Stories behind the best-loved
SONGS OF CHRISTMAS (Extract)

by Ace Collins
Copyright © 2001 by Andrew Collins

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THE CHRISTMAS SONG

One of the most famous modern-day Christmas songs was written on one of the hottest California days on record. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"--the opening line of "The Christmas Song"--is, to many, one of the greatest moments in the history of music.

No one thought about it at the time, but it was the first American Christmas standard introduced by an African American (Nat 'King' Cole). Its success helped open the door for other African Americans to put their own spins on holiday classics. Thanks to "The Christmas Song," for the first time in the commercial marketplace, Christmas was not reserved for "whites only."

Mel Torme recalls what happened. His friend, lyricist Robert Wells, was trying to drive off the California heat with fans and positive thinking. The fans were doing little good, and the positive thoughts--which consisted of writing down everything that reminded Wells of cold winters in New England--were only making Wells warmer.

"When I arrived, I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil. 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."

It had been chestnuts that started Wells's strange train of thought. He had seen his mother bring in a bag of them to stuff a turkey for dinner. Wells was thrown back to the days when he saw vendors selling chestnuts on New York City street corners. Yet while Wells was after nothing more than an attempt to "think cold," Mel caught a glimpse of a song in the phrases he had written.

With the temperature in the nineties, they got to work on what was to become a Christmas classic. It took just forty minutes. The assigned movie title songs were pushed aside as Wells and Torme climbed into a car and drove away to show off their latest song.

Torme knew all the great singers who worked in Los Angeles. They all liked and respected Mel's work so when Wells and Torme dropped by Nat King Cole's home uninvited, it didn't seem out of the ordinary. It was just old, friendly Mel being Mel. After a brief greeting, Torme took a seat at King's piano. On the hottest day of the year, Mel played the new Christmas number. It might not have cooled anyone off, but Cole was deeply impressed.

Nat King Cole had begun his career as a jazz pianist and was one of the best. Yet by the 1940s, it was his smooth baritone that had mesmerized fans all over the world with a long list of well-loved songs including "Mona Lisa," "Nature Boy," and "Too Young"

From the moment Torme stopped in at Cole's Los Angeles home and played "The Christmas Song" on his piano, Nat loved it. Sensing the song was a classic, he wanted to record it before Torme could offer it to anyone else. Within days, Cole had rearranged the song to suit his voice and pacing, and cut it for Capitol Records. His instincts about the song's potential were right. Released in October of 1946, the song stayed in the Top Ten for almost two months. Nat's hit charted again in 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1954. "The Christmas Song" would ultimately be recorded by more than a hundred other artists--including Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and Mel Torme himself.

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