Frank & Rick - Winter Wonderland

Frank & Rick
WINTER WONDERLAND
(Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)

This song was written in 1934 by Richard B. Smith and Felix Bernard. The lyricist Richard Smith served as an editor of a newspaper before taking up a career in music. The composer Felix Bernard, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, played the piano with popular orchestras and was also a tap dancer and writer of musical comedies for Vaudeville. He later became a composer and though this proved his greatest success, he also earned a steady income writing songs for Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor on radio shows. Smith was inspired to write the song after seeing the central park in his hometown of Honesdale, Pennsylvania covered by snow.

In 1934, Joey Nash who performed with Richard Himber got a hold of Bernard's latest song, and it did not take long for before it made its recording debut on RCA Bluebird. The recording featured vocals by Nash who was accompanied by Himber and his Hotel Ritz Carlton Orchestra. December 1934 saw another release of Winter Wonderland, this time by the hugely popular Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, taking it to the top of the charts for the first time. A decade later, Perry Como landed yet another smash hit with his interpretation of the Christmas song, followed by a long list of favorite artists who did their own take, including Pat Boone, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, Bing Crosby, and Elvis Presley to name just a few.

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