Jump to content

White Christmas (song): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
+ see also
Tag: Reverted
Line 365: Line 365:
==External links==
==External links==
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/essays/WHITE%20CHRISTMAS.pdf Library of Congress essay] on Crosby's version on the [[National Recording Registry]].
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/essays/WHITE%20CHRISTMAS.pdf Library of Congress essay] on Crosby's version on the [[National Recording Registry]].
* {{YouTube|rLv8p1hcrC0|Meghan Trainor - White Christmas (Official Audio) ft. Seth MacFarlane}}
* {{YouTube|rGzhTBek8KQ|White Christmas (Official Live Performance - from the album "A Very Trainor Christmas")}}
* {{YouTube|dB3AmsX0sGw|White Christmas}}
* {{YouTube|OMDvmfQfOLA|Meghan Trainor - White Christmas ft. Seth MacFarlane (Official Christmas Stroll Video)}}
* {{YouTube|u2gwRtRHR_A|Meghan Trainor - White Christmas (Official Snowy Video) ft. Seth MacFarlane}}
* {{YouTube|6ICd8I60eWY|Meghan Trainor - White Christmas (Official Yule Log Video) ft. Seth MacFarlane}}
* {{YouTube|-uXgeqwQfmA|White Christmas (Spotify Singles - Christmas, Recorded at Sound Stage Studios Nashville)}}


{{Irving Berlin songs}}
{{Irving Berlin songs}}

Revision as of 07:43, 21 January 2023

"White Christmas"
1942 78 single release of "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby on Decca Records, 18429 A, with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, Matrix # DLA 3009
Single by Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra
from the album Song Hits from Holiday Inn
B-side
ReleasedJuly 1942 (original)
RecordedMay 29, 1942
March 19, 1947
StudioRadio Recorders (Los Angeles) (1942 recording)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 3:02 (1942 recording)
  • 3:04 (1947 recording)
Label
  • Decca (1942–1973 issues)
  • MCA (1983–1985 issues)
Songwriter(s)Irving Berlin
Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra singles chronology
"Be Careful, It's My Heart"
(1942) 		"White Christmas"
(1942) 		"Moonlight Becomes You"
(1942)

"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The song was written by Berlin for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards.

Since its release, "White Christmas" has been covered by many artists, the version sung by Bing Crosby being the world's best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media) with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.[2] When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby's, sales of the song exceed 100 million.[3][4][5]

History

Origin

Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song.[6] One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in warm La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat also favored by writer-director-producer Frank Capra, although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was written there.[7] He often stayed up all night writing. One day he told his secretary, "I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote."[8]

Bing Crosby versions

Bing Crosby (1943)

The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941, a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.[9] A copy of the recording from the radio program is owned by Crosby's estate and was loaned to CBS News Sunday Morning for their December 25, 2011, program.[6] Crosby subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers at Radio Recorders for Decca Records in 18 minutes on May 29, 1942,[1] and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm discs from the musical film Holiday Inn.[6][10] 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."[11]

The song established that there could be commercially successful secular Christmas songs[12]—in this case, written by a Jewish immigrant to the United States.[13] Ronald D. Lankford, Jr., wrote, "During the 1940s, 'White Christmas' would set the stage for a number of classic American holiday songs steeped in a misty longing for yesteryear." Before 1942, Christmas songs and films had come out sporadically, and many were popular. However, "the popular culture industry had not viewed the themes of home and hearth, centered on the Christmas holiday, as a unique market" until after the success of "White Christmas" and the film where it appeared, Holiday Inn.[14] Dave Marsh and Steve Propes wrote, "'White Christmas' changed Christmas music forever, both by revealing the huge potential market for Christmas songs and by establishing the themes of home and nostalgia that would run through Christmas music evermore."[15]

The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn's first hit song: "Be Careful, It's My Heart".[10] By the end of October 1942, "White Christmas" topped the Your Hit Parade chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year.[10] It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy—"just like the ones I used to know"—with comforting images of home—"where the treetops glisten"—resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song. The recording is noted for Crosby's whistling during the second chorus.[10]

In 1942 alone, Crosby's recording spent eleven weeks on top of the Billboard charts. The original version also hit number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for three weeks, Crosby's first-ever appearance on the black-oriented chart.[16] The song also topped the following weekly charts in the same year: Songs with Most Radio Plugs, National record sales, and National sheet music sales.[17] Re-released by Decca, the single returned to the No. 1 spot during the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946 (on the chart dated January 4, 1947), thus becoming the only single with three separate runs at the top of the U.S. charts. The recording became a chart perennial, reappearing annually on the pop chart twenty times before Billboard magazine created a distinct Christmas chart for seasonal releases.

In Holiday Inn, the composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942.[18] In the film, 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, would sing the song.[10] The song would feature in another Crosby film, the 1954 musical White Christmas, which became the highest-grossing film of 1954. (Crosby made yet another studio recording of the song, accompanied by Joseph J. Lilley's orchestra and chorus, for the film's soundtrack album.)

According to Crosby's nephew, Howard Crosby, "I once asked Uncle Bing about the most difficult thing he ever had to do during his entertainment career… He said in December, 1944, he was in a USO show with Bob Hope and the Andrews Sisters. They did an outdoor show in northern France… he had to stand there and sing 'White Christmas' with 100,000 G.I.s in tears without breaking down himself. Of course, a lot of those boys were killed in the Battle of the Bulge a few days later."[19]

The version most often heard today on the radio during the Christmas season is the 1947 re-recording. The 1942 master was damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded the track on March 19, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original recording session.[8] The re-recording is recognizable by the addition of flutes and celesta in the beginning.

Although Crosby dismissed his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully",[20] he was associated with it for the rest of his career.

Sales figures

Crosby's "White Christmas" single has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. By 1968, it had already sold thirty million.[21] The Guinness Book of World Records 2009 Edition lists the song as a 100-million seller, encompassing all versions of the song, including albums.[5][6] Crosby's holiday collection Merry Christmas was first released as an LP in 1949, and has never been out of print since.

There has been confusion and debate on whether Crosby's record is the best-selling single, due to a lack of information on sales of "White Christmas," because Crosby's recording was released before the advent of the modern-day US and UK singles charts.[22] However, after careful research, Guinness World Records in 2007 concluded that, worldwide, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" has sold at least 50 million copies, and that Elton John's recording of "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold 33 million.[3] However, an update in the 2009 edition of the book decided to further help settle the controversy amicably by naming both John's and Crosby's songs to be "winners" by stating that John's recording is the "best-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s," while maintaining that "the best-selling single of all time was released before the first pop charts," and that this distinction belongs to "White Christmas," which it says "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later."[23]

Legacy

In 1999, National Public Radio included it in the "NPR 100", which sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. Crosby's version of the song also holds the distinction of being ranked No. 2 on the "Songs of the Century" list, behind only Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow," as voted by members of the RIAA.[24] In 2002, the original 1942 version was one of 50 historically significant recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2004, it ranked No. 5 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

In a UK poll in December 2012, "White Christmas" was voted fourth (behind "Fairytale of New York", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and "Merry Xmas Everybody") on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.[25]

The recording was broadcast on Armed Forces Radio on April 30, 1975, as a secret, pre-arranged signal precipitating the U.S. evacuation from Saigon.[26]

Formats and track listing

These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "White Christmas".

10-inch shellac single – U.S. (Decca – 18429) 1942[27][28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:02
2."Let's Start The New Year Right"Irving Berlin 
10-inch shellac single – U.S. (Decca – 23778) 1947
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:04
2."God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen"traditional 
7-inch vinyl single – U.S. (Decca – 23778) 1950[29]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:04
2."God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen"traditional 
7-inch vinyl single – U.S. (MCA – 65022)[30]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:04
2."God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen"traditional 
CD single – UK (MCA Records – MCSTD48105)[31]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:06
2."Auld Lang Syne"Robert Burns (lyrics), Scots folk melody1:38
3."Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy"Larry Grossman, Ian Fraser, Buz Kohan / Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone2:37

Original verse

Irving Berlin's opening verse is often dropped in recordings. It is included on A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, sung by Darlene Love; on Barbra Streisand's A Christmas Album; on the Carpenters' Christmas Portrait, sung by Karen Carpenter; on Neil Diamond's The Christmas Album; on Bette Midler's Cool Yule; on Libera's Christmas Album; and on Crash Test Dummies' Jingle All the Way.[8]

The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There's never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it's December the twenty-fourth,—
And I am longing to be up North—[32]

Charts

Bing Crosby version

Chart (1958–2023) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[33] 41
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[34] 40
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[35] 19
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[36] 41
Denmark (Tracklisten)[37] 27
Germany (GfK)[38] 39
Global 200 (Billboard)[39] 23
Greece International Digital Singles (IFPI)[40] 36
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[41] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[42] 24
Italy (FIMI)[43] 60
Latvia (LAIPA)[44] 14
Lithuania (AGATA)[45] 47
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[46] 4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[47] 24
Portugal (AFP)[48] 64
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[49] 28
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 40
UK Singles (OCC)[52] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[53] 12
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[54] 3
US Holiday 100 (Billboard)[55] 5
US Rolling Stone Top 100[56] 16

Michael Bublé version

Chart (2011–2021) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[57]
with Shania Twain 		50
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[58]
Solo version 		35
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[59]
with Bing Crosby 		72
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[59]
with Shania Twain 		86
Canada AC (Billboard)[60]
with Bing Crosby 		45
Canada AC (Billboard)[60]
with Shania Twain 		12
Canada AC (Billboard)[60]
2019 version 		12
Croatia (HRT)[61]
with Shania Twain 		23
Germany (GfK)[62]
with Shania Twain 		39
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[63]
with Shania Twain 		13
Italy (FIMI)[64]
Solo version 		16
Italy (FIMI)[65]
with Shania Twain 		53
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[66]
with Shania Twain 		36
Portugal (AFP)[67] 166
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[68]
with Shania Twain 		35
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[69]
with Shania Twain 		58
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[70]
with Bing Crosby 		24
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[71]
with Bing Crosby 		2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[71]
with Shania Twain 		10
US Holiday 100 (Billboard)[72]
with Shania Twain 		22
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[73]
with Bing Crosby 		5
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[73]
Solo version 		49
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[73]
2019 version 		7

Glee Cast version

Chart (2012–19) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[74] 98
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[75] 29

Gwen Stefani version

Chart performance for "White Christmas"
Chart (2017–2019) Peak
position
Canada AC (Billboard)[76] 39
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[77] 86
UK Singles (OCC)[78] 62
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[79] 27

Meghan Trainor version

Weekly charts

Chart (2020) Peak
position
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[80] 1
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[81] 39

Year-end charts

Chart (2021) Position
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[82] 29

Certifications

Bing Crosby version

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[83] Platinum 90,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[84] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[86] Silver 1,047,349[85]
United Kingdom (BPI)[87]
Digital sales since 2019 		Platinum 600,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Michael Bublé version

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[88] Platinum 70,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[89]
with Shania Twain 		Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other versions

"White Christmas" is the most-recorded Christmas song; there have been more than 500 recorded versions of the song, in several different languages.[90] The following have received some charting success.

Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (with Bob Carroll on lead vocal) released a version on Capitol Records that reached No. 16 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart in 1942[91] and Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra (with Garry Stevens on lead vocal) released a version for Columbia Records that reached No. 18 on Billboard's pop singles chart[92] as did Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (with Clyde Rogers on lead vocal) for RCA Victor, reaching No. 20 on Billboard's pop singles chart (and again in December 1945, reaching No. 16).[93]

In 1944, Frank Sinatra with a backing orchestration under the direction of Axel Stordahl for Columbia, reached No. 7 on Billboard's pop singles chart (two more times: December 1945, No. 5; December 1946, No. 6)[94] Jo Stafford reaching No. 9 on Billboard's pop singles chart in 1946, with backing vocals by the Lyn Murray Singers and backing orchestration by Paul Weston for Capitol.[92] Eddy Howard and his Orchestra released a version on the Majestic label that reached No. 21 on Billboard's pop singles chart the same year[95] while Perry Como, with backing orchestration by Lloyd Shaffer, recorded the song for RCA Victor in 1947 and reached No. 23 on Billboard's pop singles chart; Como recorded a stereo version of the song in 1959.[96]

In 1949, The Ravens peaked at No. 9 on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart in January 1949 on National Records.[97] while Ernest Tubb, with female backing vocals by The Troubadettes on Decca, peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Country & Western Records chart.[98]

US 7-inch vinyl release (red variant) of The Drifters recording

In 1952, Mantovani and his orchestra reached No. 23 on Billboard's pop singles chart[93] while The Drifters showcased the talents of lead singer Clyde McPhatter and the bass vocals of Bill Pinkney in 1954, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart. It returned to the same chart in the next two years.[99] In February 1954, the Drifters recorded “White Christmas,” which was released that November. While the song became a No. 5 R&B hit in 1954, its popularity remained in the black community. The Drifters rendition of this song can be heard in the films Home Alone and The Santa Clause.[100][101]

In 1953, Bing Crosby sang "White Christmas" in a film made in Paris as part of The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, a two-hour television special broadcast on NBC and CBS.[102]

Andy Williams recorded the song for Columbia in 1963 on The Andy Williams Christmas Album, where it reached No. 1 on Billboard's weekly Christmas Singles chart.[103] It was released in 1968 on Atco Records as a posthumous single from Otis Redding, and reached No. 12 on the Christmas Singles chart.[97] In 1980, Darts's version peaked at No. 48 on the UK singles chart.[citation needed]

Michael Bolton performed it on his 1992 non-holiday album, Timeless: The Classics, where it peaked at No. 73 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart in January 1993.[104] Garth Brooks version included on his first holiday album, Beyond the Season, peaked at No. 70 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in January 1995.[105] In 1998 Martina McBride recorded it for her album White Christmas, charting twice, reaching No. 75 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1999, and No. 62 on the same chart in 2000[106]

Bette Midler's version, released on her non-holiday album, Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook, reached No. 15 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2003.[107] The version released on Andrea Bocelli 2009 album, My Christmas, reached No. 16 on the Portuguese Singles Chart.[108] Despite not being released as a single, Marco Mengoni's version, released on the compilation album X Factor – The Christmas Album, charted at No. 13 on the Italian Singles Chart based on digital downloads of the track.[109]

The Glee cast's version of the song, sung by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer, entered the UK charts for the first time in 2018, four years after its release, at No. 98.[110]

In 2020, a version by Meghan Trainor, featuring Seth MacFarlane, went to No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[111]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 16. ISBN 0-8118-3394-1.
  2. ^ "Best-selling single". Guinness World Records. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Guinness Book of Records, 2007 Edition, page 187" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  4. ^ "Guinness Book of Records, 2008 Edition, page 181" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Guinness Book of Records, 2009 Edition, pages 14, 15 & 169" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 25, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Harris, Roy J. Jr. (December 5, 2009). "The Best-Selling Record of All. 'White Christmas' and the reasons it endures". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved December 6, 2009. It was a peaceful song that became a wartime classic. Its unorthodox, melancholy melody, and mere 54 words, expressing the simple yearning for a return to happier times—sounded instantly familiar when sung by America's favorite crooner. But 67 years after its introduction, some still are surprised to learn that Bing Crosby's recording of the Irving Berlin ballad "White Christmas" became not only the runaway smash-hit for the World War II holidays, but the best-selling record of all time.
  7. ^ "History of ""The Jewel of the Desert"" | Arizona Biltmore, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel". Arizona Biltmore Hotel. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "White Christmas". hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  9. ^ Todd Decker. "Crosby, Bing." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. September 26, 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d e John Mueller (1986). Astaire Dancing – The Musical Films. London: Hamish Hamilton. pp. 204, 425. ISBN 0-241-11749-6.
  11. ^ Wook Kim (December 17, 2012). "Yule Laugh, Yule Cry: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Beloved Holiday Songs (With holiday cheer in the air, TIME takes a closer look at some of the weird stories behind our favorite seasonal tunes)". Time. "White Christmas" (p. 6)
  12. ^ "No one dreamed of a 'White Christmas' before this song". PBS NewsHour. December 24, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  13. ^ Koskoff, Ellen (2016). "Is "White Christmas" a Piece of Jewish Music?". In Ran, Amalia; Morad, Moshe (eds.). Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas. Boston, Massachusetts: Brill. p. 11. ISBN 9789004184473.
  14. ^ Lankford, Ronald D. (2013). Sleigh Rides Jingle Bells & Silent Nights: A Cultural History of American Christmas Songs. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 24. ISBN 978-0813044927.
  15. ^ Marsh, Dave; Propes, Steve (1993). Merry Christmas, Baby: Holiday Music From Bing To Sting. Little, Brown & Co. p. 7. ISBN 978-0756775285.
  16. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 139.
  17. ^ "The Billboard Music Popularity Chart (week ending December 10, 1942)". The Billboard. December 19, 1942. p. 25.
  18. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  19. ^ Weinbender, Nathan (December 22, 2016). "75 years after its premiere, Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' still enthralls listeners". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  20. ^ "Why Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' Is the Best Holiday Song Ever". People. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  21. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The book of golden discs. Internet Archive. London : Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5.
  22. ^ "The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century". Recording Industry Association of America website (Press release). RIAA. November 10, 1999. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  23. ^ Guinness Book of Records. Guinness World Records. 2009. ISBN 978-1-904994-37-4. Candle in the Wind 1997 is the best-selling single since charts began; however, not of all time. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" is still recognized as the best-selling single of all time, but since it was released before the start of many charts, its pre-1950s sales are estimated. John's 1997 song has sold the most copies when looking at copies sold since charts began, as verified in Guinness World Records. See also: Guinness Book of Records, 2009 Edition, pages 14, 15 & 169 [1]
  24. ^ "New song list puts 'Rainbow' way up high". CNN. March 7, 2001. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  25. ^ "The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song". ITV. December 22, 2012.
  26. ^ Todd, Olivier (1990), Cruel April: The Fall of Saigon, W.W. Norton & Company, p. 353. For more information, see Fall of Saigon, the end of the Vietnam War.
  27. ^ Bing Crosby: Crooner of the Century – By Richard Grudens
  28. ^ Billboard 15 Dec 1945 – "Bing Crosby – White Christmas / Let's Start The New Year Right" 10" single, (Decca – 18429)
  29. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas". Retrieved December 10, 2018 – via 45cat.com.
  30. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas". Retrieved December 10, 2018 – via 45cat.com.
  31. ^ Complete UK Hit Singles – 1952–2006, Graham Betts, Collins, 2006 – Music – 1088 pages – ("White Christmas" 1998 UK CD single)
  32. ^ White Christmas piano solo, Hal Leonard
  33. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. January 2, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  34. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  35. ^ "Bing Crosby Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  36. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 5152. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  37. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2018". Hitlisten. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  38. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  39. ^ "Bing Crosby Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  40. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 52/2018". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  41. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  42. ^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  43. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  44. ^ "Mūzikas patēriņa tops gadu mijā" (in Latvian). LAIPA. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  45. ^ "2022 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  46. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  47. ^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. December 31, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  48. ^ "Bing Crosby / John Scott Trotter Orchestra / The Ken Darby Singers – White Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  49. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 20175152 into search. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  50. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  51. ^ "Bing Crosby – White Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  52. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  53. ^ "Bing Crosby Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  54. ^ "Bing Crosby Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  55. ^ "Bing Crosby Chart History (Holiday 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  56. ^ "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  57. ^ "Michael Bublé & Shania Twain – White Christmas". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  58. ^ "Michael Bublé – White Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  59. ^ a b "Michael Buble Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  60. ^ a b c "Michael Buble Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  61. ^ "HRT Airplay Radio Chart No. 1060 - Issue Date: January 2nd 2023" (PDF). Hrvatska Radiotelevizija. January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  62. ^ "Michael Bublé & Shania Twain – White Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  63. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  64. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  65. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  66. ^ "Michael Bublé & Shania Twain – White Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  67. ^ "Michael Bublé – White Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  68. ^ "Michael Bublé & Shania Twain – White Christmas". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  69. ^ "Michael Bublé & Shania Twain – White Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  70. ^ "Michael Buble Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  71. ^ a b "Michael Buble Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  72. ^ "Michael Buble Chart History (Holiday 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  73. ^ a b c "Michael Buble Chart History (Holiday Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  74. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  75. ^ "Glee Cast Chart History (Holiday Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  76. ^ "Gwen Stefani Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  77. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201751,52 into search. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  78. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  79. ^ "Gwen Stefani Chart History (Holiday Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  80. ^ "Meghan Trainor Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  81. ^ "Meghan Trainor Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  82. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 2021". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  83. ^ "Danish single certifications – Bing Crosby – White Christmas". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  84. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  85. ^ Copsey, Rob (September 19, 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  86. ^ "British single certifications – Bing Crosby – White Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  87. ^ "British single certifications – Bing Crosby – White Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  88. ^ "Italian single certifications – Michael Buble – White Christmas" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 21, 2021. Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "White Christmas" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  89. ^ "British single certifications – Michael Buble & Shania Twain – White Christmas". British Phonographic Industry.
  90. ^ "ASCAP Announces Top 25 Holiday Songs of the Decade". ASCAP. November 23, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  91. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 42. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  92. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 59. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  93. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 47. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  94. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 58. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  95. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 41. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  96. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920-2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 29. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  97. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920-2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 55. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  98. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 62. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  99. ^ CD sleeve: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1955 – Present), 1989 Rhino Records Inc.
  100. ^ "Jubilee! Historic Columbia celebrates African-American heritage this weekend with singing, art, dance, drama". The Times and Democrat. Orangeburg, South Carolina. August 25, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  101. ^ "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame member brings quartet to Jackpot". The Times-News. Twins Falls, Idaho. January 10, 1997. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  102. ^ Gross, Ben (June 13, 1953). "What's On?". Daily News. New York, NY – via Newspapers.com.
  103. ^ "Andy Williams' Yule Mark: Tops 2 Charts". Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio. December 21, 1963. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  104. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 22. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  105. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 23. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  106. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 48. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  107. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 49. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  108. ^ "White Christmas-bianco Natale by Andrea Bocelli - Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  109. ^ "Italian Charts – Marco Mengoni – White Christmas (song)". Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  110. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  111. ^ "Adult Contemporary". Billboard. December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_Christmas_(song)&oldid=1134886690"