White Christmas – Bing Crosby & Marjorie Reynolds

“White Christmas” is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The version sung by Bing Crosby is assumed to be the best selling single of all time. Following its prominence in in the musical Holiday Inn, the composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In the film, Bing Crosby sings “White Christmas” as a duet with actress Marjorie Reynolds, though her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears. This now-familiar scene was not the moviemakers’ initial plan; in the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not Crosby, was to sing the song. The first public performance of the song was also by Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941 the recording is not believed to have survived. He recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn. At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.” Crosby’s “White Christmas” single has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the song as a 100-million seller (this encompassing all versions of the song, including albums). Crosby’s holiday collection Merry Christmas was first released as an LP in 1949, and has never been out-of-print since …
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