Nat King Cole Christmas Song Album
Leonides Suttle
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945[note 1] by Robert Wells and Mel Torm.
According to Torm, the song was written in July 1945[1] 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.[2][4][5] "I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells's) piano with four lines written in pencil", Torm 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."
For the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated January 7, 2023, the song entered the top 10 for the first time, giving Cole a record span between appearances of 59 years, six months and a week (since June 29, 1963's "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" appearance) and giving the song the record for longest journey to the top 10 (62 years and 26 days), surpassing "Run Rudolph Run" by 8 days. The song had previously peaked at number 11 during the 2018 holiday season.[16]
"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.[48] 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.[49][50] In 1953, Perry Como performed the song for both the Christmas Joy single and his album Around the Christmas Tree.[51]
In 1999, Christina Aguilera recorded a version and included it on her album, My Kind of Christmas (2000).[52] The song found critical and commercial success and peaked at number eighteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; the second highest position for the song on the chart after the original.[52] Aguilera's cover also reached number seventy-two on the Hot 100 Singles Sales 2000 year-end chart, compiled by Billboard.[53]
In 2003 for his EP Let It Snow, Michael Bubl recorded a cover of the song.[54] It charted at number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[55] 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.[56][57][58] 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.[59]
The song has also been covered by Doris Day with the Les Brown Jr. Orchestra of Renown, Ariana Grande,[60] Camila Cabello,[61] The Carpenters,[62] Celine Dion,[63] Ella Fitzgerald,[64] Elizabeth Gillies,[60] Frank Sinatra,[65] The Jackson 5,[66] John Legend,[67] JoJo,[68] Justin Bieber,[67] Kenny Burrell,[69] Luther Vandross,[67] Mariya Takeuchi, Mary J. Blige,[67] Ne-Yo,[70] NSYNC,[71] Pentatonix,[67] Peter Hollens,[67] Shawn Mendes,[61] Brandy,[72] and Toni Braxton,[67] among others.[67]
The 1970 Columbia version of the song adds an opening verse, written in 1963 while Torm 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:
Nat King Cole was so smooth that his songs could elegantly slide away from a listener, like a figure skater heading for the far end of the pond. This album, originally released as The Magic of Christmas in 1960, provides baritone reassurance that Christmas is a happy time, not an annual family debacle. But the secret ingredient is Cole singing hymns in German and Latin: straining to put across foreign lyrics, you can hear him employing all his professional skill.
Peterson, one of the most accomplished pianists in jazz history, played with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie, among other luminaries. On this 1995 album, he found that the true meaning of Christmas was cool jazz instrumentals. At age 70, he no longer needed to prove his virtuosity; instead, he plays with a light touch and leads a swinging six-piece band. When Peterson finds emotional depth in "Jingle Bells," you know he's operating at a higher level.
"Back Door Santa" isn't a song choice you'd expect in an album that touts itself as a celebration of hope, unless you're really hoping for some back-door loving this December. This 2001 blues album is cheerfully crass and slightly overproduced (by King himself!). But his guitar playing is as great as ever and the disc is has a warm-hearted spirit, like your gruff uncle who secretly loves to dress up as Santa for the kids.
This 2008 collection from singer/songwriter/Sufjan Stevens collaborator Rosie Thomas stakes out its territory with her slow, sincere cover of the Chipmunks' dreadful novelty single: "Christmas Don't Be Late." Remade by Thomas, the song becomes a beautiful invocation of holiday spirit. Subtext: if she can feel that much love for the Chipmunks, surely you can do the same for your fellow man? The rest of the album is just as charming and heartfelt.
Released in 1997, the same year that the classic "Mmmbop" topped the charts, this quickie album is a tasty pop-rock candy cane. Taylor Hanson hadn't hit puberty yet, and his voice sounds as clear as a Christmas bell. Best track: their version of "Run Rudolph Run," popularized but not written by Chuck Berry. Playing their own instruments, the teenage trio hurtle through the song, going as fast as they can without driver's licenses.
Louis Armstrong, genius trumpeter, gravel-voiced singer, and jazz pioneer, could turn on a dime between broad comedy and deeply felt emotion. Both sides of his musical personality are on display in his Decca Christmas recordings: "'Zat You, Santa Claus?" is pure slapstick, while his "White Christmas" can make you cry. Unfortunately, there are only six of those recordings, so this collection is filled out with other jazz artists. But you could do much worse than hearing Duke Ellington tackle "Jingle Bells."
This 2008 album is spoken-word, but just as much of a performance as any of the other albums on this list. (Sedaris, his sister Amy, and performance artist Ann Magnuson read his holiday-themed essays, such as "Dinah, the Christmas Whore.") If listening to "The Santaland Diaries," Sedaris's jaundiced story about working as an elf at Macy's, isn't one of your personal Christmas rituals, consider this is your chance to correct that error.
The Jamaican record label Studio One was a powerhouse in the Sixties and Seventies, releasing records by just about every important reggae artist. So delving into their archives for Christmas-themed music turns up some famous names, including the Heptones ("Christmas Time Is Here") and the Wailers featuring Bob Marley ("Sound the Trumpet"). The grooves are consistently strong and as joyful as the season; as Freddie McGregor sums it up, "Hip hip hooray/What a Irie Christmas Day."
The Ventures, the instrumental surf band famous for the "Hawaii Five-O" theme, came up with a simple formula on this fun 1965 album: start each song by quoting a rock hit, and then launch into a twangy cover of a Christmas classic. So "Jingle Bells" is built on the riff for Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is mashed up with the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." Simple but very effective: it still sounds fresh today.
"They're not all strictly Christmas songs," Tracey Thorn said, "but if they mentioned winter or snow or even just being cold, that was good enough for me." It should be good enough for you too, because on this lush 2012 release, Thorn (best known as the voice of Everything But the Girl) reinvents the Christmas canon, drawing from sources as diverse as the White Stripes' Elephant and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
In 1991, four years after the Pogues recorded "Fairytale of New York" (one of the greatest Christmas songs ever), their forefathers in traditional Irish music, the Chieftains, made a Christmas album of their own. (The Chieftains were the earlier version of the Pogues, with less attitude and better teeth.) The Bells of Dublin has great Celtic melodies, lots of fiddle and tin whistle, and guests that include Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Jackson Browne, Nanci Griffith, and oddly, actor Burgess Meredith.
As a full-service musical empire, the Motown label released scads of Christmas albums; this double-disc 2009 album collects the highlights, plus spoken seasonal greetings from stars like the Supremes. Many of the standout tracks belong to Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, but as ever, the engine is the Motown house band, which can find the funk in "The Little Drummer Boy." Trippiest cut: Marvin Gaye's "Purple Snowflakes," which seems to be about acid rain, or maybe just acid.
It starts with big pompous drums, heralding an overblown version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." And then a surprise: we get some funked-up Hammond organ instead. While Smith was a jazzman, his albums regularly hit the pop charts and his sound wasn't far away from the instrumental R&B of Booker T. and the MGs. This groovy 1964 album (also available as Christmas '64) sounds like it was recorded halfway between the North Pole and Memphis.
Harris has always sung like an angel, and on this 1979 album she played the part, a living herald of joyful Nativity tidings. Some of the other golden-throated seraphim providing backing vocals: Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and, er, Neil Young. On an album that's both rootsy and restrained, Harris is backed by a top-notch group of Nashville pros, but the prettiest track is probably the a cappella version of "The First Noel."
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