The Christmas Song

According to Tormé, the song was written in July 1945 during an exceptionally hot summer. It was in an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool" that the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song of all time was born. "I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells's) 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." == Nat King Cole recordings ==

First recording Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, June 14, 1946. Label credit: The King Cole Trio (Nat King Cole, vocals & piano; Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist). It was first issued by Capitol Records in 1946 on a 78 RPM shellac (Catalog #311). Not re-issued until 1989, when it was (accidentally ) included on the various-artists compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1935–1954) Rhino R1 70637(LP) / R2 70637(CD). 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 (Nat King Cole, vocals & piano; Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist; Jack "The Bear" Parker, drummer; Charlie Grean, arranger and conductor of 4 string players and a harpist). Lacquer disc master #981. Issued November 1946 as Capitol 311 (78 rpm). 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 at 5515 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, on August 24, 1953. It was the song's first magnetic tape recording. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir (Nat King Cole, vocals; Buddy Cole, pianist; John Collins, guitarist; Charlie Harris, bassist; Lee Young, drummer; Ann Stockton, harp; Charlie Grean, Pete Rugolo and Nelson Riddle, orchestral arrangement; Nelson Riddle, orchestra conductor). Master #11726, take 11. Issued November 1953 as the "new" Capitol 90036 (78 rpm) / F90036 (45 rpm) (Capitol first issued 90036 in 1950 with the second recording). Correct label credit issued on October 18, 1954, as Capitol 2955 (78 rpm) / F2955 (45 rpm). 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, The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical to the 1953 version, Weekly charts Monthly charts Decade-end charts Certifications == Other versions ==

's (pictured) version became the second highest charting position of the song on the Billboard Hot 100 after the original 55 years earlier "The Christmas Song" has been covered by numerous artists from a wide variety of genres. In December 1946, Bing Crosby performed it on a recorded radio broadcast with an introduction including Skitch Henderson on piano. Crosby, with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra, also made a studio recording on March 19, 1947, which went on to be released as a single later that same year. In 1953, Perry Como performed the song for both the Christmas Joy single and his album Around the Christmas Tree. In 1999, Christina Aguilera recorded a version and included it on her album, My Kind of Christmas (2000). Aguilera's cover also reached number 72 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales 2000 year-end chart, compiled by Billboard. In 2003 for his EP Let It Snow, Michael Bublé recorded a cover of the song. It charted at number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In 2018, Lauren Daigle's cover of the song reached number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Christian Songs chart. In 2021, Jacob Collier's cover of the song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the 64th Annual ceremony. The song has also been covered by Doris Day with the Les Brown Jr. Orchestra of Renown, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Celine Dion, Ella Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gillies, Frank Sinatra, The Jackson 5, John Legend, Justin Bieber, Luther Vandross, NSYNC, Pentatonix, Shawn Mendes, and Toni Braxton, among others. Mel Tormé recordings Mel Tormé himself made several recordings of the song, including versions released in 1955 (on his live Coral Records album At the Crescendo), 1961 (on his Verve Records album My Kind of Music), 1970 (on a Columbia Records promo single), 1990 (in a medley with "Autumn Leaves", on his live Concord Records album Mel Tormé Live at the Fujitsu–Concord Festival 1990), and 1992 (on his Telarc Records album Christmas Songs). 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, Tormé's recordings typically include a coda adapted from "Here We Come A-wassailing": == See also ==