Kate Smith introduces God Bless America - YouTube

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.
Here are the facts...

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.