Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

Merry Christmas to You all over this globe, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and give your nearest a gift.

We have our Christmas celebration today with the whole family when the kids are watching Donald duck and his friends at 3 o'clock, we grownup are forced to do the family duties in the kitchen and preparing everything for the dinner that will take place after the children show on tv that has gotten to be a tradition. As soon the dinner is over it's time to invite Santa for some Christmas gifts for the young once, a wonderful thing to watch happy kids open up their gifts, and hopefully the gifts are right so they really get happy.

During this time and in the middle of the countdown for the best albums a Christmas tune is welcome. Today

"The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" is a classic Christmas song written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944 and was first recorded by The King Cole Trio in 1946. The song was recorded again in a stereophonic version with a full orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael using the same arrangement for Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song album in 1961.

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 (Nat King Cole, vocals; Hank Jones, pianist; John Collins, guitarist; Charlie Harris, bassist; Lee Young, drummer; Charlie Grean, Pete Rugolo and Ralph Carmichael, orchestral arrangement; Ralph Carmichael, orchestra conductor). 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 (a 1961 LP devoted to stereo re-recordings of Cole's earlier hits), 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(mono) / SW-1967(stereo) 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 first – not 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 "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons", among others.

Enjoy today's tune and Merry Christmas to you all.



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