Note: This article and any subsequent today were inspired by this written piece and subsequent broadcast by Glenn Beck. Welcome back to the Cincy market, you sick freak!
God bless America!
This should tell you something about America, and those who really love her. If only we had more Kate Smiths and Irving Berlins today....
It was written during the First World War, for an army camp show where Berlin was stationed: Camp Yaphank on Long Island. The show's producers rejected it as too jingoistic, so Berlin placed it in a trunk of rejected manuscripts.
There it lay for twenty years, until Ted Collins, manager of popular singer Kate Smith, approached Irving Berlin for a new patriotic song for Kate to introduce to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. Berlin had recently returned from a trip to England, during which he was saddened to see signs of another war in the making. He was more thankful than ever to come back to his peaceful adopted homeland (his family had come to America from Russia when Irving was a small boy), so he was motivated to answer Collins' request, on Kate's behalf.
At this point, I want to add in what Glenn wrote regarding Kate and Irving...
It was written after World War I. It was written by Irving Berlin. He wrote it for a play called Yip Yip Yaphank, which is a super, super classic that I wish I could see again. He felt the song was inspired and came from God but because of that, maybe it wasn't appropriate for Yip Yip Yaphank. But he also had a problem with the song. So he put it in a drawer and there that song sat for 20 years until Kate Smith. Kate Smith, she walked into Irving Berlin's home and she said the anniversary of Armistice Day which was the end of World War I, was coming up. And they all sensed that World War II was right around the corner. Nobody would know it better than Irving Berlin. He was a young Jewish man who lived in Siberia. He immigrated here to the United States. He loved the country. He was an immigrant. She said, "Irving, I need a song. World War I was over and that was the war that was supposed to end all words and now, Irving, you feel it and I feel it. War is coming again and great evil is gathering on the shores of Europe." She said, "I need a song. I need a song. I want to sing it for the anniversary of Armistice Day, she said, but I want something that will convince America that America's going to be okay. It doesn't matter if war is coming. It doesn't matter if Hitler is coming." He said, "Kate, I don't really have anything like that." She said, "Come on, Irving." He thought back. He said, "You know, I wrote a song about 20 years ago. I don't know." He said, "I don't feel comfortable with it." She said, "Why not?" He said, "It's not right. I don't have it down yet." And he said, "The lyrics are more of a prayer than anything else." And he said, "As I wrote it, I just -- Kate, I don't think it's right." He went into the drawer and he dug it out. It was at the bottom of everything. He dug it out and she looked at it. She could sight read. He didn't need to play it on the piano. She read the lyrics and hummed it to herself. She said, this is perfect. He looked at her and said, "It's boastful. It assumes that America is blessed and that God continues to bless it." Kate Smith looked at Irving Berlin and said, "Irving, it is, he does, I'm singing it." He reluctantly gave it to her but on an understanding. He said, "Kate, I can't take money for this song." She said, "Irving, but who's going to get the rights because I'm telling you right now this is going to be a huge hit. Everybody in the country is going to want a copy of this song. Who do you want the money to go to?" He said, "It was inspired by God. I can't take money for it." He said, "You know what? I know who to give the money to. If this thing does sell, I know who to give the money to."
Who did this great patriot and immigrant from Russia who understood America better than some of today's natural born citizens? Stay tuned....
After several days of futile attempts to write a new patriotic song, Berlin remembered the one he had written in 1918. He asked his secretary to retrieve it from the trunk, and he made a few changes to the lyrics. One was from "Stand beside her and guide her/ To the right with a light from above" to through the night," since "right wing" and "left wing" had taken on political connotations in the interim. The line "From the mountains to the prairies/To the oceans white with foam" had originally been "From the green fields of Virginia to the gold fields out in Nome", a decided improvement!
Now Kate Smith was the No. I popular songstress in America in 1938, and her weekly Kate Smith Hour was heard by many millions of radio listeners that Thursday, November 10. The shy composer was invited to attend the show, but he declined, opting to listen with a few friends in his office at his music publishing company in New York. Kate sang it as her closing number, after which Berlin's phone began to ring, as people began to ask, 'Where can we get that song that Kate Smith just sang.?" Berlin was so touched by those calls that he decided to attend the rebroadcast three hours later for the west coast audience. At the conclusion of the broadcast, Kate called Irving to the stage and gave him a bearhug that swept him off his feet!
The new anthem electrified the nation and Kate sang it on nearly every broadcast through December 1940, after which there was a ban on public performances of ASCAP songs. She had exclusive performance rights for a time. She recorded it for RCA Victor on March 21, 1939, and that version has been reissued countless times over the years.
The lyrics were inserted into the Congressional Record, and there was a movement to make the song our national anthem. Kate addressed Congress, imploring its members not to do that. She argued that the Star Spangled Banner was written during a battle (Francis Scott Key wrote it during the War of 1812). It fact, she recorded it on the flip side of God Bless America.
God Bless America was sung at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1940, and again at the Republican national convention in Philadelphia July 31, 2000, the convention that nominated George W. Bush as our 43rd President. At the latter a videotape of Kate singing it on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1957 was played. Although it was recorded by Bing Crosby, Barry Wood, Gene Autry, and Horace Heidt's orchestra at the time, it was destined to be associated with Kate Smith forever, giving her a certain immortality, as well as a guaranteed standing ovation at all of her concerts.
In 1940 Irving Berlin established the God Bless America Foundation, with all royalties from its performance earned by either Berlin or Miss Smith going to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. That arrangement exists to this day. These organizations were chosen, to quote the contract, because "the completely nonsectarian work of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts is calculated to best promote unity of mind and patriotism, two sentiments that are inherent in the song itself."
When Warner Brothers made "This Is The Army" into a technicolor motion picture in 1943, Berlin insisted that there be a scene in which Kate herself re-created her radio introduction of God Bless America. She sang it complete with the seldom-heard verse. When she died in 1986, that clip was played as part of nearly every television obituary.
This is a true story of love of country, from a Russian immigrant who grew up with real hardship, to an American woman who wanted to inspire her country as war loomed. Again, if only we had more Kate Smiths and Irving Berlins today....
I would type it, but let's get Kate to sing it, shall we?
For those of you hockey fans out there, you can see this video of Kate singing at the Philadelphia Flyers games, where she became Philly's good luck charm and a staple at Flyers games.
The story of Kate and the Flyers:
An interesting chapter was added to the Kate Smith- God Bless America story in the twilight of her 50-year career. Officials noted that when the national anthem was played at the opening of Philadelphia Flyers' hockey games, the fans were not properly respectful, while they listened more quietly to Kate's record of God Bless America. Furthermore, a statistician noted that they won most games when the latter was played. Fans were given a surprise on October 11, 197 3, at the season opener, when Kate Smith walked across the red carpet on the ice to sing her anthem in person. They beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0. Announcer Gene Hart commented that Kate "brought chills and a standing ovation of three minutes. It fully met the ultimate definition of the word triumph." At critical games Kate was driven down from New York to repeat the favor. When the Flyers clinched the championship and won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Boston Bruins 1-0, even the Bruins skated over to shake Kate’s hand. She was called their talisman and good luck charm; she loved the free publicity! She repeated the role the next season, and the Flyers defeated the Buffalo Sabres to retain the Stanley Cup. (Thanks to Steve for the correction to the name of the defeated team!) In 1987 they erected a bronze statue in memory of their "rabbit's foot" or "secret ice weapon," who had died the previous year.
