Kate Smith’s memory no longer blessed by the Flyers
Probably no person or entity did more to prolong Kate Smith’s career than the Broad Street Bullies, those Flyers teams of long ago. You know, the last Flyers teams to win a Stanley Cup?
Smith famously sang the Irving Berlin composition “God Bless America” in 1938 on her radio show, purportedly as an expression of peace as Adolph Hitler’s German military machine had begun its sweep across Europe.
The song became a beloved standard as Smith, a major entertainment star in the middle decades of the 20th century, moved her show from radio to television.
She famously sang the song at Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals between the Flyers, dubbed earlier as “the Broad Street Bullies” by then-Philadelphia sports writer Jack Chevalier, and Boston Bruins. It was one of four times Smith appeared at the Spectrum to sing the song, which had begun to be occasionally played before Flyers games beginning in 1969 instead of the national anthem, considered a good luck charm for the team.
A videotape of Smith singing it back then was dubbed into a duet years later with Lauren Hart, who has been the Flyers’ anthem singer since 1997. The video/live duet was played at what were considered major games for years, but not recently.
It likely will never be revived now that Smith has essentially been branded a racist by both the New York Yankees and the Flyers, both clubs announcing this week that Smith’s “God Bless America” will no longer be part of their game presentations because of the revelation of racist lyrics in two recordings of other songs early in her career.
Responding to a number of tweets by Flyers fans not happy with the club’s decision, Hart tweeted back Friday, “Just finding out ...... this is an incredibly sad day.”
The Flyers announced Friday the song has been removed from their musical library, and to add a visual element to the statement, cameras caught how they tied black tarp around a statue of Kate Smith which has stood at the stadium complex, outside of where the Spectrum once was, since October 1987.
That was one year after Smith had died.
At her funeral in 1986, then-Flyers owner Ed Snider, a pallbearer, was quoted as saying, “She was a wonderful person and an important part of the Flyers’ history. We will always have a special place in our hearts for her. She will be deeply missed by the Flyers and our fans.”
Flyers president Paul Holmgren could not be reached for comment Friday, but the decision was thought to be one made at the corporate level.
“We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization,” the club said Friday morning in a statement. “As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our library and covering up the statue that stands outside of our arena.”
The Flyers became aware of it because the New York Daily News reported this week that the Yankees were no longer playing the song during seventh-inning stretches of all of their home games. That practice became part of the team’s rich experience at games after Sept. 11, 2001.
It’s all because the Yankees earlier this month had become aware of racist lyrics in popular Smith songs ... from the 1930s.
According to a CNN.com report, one was a 1933 “hit” entitled “Pickaninny Heaven” which makes a reference to “colored children” and watermelon.
The other was a 1931 recording of “That’s Why Darkies Were Born.” The nearly 90-year-old lyrics of that song are stunning in their racist content and hard to listen to. Of course, you can do so by just calling the song up on YouTube.
But Smith’s version isn’t at the top of that list – it’s one by Paul Robeson.
Yes, the revered African-American entertainer, statesman and civil rights activist who died in Philadelphia in 1976. Robeson was born in Princeton and was a football star at Rutgers – the third African American enrolled at the school – before embarking on his storied and varied career and some tragic years later in life.
He studied law at Columbia and practiced briefly before quitting because of what he saw as widespread racism in the field. Instead, his baritone voice would take him to the theater in London and “Ol’ Man River” from “Showboat,” which also contained racist language in the lyrics, made him a star.
Robeson recorded “That’s Why Darkies Were Born” in 1931. But the song was said to be meant to be satirical, and was praised in some circles as an artistic statement against the rampant racism of the day.
Either way ... 88 years later, it was found to somehow have an impact on the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers.
“The Yankees take social, racial and cultural insensitivities very seriously,” the baseball club said in a statement. “And while no final conclusions have been made, we are erring on the side of sensitivity.”