Begin forwarded message: Subject: Fw: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: If this doesn't give you Goosebumps they have already brainwashe...
Date: March 10, 2014 11:13:04 AM CDT
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
On Monday, March 10, 2014 10:13 AM,
Do you
remember Kate
Smith?
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.
The
link at the
bottom will
take you to a
video showing
the very first
public
singing of
"GOD BLESS
AMERICA ".
But before you
watch it, you
should also
know the story
behind the
first public
showing of the
song.
The
time was 1940.
America was
still 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 most
Americans.
This
was the era
just before
TV, when radio
shows were
HUGE, and
American
families sat
around their
radios in the
evenings,
listening to
their
favorite
entertainers,
and no
entertainer of
that era 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 the famous
American
song-writer,
Irving Berlin
(who also
wrote "White
Christmas")
and asked him
to write a
song that
would make
Americans feel
good again
about their
country. When
she described
what she was
looking for,
he said 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 -
way 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 by
the public,
but both
agreed they
would not take
any profits
from God
Bless America
. 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 whether
she realized
just how
successful the
results would
be for her
fellow
Americans
during those
years of
hardship and
worry......
and for many
generations of
Americans to
follow. Now
that you know
the story of
the song, 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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