"The Christmas Song" We Know and Love

On this episode of Christmas Merry and Bright, Raymond Arroyo, an award-winning broadcaster, New York Times best-selling author and acclaimed vocalist, unveils the hidden backstory of "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole and how it became to first hit Christmas song by an African American. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I asked the Great Johnny Mathis what his favorite Christmas
song was, and he told me it was the Christmas
Song by his musical hero Nat King Cole. This is
another classic that almost wasn't. One July, Bob Wells had
been tinkering with a Christmas lyric. Having grown up in Boston,
Wells remembered street vendors selling paper cones full of hot chestnuts.

(00:25):
Songwriter Melturmee saw the lyric on wells piano chestnuts roasting
on an open fire and was inspired. It was so
damn hot. Melturmae later wrote, I thought I'd write something
to cool myself off. All I could think of was
Christmas in cold weather. He wrote the melody for the
Christmas Song in forty five minutes. Tormee and Wells contacted

(00:47):
Carlos Gastell, who was then manager of Nat Cole. They
raced the Hollywood and played it for him well Nat
King Cole loved the song, but it took a full
year for him to get into the studio and record.
As Tourmee later wrote, his record came out in late
nineteen forty six, and the rest may be called our
financial pleasure. Cole is the first black American to record

(01:11):
a hit Christmas song. He first recorded two versions of
Chestnuts Roasting on an Open fire in the nineteen forties.
On the first cut, Cole accidentally added an extra S
at the end of Reindeer, so it read to see
if Reindeers really know how to fly? Well, he didn't
like that extra S and he was a perfectionist, so

(01:32):
Cole returned to the studio and recorded to see if
Reindeer really know how to fly? And they've been flying
singular or plural ever since. I'm Raymond Royo. I'm so
delighted you spent time with us and hope you've been
inspired by learning more about these Christmas origin stories of

(01:52):
some of these beloved songs. Check out my new album
Christmas Mary and Bright. It's in stores now, And to
paraphrase Dickens, I hope our time together helps you honor
Christmas in your heart and keep it all the year through.
I'm Raymond Arroyo. May your Christmas be merry and bright.