– A Christmas Sing With Bing – December 24, 1956 – CBS Radio Network – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Bing Crosby and Christmas – for decades it was an institution. You couldn’t have one without the other. And every year, from 1955 up to the 1970s (and beyond, via repeats) the Christmas season became official when the voice of Bing Crosby singing White Christmas boomed out over loudspeakers everywhere.
For a guy who reportedly hated Christmas, he was certainly relied on to signal its arrival. And even though the passage of time and other voices may have caused us to drift away from those dulcet tones of the inimitable Crosby voice – somewhere, whether it’s a supermarket, shopping mall or the parents/grand-parents/great-grand-parents house, the comforting, suave voice of Bing Crosby singing “where the tree tops glisten and children listen . . .” makes you stop, if just for a second, and quietly breathe.
Here is the second installment of what became the yearly ritual of A Christmas Sing With Bing – featuring an all-star cast and the Norman Luboff Choir ushering in the season, sixty years ago today – December 24, 1956.
And even though Christmas has gone through its goodly share of battering around, and has come to symbolize a lot of what’s wrong with the world as much as what’s right – it’s still a holiday; a day of the year where people stop thinking about the strife and think for a moment or two about the gratitude. Despite everything, if you’re reading this, you’re still here – we’ve made it for another trip around the sun – we get to put one foot in front of the other, one more time, and try to make a difference.
Christmas has come to mean a lot of complicated things – but its essence is simple; it’s a moment of empathy and kindness and lack of judgment towards those and the world around you. To just celebrate the fact we’re all on this boat together and we all want the same thing; a peaceful life and a chance to exhale.
Happy Holidays and the best of all possible worlds to you.
Hit the play button and relax.
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