Kate Smith's First Public Singing of "God Bless America"
Before you
watch this video, you
should also
know the story
of the song.
This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was
also large in
size, and the
popular phrase
still used
today is in
deference to
her, "Ain't
over till the
fat lady
sings". Kate
Smith might
not have made
it big in the
age of TV, but
with her voice
coming over
the radio, she
was the
biggest star
of her time.
Kate was also very patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America , and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (also wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.
Kate was also very patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America , and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (also wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.
When she
described what
she was
looking for,
he said he had
just the song
for her. He
went to his
files and
found a song
that he had
written, but
never
published, 22
years before -
way back in
1917. He gave
it to Kate
Smith and she
worked on it
with her
studio
orchestra. She
and Irving
Berlin were
not sure how
the song would
be received by
the public,
but both
agreed they
would not take
any profits
from God Bless
America . Any
profits would
go to the Boy
Scouts of
America. Over
the years, the
Boy Scouts
have received
millions of
dollars in
royalties from
this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In The Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald Reagan.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In The Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald Reagan.
Frank
Sinatra
considered
Kate Smith the
best singer of
her time, and
said when he
and a million
other guys
first heard
her sing "God
Bless America
" on the
radio, they
all pretended
to have dust
in their eyes
as they wiped
away a tear or
two.
To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry, and for many generations of Americans to follow. Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you will enjoy it and treasure it even more.
To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry, and for many generations of Americans to follow. Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you will enjoy it and treasure it even more.
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