Traditions, Part Two

It is indeed the Night Before Christmas, so let’s listen to Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians perform the song. This rendition was first aired on December 23, 1951 on Waring’s eponymous CBS radio show. Waring became a bandleader at an early age: he started a group called Fred Waring’s Banjo Orchestra while still a teenager. The group became so successful Waring abandoned his plans for a Penn State degree in architectural engineering and became a full-time musician. He made enough money with the band that he had an extra $25,000 to spare to invest with the man who invented the blender; his reward (besides the financial one) was to have his name attached to it: the Waring Blender.

He gathered several nicknames in his time, including “America’s Singing Master” and “The Man Who Taught America How to Sing.” He taught and toured until he died in 1984.