Nat King Cole/Johnny Mathis -- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

 

Man, what a quandary! Choosing between Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis over who gave the definitive version of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" is kinda like having to opt for either turkey or glazed ham as the main dish on December 25th. Maybe it's an easy decision for you readers but for me, I think that both versions of the 1945 Mel Torme/Robert Wells creation are absolutely brilliant.

And to throw something out of left field at you, I think "The Christmas Song" and Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Christmas Eve" have something in common. To specify, both songs apparently came about as a counter-response to the season known as summer. Tats didn't particularly appreciate being brushed off as being merely a summer song singer so he lashed back with the J-Xmas song that has become a perennial tune to be played on TV and in the stores. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, "The Christmas Song" was born when Torme and Wells needed to beat back some torrid July heat by thinking and writing about cool thoughts. Not sure if the ploy worked in terms of any cooling effect, but it's safe to say that "The Christmas Song" has become far more eternal as a beloved Xmas number.

I'm going to start off with Johnny Mathis' version of the song since it was the first version that I had ever heard as a kid thanks to that Ronco LP "A Christmas Gift" with all of those chestnuts (pun fully intended) on it. Originally coming from his "Merry Christmas" album from October 1958, Mathis' dulcet delivery has had me tearing up sometimes in the past because of its wistfully magical and wonderful arrangement with the strings and the chorus behind him. This is the song that has people ensuring that they have fireplaces in their new homes.

For several years, Mathis' take was the only one that I knew but then I finally heard Nat King Cole's version on a jazz compilation of Xmas songs that I bought in Japan. The interesting thing is that the legendary Cole had recorded at least four versions of "The Christmas Song" starting from 1946 with the 1961 take being the most beloved version. Again, those iconic vocals are front and centre here but the feeling of his take is epic and intimate at the same with the strings helping out on the former while the jazz group feel takes care of the latter. It's like listening to it at Cole's own home Xmas party with good friends and family surrounding the piano.

Like a lot of eternal standards, "The Christmas Song" is just one of those tunes that was crafted so well that any professional singer and/or musician could send it out of the park if they were of a mind to do so. Jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi gave his version on the soundtrack for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and even Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）has brought her own cover which I wrote about long ago. And all this came about because two songwriters didn't bother to hit the fridge to get some cold soda pop.

Anyways, going with the Cole version, what were the big hits in Japan back in 1961?

Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

Yujiro Ishihara & Junko Makimura -- Ginza no Koi no Monogatari （銀座の恋の物語）

Hitoshi Ueki -- Suudara Bushi (スーダラ節）