This has been around before several years ago but
for those who have never seen/heard it, you are in for a pleasant
experience.
A
Little Patriotic History, Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of
her time, and said that 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.
Here
are the facts... The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the
very first public singing of "GOD BLESS AMERICA
".
Before
you watch it, the story behind the
song:
The
time was 1940. America was in a terrible economic
depression. Hitler was taking
over Europe and Americans were afraid we'd have to go to
war.
It
was a time of hardship and worry for Americans. This was just before TV, radio
shows were HUGE, and families sat around their radios in the evenings,
listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer was bigger
than Kate Smith.
Kate
was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used
today is in deference to her, "It 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 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 song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White
Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good
about their country.
When
she described what she was looking for, 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 back in 1917. He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio
orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be
received, but both
agreed they would not take profits. 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 .
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 how
successful the results would be for
Americans during those years of hardship and worry.... and for many generations
to follow.
Now
that you know the story, I hope you'll enjoy it and treasure it even
more. Many people don't know there's a lead in
to the song since it usually starts with "God Bless
America ......
"So
here's the entire song as originally
sung.
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