The Magic of Christmas (Nat King Cole album)


The Magic of Christmas is a 1960 album by Nat King Cole, arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael.
This was Cole's only complete album of Christmas songs, although he had recorded several holiday singles earlier in his career. One of these, "The Christmas Song", originally recorded in 1946, was re-recorded for the 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story. In 1963 The Magic of Christmas was reissued under the title The Christmas Song, with that recording added to the track list in place of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and with new cover art.
It is the best-selling Christmas album released in the 1960s, and was certified by the RIAA for shipments of 6 million copies in the U.S. The 1963 version reached number 1 on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart and remained for two weeks.

Track listing

;Side One
  1. "Deck the Halls"
  2. "Adeste Fideles "
  3. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"
  4. "O Tannenbaum"
  5. "O, Little Town of Bethlehem"
  6. "I Saw Three Ships"
  7. "O Holy Night"
;Side Two
  1. "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing"
  2. "A Cradle in Bethlehem"
  3. "Away in a Manger"
  4. "Joy to the World"
  5. "The First Noël"
  6. "Caroling, Caroling"
  7. "Silent Night"

Performance