"The Christmas Song"

"The Christmas Song" by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé remains one of the most popular holiday songs of all time. It has sometimes been claimed that it is the most recorded Christmas song of all time, a title often applied to Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" as well. According to Spotify in 2015, "The Christmas Song" was the third most covered holiday tune on the music service, after "Silent Night" and "White Christmas." Regardless, there can be no doubt that "The Christmas Song" is one of the most successful, well, Christmas songs of all time.

Strangely enough, the song's origins go back to a particularly hot summer day. That day composer and singer Mel Tormé went to visit his writing partner Robert Wells. Initially he couldn't find Mr. Wells, but he did find a spiral pad with the opening lines of what would become "The Christmas Song." Eventually Robert Wells showed up and he explained to Mr. Tormé that he was trying to cool off by writing wintry lines, essentially an attempt at mind over matter. It was after forty five minutes that Mesrs. Wells and Tormé completed the song.

"The Christmas Song" was originally subtitled "Merry Christmas to You," although later it would be subtitled with its opening line "Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire." The song was first recorded by The King Cole Trio at WMCA Radio Studios in New York City on June 14 1946. A second recording was made at WMCA Radio Studios on August 19 1946. This version differed from the first in that a small string section was added. It was this second version of "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" that proved to be an enormous hit, going to no. 3 on the Billboard chart. Nat King Cole would record "The Christmas Song" again in 1953 and 1961.

"The Christmas Song" would be covered multiple times not long after its initial release in the Forties. Eddy Howard, Dick Haymes, Bing Crosby, and others covered the song in the years following its release. Since then it has been covered by such artists as Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. Mel Tormé himself recorded the song multiple times.

Without further ado, here is The King Cole Trio's original recording of "The Christmas Song."