Song Story: Pennies from Heaven

Pennies from Heaven is one of my personal favorites and I recently heard Regis Philbin singing the song and thought this would be a great song to explore. Pennies from Heaven was written by Johnny Burke {lyrics} and Arthur Johnson {music}.  The song was first introduced in the 1936 film Pennies from Heaven, which introduced Read More

Song Story: Swinging on a Star

Swinging on a Star was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film, Going My Way. The pop standard was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke.  The song is said to be inspired by a conversation Bing Crosby had with his children one evening while Jimmy Van Heusen was a guest.  Read More

Behind the Song: White Christmas

White Christmas is the most popular Christmas song of all time. The Irving Berlin song is reminiscing about an “old fashioned Christmas.” Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song.  He often stayed up all night writing or would ask his secretary to write down what he dictated. Both La Quinta Hotel Read More

Behind the Song: Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep

Count Your Blessings {Instead of Sheep} was the last hit for the popular composer Irving Berlin. The song was written sometime around 1952. Irving Berlin tells the story best: In the book The Irving Berlin Reader, a letter from Irving Berlin to Joseph Schenck and dated September 1952 includes the following information about the writing Read More

Bing Crosby, the Original Crooner

Bing Crosby mesmerized all of us with his soothing voice. The famous crooner was born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 3, 1902, in Tacoma, Washington. He was the fourth of seven children of bookkeeper, Harry Lincoln Crosby. Little Harry was a fan of “The Bingville Bugle” a Sunday feature of the local newspaper. A neighborhood Read More