1944 in Music: Bing Crosby's Year

World War II continued to wage into its fifth year. By the end of the year, Hitler’s defeat was just about ensured. While the Third Reich burned, Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel and the Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York. Bing Crosby dominated the charts in 1944 in the same way the Beatles did twenty years later.

Here are some offerings from 1944:

From Bing:
Swinging on a Star:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTUKHMlbYGA

Don’t Fence Me In (w/Andrews Sisters):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMnLoOnrwbg

I’ll Be Seeing You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ld7pkvZPQk

Ella Fitzgerald w/The Ink Spots:
I’m Making Believe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK15L55CtGc

Dick Haymes:

It Had To Be You:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW6Jd7zVpxM

Frank Sinatra:

Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP0P2hw31i0

　

　

802. This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie (1944)

Guthrie got sick of hearing Kate Smith's version of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on the radio. He felt the song disingenuous and decided to write a song he felt better reflected America. Guthrie sometimes changed the verses based on his mood. Some of the lyrics were overtly leftist and he modified them as he felt appropriate. Over time, the song has lost its overt political connotations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s

Kate Smith's "God Bless America":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCavKL2zdjM