Susan Boyle, Kate Smith and Rudyard Kipling
235-Pound Songbird Introduced Nation to God Bless America
Jun 7, 2009
Kate Smith was the lady with ordinary looks and an extraordinary voice who sang her way into America's heart during the Great Depression and World War II. She was still going strong when television arrived to transform the entertainment industry.
Fleshy Face, Bulky Body
Kate weighed in at 235 pounds at the age of 30. Her face was fleshy and her body was bulky, but her manner was graceful. Her voice and style embodied all the virtues of America during its innocent years.
Introducing “God Bless America”
It was she who introduced Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" to the nation on Nov. 10, 1938, to mark the 20th anniversary of the end of World War I. Berlin pulled an old, rejected piece of music from his trunk, reworked the lyrics, and passed it to Ted Collins, Kate Smith's manager, discoverer and devoted friend. Kate gave it the perfect send-off, and the song eventually became the nation's second national anthem -- more beloved and more singable than the one Frances Scott Key wrote.
Kate may have benefited from the fact that radio and records had not evolved into movies and DVDs. People didn't have to look at her. They could just close their eyes and let her singing flow through their souls.
Inspiration for a Hockey Team
She often opened the home games for the Philaldelphia Flyers hockey team by singing "God Bless America," prompting the hockey players' boast, "It ain't begun till the fat lady sings." The team honored her with a statue at its home arena.
"I'm big and I sing, and boy when I sing, I sing all over," said Kate.
“This Is America”
In 1939, when President Franklin Roosevelt entertained the king and queen of England, he introduced Kate Smith by saying, "Your majesties, this is Kate Smith. This is America."
Reagan Awards Her Medal of Freedom
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the U.S. Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Susan Boyle and Rudyard Kipling
Kate proved that the genes for pulchritude and for singing voice are not inextricably linked. Susan Boyle offers further proof. Susan's photos call to mind a passage from Rudyard Kipling's "The Road to Mandalay" describing the housemaids of Chelsea who “talks a lot o’ lovin”:
"Beefy face an' grubby 'and --
"Law! wot do they understand?"
Susan’s paucity of pulchritude actually may have been an asset. It was the contrast between voice and physical appearance that made her stand out from other contestants on “Britain’s Got Talent.”
Susan Needs a Ted Collins
She obviously needs a Ted Collins to negotiate the shoals of popular acclaim on which so many talented innocents have foundered. The stress of falling off her pedestal and into the also-ran category on “Britain’s Got Talent” was too much for her, and she was hospitalized. But any talent agent who can’t help her capitalize on her fame and voice ought to go back to selling fish and chips.
