Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé.
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born. "I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells') piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "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. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."
The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made later the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. She was certified as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. Her crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV influenced several African-American female artists.
Houston began singing in church as a child and became a background vocalist while in high school. With the guidance of Arista Records chairman Clive Davis, she signed to the label at age 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. She is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988.
Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles; "I'm Your Baby Tonight", and "All the Man That I Need" and was certified quintuple platinum by RIAA. Houston made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992). She recorded six songs for the film's soundtrack, including "I Will Always Love You", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling physical single by a female in music history. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. Houston starred and recorded soundtracks for two other high-profile films, Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), with the latter's soundtrack being the best-selling gospel album of all time.
Following the critical and commercial success of My Love Is Your Love (1998), Houston renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million. However, her personal struggles began overshadowing her career, and the album Just Whitney (2002) received mixed reviews. Her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown received widespread media coverage. After a six-year break from recording, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her final studio album, I Look to You (2009). On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (well)
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe (well)
Help to make the season bright
Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
You now that, you know that, you know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
Everybody's mother's child is going to spy
To see if reindeer's really know how to fly
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
From kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Christmas to
To all of you
Merry Christmas to everyone
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé.
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born. "I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells') piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "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. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."
The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made later the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. She was certified as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. Her crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV influenced several African-American female artists.
Houston began singing in church as a child and became a background vocalist while in high school. With the guidance of Arista Records chairman Clive Davis, she signed to the label at age 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. She is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988.
Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles; "I'm Your Baby Tonight", and "All the Man That I Need" and was certified quintuple platinum by RIAA. Houston made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992). She recorded six songs for the film's soundtrack, including "I Will Always Love You", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling physical single by a female in music history. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. Houston starred and recorded soundtracks for two other high-profile films, Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), with the latter's soundtrack being the best-selling gospel album of all time.
Following the critical and commercial success of My Love Is Your Love (1998), Houston renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million. However, her personal struggles began overshadowing her career, and the album Just Whitney (2002) received mixed reviews. Her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown received widespread media coverage. After a six-year break from recording, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her final studio album, I Look to You (2009). On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (well)
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe (well)
Help to make the season bright
Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
You now that, you know that, you know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
Everybody's mother's child is going to spy
To see if reindeer's really know how to fly
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
From kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Christmas to
To all of you
Merry Christmas to everyone
![The Ramsey Lewis Trio - The Sound of Christmas [Full Album] (Argo Records 1961)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/o-pbp70zWbI/mqdefault.jpg "The Ramsey Lewis Trio - The Sound of Christmas [Full Album] (Argo Records 1961)
Sound of Christmas is an album of Christmas music by Ramsey Lewis Trio featuring tracks recorded in 1961 and released on the Argo label.
Lewis recorded a second seasonal album, More Sounds of Christmas, in 1964.
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include The In Crowd, Wade in the Water, and Sun Goddess. Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA.
Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinias Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts.
The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, Ramsey Lewis and the Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956. Following their 1965 hit The In Crowd (the single reached No. 5 on the pop charts, and the album No. 2) they concentrated more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form Young-Holt Unlimited and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White. White left to form Earth, Wind & Fire and was replaced by Morris Jennings in 1970. Later, Frankie Donaldson and Bill Dickens replaced Jennings and Eaton; Felton Crews also appeared on many 1980s releases.")
![Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians - The Sounds of Christmas [Full Album] (Capitol Records 1959)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/otsdF0QCHek/mqdefault.jpg "Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians - The Sounds of Christmas [Full Album] (Capitol Records 1959)
For generations of baby boomers, year-end festivities would not have been the same without Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians. This compilation is derived from the classic Now Is the Caroling Season (1957) and Caroling, Caroling (1959) collections, the former bearing the distinction of heralding in the era of the holiday music long-player. Waring initially assembled a group he christened the Collegians during his tenure at Penn State. He incongruously arrived at the moniker the Pennsylvanians after the band relocated to Michigan. The lineup was an instantly recognizable fixture from numerous appearances on radio as well as the silver screen. When television was introduced, Waring and company were the first combo to have their own show. All that exposure guaranteed that when they began to release albums, the platters were sure to become instant best-sellers. True to form, Now Is the Caroling Season reached the upper tiers of the charts in 1957 and 1958. The highlights included here aptly represent what makes those original recordings so very special. The material is drawn from sacred and secular titles, with longtime Waring arrangers Robert Shaw, Roy Ringwald, Jack Best, and Hawley Ades adapting the traditional tunes. The opening track has been renamed from Now Is the Caroling Season to Caroling, Caroling. Regardless, it immediately evokes the romanticism and nostalgia inherent in the customary celebration. There is a discernible innocence in White Christmas and The Christmas Song (aka Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) that has escaped most other versions. The robust vocal blend and tastefully discreet orchestrations are flawless. That similarly translates into the placidity and reverence of O Holy Night and Angels, from the Realms of Glory. Sadly, they dont make em like this anymore, but luckily these repackagings remain readily available for interested parties.
Fredrick Malcolm Waring (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was a musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as Americas Singing Master and The Man Who Taught America How to Sing. He was also a promoter, financial backer and eponym of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric blender on the market.")
