"The Christmas Song," also known as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or originally titled "Merry Christmas to You," was written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946.
At Cole's request—but against the wishes of his record label, Capitol Records—a second version was recorded in August 1946 with a small group of string musicians. This version became very popular on both the pop and R&B music charts. Cole recorded the song again in 1953 using the same arrangement but with a full orchestra, conducted by Nelson Riddle. He also recorded it in 1961 in a stereo version with another full orchestra, conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 recording is often considered the best version of the song. The original 1946 recording was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. In 2022, the 1961 version was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry because it is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
History
In July 1945, during a very hot summer, the song was created. Tormé explained that the idea came from trying to "stay cool by thinking cool." This effort led to the most-performed Christmas song of all time, according to BMI. Tormé remembered seeing a spiral pad on Wells’s piano with four lines written in pencil. The lines began with "Chestnuts roasting…, Jack Frost nipping…, Yuletide carols…, Folks dressed up like Eskimos." Wells did not believe he was writing song lyrics. Instead, he hoped that imagining winter would help him feel cooler. After forty minutes, the song was completed. Tormé composed all the music and wrote some of the lyrics.
Nat King Cole recordings
Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios in New York City on June 14, 1946. Label credit: The King Cole Trio (Nat King Cole, vocals and piano; Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist). It was first released by Capitol Records in 1946 on a 78 RPM shellac record (Catalog #311). This recording
Other versions
"The Christmas Song" has been performed by many artists from different types of music. In December 1946, Bing Crosby sang it on a radio broadcast with Skitch Henderson playing piano. Crosby, along with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra, recorded a studio version on March 19, 1947. This recording was released as a single later that year. In 1953, Perry Como performed the song for 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). The song was successful and reached number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the second-highest position after the original version. Aguilera's version also reached number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales year-end chart for 2000.
In 2003, Michael Bublé recorded a cover for his EP Let It Snow. It reached number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In 2018, Lauren Daigle's version reached number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Christian Songs chart. In 2021, Jacob Collier's version was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the 64th Annual ceremony.
The song has also been performed by Doris Day with the Les Brown Jr. Orchestra of Renown, Ariana Grande, Brandy, Camila Cabello, The Carpenters, Celine Dion, Ella Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gillies, Frank Sinatra, The Jackson 5, John Legend, JoJo, Justin Bieber, Kenny Burrell, Luther Vandross, Mariya Takeuchi, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, NSYNC, Pentatonix, Peter Hollens, Shawn Mendes, and Toni Braxton, Jung Kook, among others.
Mel Tormé recorded the song multiple times, 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 includes an opening verse written in 1963 while Tormé worked as a musical arranger for The Judy Garland Show. He first performed and introduced this verse while singing with Garland on the show's Christmas Special, which aired on December 22, 1963.
Additionally, Tormé's recordings often include a coda adapted from "Here We Come A-wassailing."