That sounds very Vermonty.
I saw âWhite Christmasâ about 10 times this season. Yep. Someoneâs posting out of season. While I donât remember the first time I saw the film, I do hold fond memories of watching with my grandparents. Itâs so special to me that I even took the train home this year just to have the âSnowâ melody stuck in my head the whole trip. Too bad all that Vermont snow was in Buffalo instead.
Every Winter for god knows how long itâs been a family tradition to screen Bingâs deep bellowing melodies catch the whimsy of a twenty-thirty-years younger Rosemary Clooney while Danny Kayeâs carefree goofs entertain the speedy legs of Vera Ellen. Frozen in itâs own time and problematic-ness, it never fails to keep me wishing it didnât end when the credits roll. I still canât believe itâs two hours.
Luckily enough, this seasonâs viewings spawned some unexpected surprise nuggets.
Originally written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 soundtrack of another beloved holiday classic Holiday Inn, the tune skyrocketed in popularity when Bing Crosbyâs baritone hit the airwaves on his NBC show Christmas Day 1941. In the shadow of Pearl Harbor, the combination of lyrics, melody, and very berry, Barry White tone charmed the heavy-hearted amid the sounds of war. Gosh, weâre such suckers.
But the version that cycles seasonal playlists barely missed not being the track that entranced the public when it was first released in 1942.
In the shadows of increasing recording industry popularity, James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians (AFL), enacted a ban that ordered itâs union musicians nationwide to stop making vinyl records and radio transcriptions basically jingles and commercials for broadcasting use.
Actions of this kind arenât anything the modern day world isnât already accustomed to. James Petrillo, more like Lars Petrillo Ulrich. But many venues ie. radio, movie theaters, cafes, restaurants, clubs, film scoresâŚâ musician job security supported a steady income for musicians across the nation. At the time, royalties werenât a thing.
To curb the restrictions, the recording labels got really scrappy in how they relied on loopholes. We have the ban to thank for all the classics we cherish that used choirs of voices to accompany lead vocalists instead of musicians. More on their sneaky nickle-and-dime schemes here at nine. đ Greater thanks to the ban can be given for how it changed the landscape of music as we know it today. Make sure to listen to the podcast below.
Little did the ban impact popularity of Crosbyâs recording thoughâthe Guinness Book of Records lists Bingâs recording of White Christmas not only as the best-selling single for Christmas, but also as the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
It goes without saying that the song has been covered by a ton of different artists so many, played centerpiece to many Christmas compilations no more Mariah, and performed as part of several set lists for concerts, TV specials, and the like. Even Bing himself and family would aide in shepherding the carol among others into the ears of a new generation when in 1977 CBS aired Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. Havenât people moved on to Valentineâs? The show paired the crooner with a few fresh faces to appeal to younger audiences of the time including an unlikely duet with David Bowie. This story comes with itâs own drama.
Producers had intended again with the drama for the pair to only cover the Little Drummer Boy, first recorded by the Von Trapp Family in 1951. The same Sound of Music Von Trapps - another movie on repeat here.
Whatever happened to them? What does that have to do with this song? Track with me for a second.
If youâve seen âThe Sound of Musicâ more than once no one has seen it as many times as you, recall that the end scene tracks the family hiking the Austrian hills in their escape from Nazi Germany. I never understood why they didnât include them turning down the invitation to sing for Hitlerâs birthday in the movie. Credits roll, fade to black, and weâre none the wiser.
Come to find out the Von Trapp Family Singers found their way stateside in the fall of 1939 on six-month work visas for their transcontinental tour itinerary. Only, once passing through Ellis Island Immigration and Detention Station, Italian-born oldest son Rupert Von Trapp was the sole family member allowed to enter the country. High on a hill was this lonely goatherd. *Snort.* Concerned Paranoid that the family might have ulterior motives tied to the Nazis, U.S. authorities detained the family.
Thereâs a chance they might have been dangerously deported to Germany, but thrifty Rupert used his resources wisely raced to Pennsylvania where family friend and well-connected lawyer, Harry S. Drinker, made some calls that secured the familyâs release. It pays to have friends in high places.
What happened next could seem to be relegated to general history. Tours, records, books, movies, further mainstream popularity, and the 1977 duet internet articles find incredibly bizarre. If it had been Judas Priest, then I could agree. Stop here and thenâŚwhat of all the plotzing and the schussing. Hey, Iâm the resident snark here.
The same year Petrillo von Swift put the kibosh on new music recordings made publicly available, the Von Trapps were busy settling in to their new home countryâŚbuilding a ski lodge that requires snowâŚin Vermont. HAH! How Iâm longing to skiiiiiiiiiâŚand yodel.
While the lodge is far from a stones throw away from hosting the great Wallis and Davis in Pine Tree Vermont cause it was a soundstage set in Los Angeles, itâs certainly hosted itâs fair share of white Christmases.
YâallâŚthey have their own beer!
TTFN~Angelica
What was of most interest to you about this post? Want a podcast version of it? Let me know.
Links & more from this post
âAlmanac [Original Bing Crosby âWhite Christmasâ broadcast clip],â CBS News Sunday Morning, Internet Archive, Dec. 25, 2011.
âBehind the Song Lyrics: âWhite Christmasâ by Irving Berlin,â American Songwriter, Dec. 24, 2021. âIt was to honor his young son who died.
âEllis Island and More,â Mysteries at the Monument, Season 1: Episode 1, Discovery+, Jul. 30, 2015.
âEllis Island Welcomed Thousands to AmericaâBut It Was Also a Detention Center,â Time, Jan. 1, 2020.
Eventful Decade: Cartoonists' version of James C. Petrillo and the A. F. of M. over the last 10 Years, World Radio History. âSome of these are hilarious.
Holiday Inn Official 1942 Universal Trailer, YouTube, Jan. 10, 2012.
âIâm Dreaming of a White Christmas with Vera-Ellen,â Probaway - Life Hacks, Dec. 14 2010.
âMovie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family,â National Archives, Winter 2005.
âSmithsonian Year of Music Object of the Day, December 14: David Bowie and Bing Crosby Christmas Single,â Smithsonian Music, Dec 2019.
âThe Day the Music Stopped,â One Year: 1942, Season 4: Episode 3, Slate, Nov. 3, 2022.
ââWhite Christmasâ at 75: A Snapshot of the Most Successful Song In Music History,â Billboard, Dec. 20, 2017.