Bing Crosby’s family aims to get 'White Christmas' the No. 1 spot this Christmas. Will they succeed?
In October this year, in legendary singer Bing Crosby's memory, his family had launched a campaign to get 'White Christmas' to top the charts. The song is one of the most-recorded songs of all time with the track's sales reaching an excess of 50 million copies worldwide, and until more recently, achieved 1.8 billion streams. In a bid to get the song to its rightful place on the charts, the family, along with record label Decca reissued some of the old tracks with 'White Christmas' leading the mix.
As of today, he stands at the 11th spot of the UK album chart with 'Bing At Christmas', Decca's new album of the vintage vocal recording by Bing with new orchestral arrangements by the London Symphony Orchestra. It was released on November 22, 2019.
The song was first performed by Bing on his NBC radio show 'The Kraft Music Hall' on Christmas Day, 1941. Originally written by Irving Berlin, the song was later recorded and released on July 30, 1942.
"Hearing Bing's voice with these completely new, beautifully recorded, orchestral accompaniments makes it seem as though he's back after all these years. It's magic," the singer's widow Kathryn had said.
The new album of his music titled 'Bing at Christmas' features fourteen classic Bing Christmas songs including two versions of 'White Christmas' - Bing's original vocal solo and another accompanied by multi-Grammy winning acapella group Pentatonix also features 'Winter Wonderland, 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas', 'The Christmas Song', and 'Little Drummer Boy', which was recorded with David Bowie in September 1977, just a month before Bing passed away.
"We thought, ‘OK, let’s give it a shot. Let’s see how this works out," Bing's daughter Mary Crosby had said. "And it exceeded our wildest imagination in terms of… Dad sounds crystal clear. And the arrangements and the production are just amazing. Everything’s been scrubbed up. It’s Dad – but better. His voice is just as good as it’s ever been, and it’s so clear. And, of course, these songs are songs that were very dear to him."
The multimedia star, who was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture, is the most recorded performer in history and in the US, scoring 41 number one records. His recording reached the charts 396 - number considerately bigger than Frank Sinatra's 209 and Elvis Presley's 149.
With Christmas now just around the corner, will the classic succeed in reaching the number one spot?
You can buy the album here.
