Campbell, that fine actress, for a lovely, beautifully projected, altogether excellent performance in Guest in the House."

Campbell went to Hollywood in 1937 and made 13 films in the 1930s and 1940s. Her film debut was in Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937).Her film credits included Bulldog Drummond sequels, Night Club Scandal (1937), Men with Wings (1938), The Buccaneer (1938) with Fredric March, and The Star Maker (1939) with Bing Crosby. It would be her most popular film, playing Bing's wife in the loose bio of songwriter Gus Edwards. Watching her film appearances, Louise looks and sounds amazingly like Mary Martin.

Despite leaving Hollywood in 1947, she would occasionally act on the stage. “The demands of the screen are less than those for the stage,” she told The Times in 1939. The close-up, for instance, is a tremendous aid to the screen player. In close-ups the star has a chance to put over any emotion called for, with a lot of rehearsals and direction, whereas on the stage the actress must manage to get that emotion over without any such assistance whatsoever. Then, too, the stage demands talent and hard work, not merely personality and looks.”

Campbell was married to actor Horace McMahon, whom she met when they were both in the Broadway play Three Men on a Horse. They wed in 1938 and remained married until his death in 1971. Not much is know about Louise's private life, but I believe she had three children. Campbell died November 5, 1997, in Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. She is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Norwalk, Connecticut...

COMING SOON - NEW BING CROSBY RECORD

Last year, UME celebrated the holidays with a selection on 7” vinyl. This year, they’re continuing the series, complete with a new snow white-colored 7” of Bing Crosby’s beloved “White Christmas.”

The 2024 collection included pressings of The Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run,” Ella Fitzgerald’s “Sleigh Ride,” Frank Sinatra’s “Jingle Bells,” and Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song.” Each 7” features a beloved holiday hit on the A-side and another festive favorite on the B-side.

“White Christmas” will come out as part of the 2025 lineup. It is set to be released on its own as well as part of a carrying case that will include the full lineup of 2024 and 2025 releases...

BRIAN CROSBY: A FORGOTTEN CROSBY

I am sure that Brian Crosby is not forgotten to his family, but he is forgotten to Bing's loyal fans. Brian was 18-year-old grandson of Bing Crosby. He was killed shortly after Bing's death on October 14, 1977. Brian Patrick Crosby died on August 19, 1978. He died in a motorcycle crash in Beverly Hills after running a red light and being chased by a police car, according to authorities. He was the son of Phillip Crosby, one of the singers four children by his first marriage. Brian is buried right next to his father....

I reached out to his young half-brother Phil Crosby Jr, who did not really remember Brian, but he had this to say: "Yeah my theory or what I may have heard from my dad or someone in the family was that if he got caught high on anything one more time he would have been kicked off the football team. And that would have been the only way to disappoint my dad." 

I would love to learn more about Brian and his short life. If you have any details let me know...

49 YEARS AGO

49 years ago the music stopped. On this date in 1977, at the La Moraleja Golf Course near Madrid, Bing played 18 holes of golf. His partner was World Cup champion Manuel Piñero; their opponents were club president Cesar de Zulueta and Valentin Barrios. 

At about 6:30 pm, Crosby collapsed about 20 yards from the clubhouse entrance and died instantly from a massive heart attack. 

On October 18, following a private funeral Mass at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Westwood, Crosby was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Crosby's trademark warm bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist of the 20th century, having sold over one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world...

FLASHBACK: 1938

August 12, 1938 - Bing Crosby’s horse Ligaroti takes on the legendary Seabiscuit at Del Mar! Co-owned by Bing himself, Ligaroti gave the champ a run for his money in one of the most talked-about races of the decade...

HIGH SOCIETY IN 4K ULTRA HD

Review by John Larkin

As someone who admittedly isn't deeply steeped in the golden age of Hollywood musicals, and with only a passing familiarity with the individual works of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, I have to confess that HIGH SOCIETY wasn't a film that was on my radar. Yet, the online buzz surrounding its 4K Ultra HD release from Warner Archive was simply too infectious to ignore. And what a release it is! This marks only the second 4K offering from Warner Archive, following the monumental release of THE SEARCHERS – a film that, thanks to our very own owner and editor-in-chief Roy Frumkes, received what is, by far, the best coverage on the internet, or perhaps ever written!

So, with a sense of curiosity and a dash of skepticism for a genre I don't typically gravitate towards, I dove into HIGH SOCIETY. And I'm incredibly glad I did. This hip, witty musical version of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story is an absolute delight. We're whisked away to the scenic, moneyed grounds and waters of outwardly elitist Newport, Rhode Island, where Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra romp elegantly through a tangled web of romance and witty banter.

The film's charm is immediately evident, not least due to the legendary Louis Armstrong, who plays himself and serves as our delightful narrator. Through prose and song, he guides us through the peccadillos of his songwriter friend C.K. Dexter Haven (Crosby), his beautiful perfectionist ex-wife Tracy Samantha Lord (Kelly, in her luminous and final film role), and her rather stuffy fiancé George Kittredge (John Lund). The plot thickens with the arrival of a scandal sheet reporter (Sinatra) and a wise-cracking photographer (Celeste Holm), who are there to cover the wedding but end up complicating the already convoluted romantic entanglements. Armstrong and Dexter conspire musically and by other devious means to stop Tracy's impending marriage. Dexter, naturally, wants her back, but she finds herself drawn to the magazine writer – all of which provides everyone with wonderful excuses to break into the incomparable songs of Cole Porter.

What truly elevates this release, beyond the sheer enjoyment of the film itself, is the meticulous work done by Warner Archive. M-G-M truly pulled out all the stops for HIGH SOCIETY back in 1956, even going so far as to license Paramount's magnificent widescreen process, VistaVision, to ensure it was something special. Now, thanks to the tireless and truly amazing work of George Feltenstein and his team at Warner Archive, this film has been meticulously restored and remastered from its original VistaVision negative. The result is nothing short of stunning. The colors pop, the detail is exquisite, and the sense of depth is palpable. Accompanied by a thrilling new Dolby Atmos remixed soundtrack, HIGH SOCIETY looks and sounds better than ever before, truly a testament to the preservation efforts being made. It's a release that immediately brings to mind Paramount's excellent 4K offering last year of WHITE CHRISTMAS, which was the very first VistaVision film ever shot.

Even if you're not a die-hard musical fan, or if the names Crosby and Sinatra don't immediately conjure up images of cinematic magic for you, I urge you to give HIGH SOCIETY a watch. It's a sparkling, witty, and visually glorious experience, and a truly stunning release from Warner Archive that showcases the incredible work they continue to do in preserving and presenting classic cinema...