50 years ago: Bing Crosby charted with Christmas album

First posted 3/2/2008; updated 9/29/2020.

Merry Christmas (aka “White Christmas”) Bing Crosby

Charted: December 1, 1945 Peak: 139 US, 45 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: traditional pop/Christmas

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Silent Night (12/21/35, 7 US, 8 UK, sales: 10 million) Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful) (12/12/60, 45 US) White Christmas (with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Orchestra) (10/3/42, 114 US, 110 HP, 77 CA, 11 HR, 12 GA, 3 AC, 13 RB, 5 UK, 120, sales: 56 million) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Faith of Our Fathers I’ll Be Home for Christmas (12/4/43, 3 US, 8 RB, sales: 1 million) Jingle Bells (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Schoen) (12/25/43, 19 US) Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/25/43, 22 US) Silver Bells (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/27/52, 20 US) It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Christmas in Killarney Mele Kalikimaka (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Shoen) Total Running Time: 27:24

Rating: 4.159 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards:

About the Album: “Try to forget the fact that Bing Crosby probably never had to record another song in his life after he immortalized White Christmas. If you can do that, you’ll find plenty more to like in this crooning Christmas collection.” AZ “White Christmas” is the best-selling song of all time, but this album didn’t too shabby either. When it comes to seasonal recordings, only Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album has sold more at 19 million copies worldwide. However, Merry Christmas reached the lofty heights of 39 whopping weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart, thanks to multiple reissues, repackagings, and rereleases over the years. The original album was packaged as five 78 records, each with two songs. All of the songs had been released previously and were Christmas-themed with the exception of “Danny Boy.” When a second edition was released in 1947, “Danny Boy” and “Let’s Start the New Year Right” were omitted and new recordings of “White Christmas” and Silent Night from March 19, 1947 were added. WK In 1955, the vinyl reissue of the album followed the 1947 track listing and added four tracks, including Silver Bells and three tracks with the Andrews Sisters: Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. The 1955 version of the album has been continually in print ever since. Only the original cast recording of Oklahoma! has been in print longer. WK It’s also this cover with Crosby in a Santa Claus stocking cap which became the standard, replacing the original cover which had Crosby’s floating head on a blue background. WK The album finds “‘Der Bingle’ in two distinctly different moods: from the solemnity of ‘Silent Night’ and Adeste Fidelis (sung in Latin and English) to the playfulness (‘gonna have a lotta fun’) on ‘Jingle Bells,’ with The Andrews Sisters providing some smiles with their ‘Ji-ji-jingle’ vocals.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: Bing Crosby’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Dennis MacDonald AZ Amazon.com review by Steve Gdula WK Wikipedia

Today in Music (1943): Bing Crosby “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” charted

I’ll Be Home for Christmas Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Walter Kent (music), Kim Gannon and Buck Ram (words) (see lyrics here) Released: October 26, 1943 First Charted: December 4, 1943 Peak: 3 PM, 7 GA, 3 HP, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.6 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” originated in 1922 as a poem by Buck Ram. The songwriter would later be known for some of the Platters’ biggest hits, including “Only You” and “The Great Pretender.” He wrote it for his mother while he was a student at the University of Illinois. WK In 1943, lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent turned it into a song. They were acquaintances of Ram’s mother and happened to discuss the poem at a chance meeting at a bar in 1941. WK Gannon and Kent turned it into a song sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed oversees during World War II. He writes a letter to his family, saying he’ll be home for the holidays. Bing Crosby recorded the song as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)” on October 1, 1943, with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra. His version of the “traditional Tin Pan Alley Christmas favorite” TY1 has been the most successful, reaching #3 on the pop charts and selling a million copies. It became the most requested song at Christmas U.S.O. shows. WK The G.I. magazine Yank said Crosby “accomplished more for military morale than anyone else of that era.” WK Surprisingly, the BBC banned the song, fearing it would lower morale amongst British troops. WK Others to chart with the song include Reba McEntire (1999, #68 CW), Kenny Chesney (2003, #60 CW), Joe Nichols (2005, #56 CW), Sara Evans (2006, #46 CW), Josh Groban (2006, #96 BB, 1 AC), Elvis Presley with Carrie Underwood (2008, #54 CW), Brian McKnight (2008, #14 AC), Rascal Flatts (2008, #34 CW), Michael Bublé (2010, #7 AU), Kelly Clarkson (2011, #93 BB, 7 AC), Megan Trainor (2014, #5 AC), Seth MacFarlane (2014, #28 AC), Kanisha K (2016, #26 AC), Idina Menzel (2019, #24 AC), and Camila Cabello (2021, #71 BB, 24 UK). Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bing Crosby TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 268. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/20/2023.