<P> In 1938 , with the rise of Adolf Hitler , Irving Berlin , who was Jewish and had arrived in America from Russia at the age of five , felt it was time to revive it as a `` peace song , '' and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938 , sung by Kate Smith on her radio show . Berlin had made some minor changes ; by this time , `` to the right '' might have been considered a call to the political right , so he substituted `` through the night '' instead . He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used : `` While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that 's free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair , / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer . '' ( In her first broadcast of the song , Kate Smith sang `` that we 're far from there '' rather than `` for a land so fair '' . ) This was changed when Berlin published the sheet music in March 1939 . </P>
<P> In 1938 , with the rise of Adolf Hitler , Irving Berlin , who was Jewish and had arrived in America from Russia at the age of five , felt it was time to revive it as a `` peace song , '' and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938 , sung by Kate Smith on her radio show . Berlin had made some minor changes ; by this time , `` to the right '' might have been considered a call to the political right , so he substituted `` through the night '' instead . He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used : `` While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that 's free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair , / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer . '' ( In her first broadcast of the song , Kate Smith sang `` that we 're far from there '' rather than `` for a land so fair '' . ) This was changed when Berlin published the sheet music in March 1939 . </P>
who was the first person to sing god bless america
who was the first person to sing god bless america
Kate Smith
Kate Smith