The Christmas Song


"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé.
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed Christmas song was born. "I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "They started, 'Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frost nipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."
The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946. At Cole's behestand over the objections of his label, Capitol Recordsa second recording was made in August utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with another full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.

Nat King Cole recordings

First recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, June 14, 1946. Label credit: The King Cole Trio. Not issued until 1989, when it was included on the various-artists compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits Rhino R1 70637 / R2 70637.
Second recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, August 19, 1946. First record issue. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir. Lacquer disc master #981. Issued November 1946 as Capitol 311. It is available on the Cole compilation CDs Capitol Collectors Series and Christmas for Kids: From One to Ninety-Two, as well as on a CD called The Holiday Album, which has 1940s Christmas songs recorded by Cole and Bing Crosby.
Third recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 24, 1953. It was the song's first magnetic tape recording. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir. Master #11726, take 11. Issued November 1953 as the "new" Capitol 90036 / F90036. Correct label credit issued on October 18, 1954 as Capitol 2955 / F2955. Label credit: Nat "King" Cole with Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle. This recording is available on the Cole compilation CD Cole, Christmas, & Kids, as well as on the various-artists CDs Ultimate Christmas and Casey Kasem Presents All Time Christmas Favorites. It was also included, along with both 1946 recordings, on the Mosaic Records box set The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio.
Fourth recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30, 1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is widely played on radio stations during the Christmas season, and has become the most popular/familiar version of this song. Label credit: Nat King Cole. The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical to the 1953 version, but Cole's vocals are deeper-sounding and more focused. Originally done for The Nat King Cole Story, this recording was later included in a reissue of Cole's 1960 holiday album The Magic of Christmas replacing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Retitled The Christmas Song, the album was issued in 1963 as Capitol W-1967 / SW-1967 and today is in print on compact disc. This recording of "The Christmas Song" is also available on numerous compilation albums. Some are Capitol pop standards Christmas compilations while others are broader-based. For example, it is available on WCBS-FM's Ultimate Christmas Album Volume 3. An alternate take of the 1961 recording, featuring a different vocal and missing the solo piano on the instrumental bridge, appears on the Deluxe Edition of the 2014 compilation The Extraordinary Nat King Cole.
There were several covers of Nat Cole's original record in the 1940s. The first of these was said to be by Dick Haymes on the Decca label, but his was released firstnot recorded first. The first cover of "The Christmas Song" was performed by pop tenor and bandleader Eddy Howard on Majestic. Howard was a big Cole fan, and also covered Nat's versions of "I Want to Thank Your Folks" and " For Sentimental Reasons", among others.

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Mel Tormé recordings

Mel Tormé himself made several recordings of the song, including versions released in 1955, 1961, 1970, 1990, and 1992.
The 1970 Columbia version of the song adds an opening verse, written in 1963 while Tormé was working as musical arranger for The Judy Garland Show. He first performed and introduced the opening verse while duetting with Garland on the song for the show's Christmas Special, which aired on December 22, 1963:
Additionally, his recordings typically include a coda adapted from "Here We Come A-wassailing":

Other notable renditions

"The Christmas Song" has been covered by numerous artists from a wide variety of genres. It has charted by the following:
Other artists who have recorded the song include: