Nat, Mel, Bob and The Christmas Song

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Written shortly after the death of Mel Torme in 1999 for Capitol Records enhanced CD issue of Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song [72435-21251-2-8] by Dick LaPalm [born Ricardo LaPalombara], a music promoter and publicist, these insert notes pull the lens back to give us a fuller understanding of the long association between The Christmas Song with music by Mel Torme and lyrics by Bob Wells, and its most recognized [and, I daresay, universally loved] version as sung by Nat King Cole.

It also provides an intimate look at the inner workings of the relationship between recording artists and the record labels to which they are under contract and how these dynamics play out over time.

Most of us think that Nat’s rendition of The Christmas Song made its first appearance in 1961 with Ralph Carmichael conducting the rather large orchestra replete with a full string section. But Nat had a much deeper association with the song in particular and a much more complicated relationship with Christmas music in general.

“When Mel Torme passed away [June 5, 1999] recently, my thoughts turned to Nat Cole, and how he and Mel will be connected forever by that acclaimed Yuletide composition, The Christmas Song. Mel, for having written the music, and Nat, for having made the song his very own. It's a link that grows stronger with time, reinforced by the lyrics of Bob Wells, who passed away just 8 months before Mel, and who, like so many others who set their poetry to music, never got his rightful share of recognition for co-writing what has become a classic.

In early May of 1946 The King Cole Trio, with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Johnny Miller, was appearing at The Trocadero in Hollywood. One night, after the last set, a 21 year old singer/songwriter came up to the bandstand and told Nat that he had a new song that he was eager for him to hear. After the last few customers left, Mel sat down at the piano and performed The Christmas Song for Nat and the guys. Nat loved it immediately and he sat down at the piano and ran it down a couple of times. 

Years later, Nat told me that it was that very night, after running it through a few times, that Oscar Moore played the Jingle Bells coda. Interestingly, Nat used this same ending every time he recorded the song.

As much as Nat liked the song, he told Mel that it would be wrong to record it with just The Trio, that it deserved a bigger showcase. Carlos Gastel, who was managing both Nat Cole and Mel Torme at the time, tried to persuade Capitol Records to use a few strings just for this one song. No luck! NO STRINGS!

Perhaps Capitol's reluctance stemmed from the fact that The King Cole Trio enjoyed enormous airplay for their recordings on all of the rhythm and blues stations and they, Capitol, were afraid that a string date could be construed as too white and might imply an abandonment of these same radio stations in search of a broader audience. Whatever their thinking was, Capitol wouldn't relent...NO STRINGS!

During the last seven or eight months of 1946 New York City became home-base for The King Cole Trio. Aside from the many booking opportunities in the East that New York afforded, Nat and his guys became often-invited guests on radio programs like The Kraft Music Hall, The Chesterfield Supper Club, and Frank Sinatra's Old Gold Show. It just made sense to be operating out of New York City.

On June 14, 1946 The King Cole Trio went into the studios of New York's WMCA radio to record The Christmas Song. As soon as Nat heard the first playback, he knew it was wrong. He was determined to have his way; displaying a rare instance of stubbornness, Nat convinced the decision makers at Hollywood and Vine (sometimes called "The House That Nat Built") to let him re-record it, this time with a string section.

Nat wanted Russ Case, the arranger/conductor for The Kraft Music Hall programs, to do the chart. Case was under contract to RCA Records, so he was unable to oblige Nat. But he did, with Nat's and Capitol's approval, turn the assignment over to Charlie Grean, who was Case's assistant.

A couple of months later Nat went back into the same WMCA studio for his first-ever orchestral recording. By the way, the string section consisted of four string players and a harpist...and a drummer. A modest orchestral roster, to be sure, but a beginning and augur of things to come for Nat Cole. This session turned out perfectly and became a watershed recording in his career. Contrary to what many think, this was an entirely new session, not just the addition of some strings to the June 14th date.

Nat's first recording of The Christmas Song hit the record stores in the last week of November, 1946, and the response was incredible. It reached the #3 spot on the pop charts and the #3 spot on the rhythm and blues charts, an uncommon crossover, and a portent of what would ultimately become Nat's boundless appeal. This was the recording that Capitol reissued every holiday season for the next 7 years, and each year it would chart in the top 5. Any wonder that Capitol Records was elated?

In 1953 Nat recorded it again, this time with Nelson Riddle conducting, and, of course, with many more than four strings. This version was reissued for the next 8 years. Then, in 1961 Nat recorded the stereo version, with Ralph Carmichael conducting. This is the last time he recorded it, and to the present time, this is the rendition that Capitol reissues regularly.

Given that The Christmas Song is seasonal, it had no such restraints where Nat's fans were concerned. It always blew me away to hear someone from the audience shouting, "The Christmas Song...The Christmas Song." Here's an incident I remember very well: We were doing five days (I traveled with Nat for about 13 years) at The Fisher Theatre in Detroit. On opening night, Henry Ford II, a huge fan of Nat's, was in the audience. Just before curtain-time he, his wife and another couple came backstage. Ford wanted to make sure that Nat was going to do his favorite, Straighten Up and Fly Right. He also mentioned that his wife's all-time favorite was The Christmas Song. "Oh, Henry," she said, "this is April and it isn't the season." Well, during that performance, Nat announced that he had a request from a special lady and he did The Christmas Song...the audience loved it!

The duet with daughter Natalie was recorded in 1998 in England with The London Symphony Orchestra. I get a chill every time I hear it, it's so brimming with love and devotion. I conjure up a vision of this huge orchestra in London's

Abbey Road Studios, standing by for the downbeat and Natalie looking up at the ceiling and saying, "Dad. you always wanted more strings. Well, this is really more strings!" And how about when Natalie sings, "And so we're offering this simple phrase" instead of "I'm offering..." Doesn't that grab you? Hallmark Cards produced the date for sale only in their card shops. Capitol furnished the 1961 master tape and Hallmark was able to isolate Nat's vocal and integrate it into another beautiful father and daughter performance.

I should tell you that for the longest time Nat resisted Capitol's exhortations to do an album of traditional Christmas songs. He knew he had The Christmas Song going for him and that if a disc jockey was going to play a holiday song of his, it would be this, his big one. He didn't want to forsake his very favorite, to contend with Perry Como. Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, and all the others who rained a buckshot of holiday music on the listeners. He was content to remain identified with his rifle shot, The Christmas Song. Finally, in 1960 Nat succumbed to Capitol's persuasion and, with Ralph Carmichael conducting, recorded all the traditional music you hear on this release. From that session God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and O Come All Ye Faithful are first-timers, never previously issued.

I've been around the entertainment business for about 50 years, so I consider myself a good judge of the arena and the people who inhabit it. I worked for, and with, Nat Cole for many years and it was the most fulfilling time in my adult life. Hardly a day when I didn't learn something from him. He was warm; he was loving; he was tender; he was generous; he was respectful; he was gifted; he was disciplined; he was professional; he was real; he was my dear friend; he was Nat King Cole. I'm deeply honored to be a small part of this project.”

Dick LaPalm    June, 1999