Tag Archives: Mel Torme

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2023: Day 20

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Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the countdown.

Blog day 20

A sweet vintage Christmas card image from Pinterest. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

We have several versions of a definitive holiday song today, from the well known classic recording to a superb cover by another crooner to a Motown rendition that is absolutely wonderful to a female spin that is top notch. There are many more ways to say “Merry Christmas To You” but I think these four renditions are amongst the best. 

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos“.

Nat
tony
temps
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Top: Nat King Cole circa 1960. Middle 1: Tony Bennett circa 1962. Middle 2: The Temptations in an undated photo. Top row, from left, Otis Williams, Dennis Edwards and Eddie Kendricks. Bottom row, Melvin Franklin, left, and Paul Williams. Credit:  Paul W. Bailey/NBC, via Getty Images. Bottom: Linda Ronstadt in the 1970’s. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Nat King Cole: ”The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” (1946, 1961, written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells).

Tony Bennett: “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1968, written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells).

The Temptations: ”The Christmas Song” (Lead vocal by Otis Williams. 1970, written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells).

Linda Ronstadt: ”The Christmas Song” (2000, written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells).

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2022: Day 11

Posted in 25 Days Of Christmas Music, Christmas by

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the countdown.

Day 11 2022

A sweet vintage Christmas card image found on Pinterest. (Image found online. Original source unknown.)

One of my favorite singers of all time is the incredibly soulful Marvin Gaye. One of his major influences was Sam Cooke, an extraordinary talent we lost 58 years ago today. While I do not like to focus on the date we lose our musical heroes, I do like to remember their legacy and how they inspired others, especially the artists that mean so much to me.

For years after Gaye died in 1983, several unreleased recordings came to light, including one from a performance at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York City in 1963. Nat King Cole’s version is the paramount rendition of today’s song and rightfully so. But Gaye’s is such a fabulous jazz infused track with his own wishes to his audience to have a Merry Christmas, it is like the best gift of the season for fans still missing this man as much as I do. And while I will never know this for sure, I like to think that Gaye channeled Cooke on this track because he always had a way of making any song he covered his own, too.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos“.

Cooke

Gaye

Two of my favorite artists of all time: Sam Cooke (top) and Marvin Gaye (bottom). (Image found online. Original source unknown.)

Marvin Gaye: “The Christmas Song” (Live performance at The Apollo Theatre in 1963. Written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells).

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

Music Monday: September 26, 2022

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Music Monday

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Last week we crossed over into my favorite season. And what is not to love about fall? The crisp air especially in the evening when it is ripe with the aroma of wood burning fireplaces, the vibrant colors of the changing leaves, harvest festivals, not one but two holidays revolving around food (yes, I consider Halloween candy a food), pumpkins, gourds and jack-o-lanterns (oh my), the coziness of sweaters & warm blankets and we get an extra hour of sleep. Who is not on board with that? And what better way to celebrate a new season than with music?

fall pinterest image

(Pinterest image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today’s song dates back to 1946 when it was written for the French film, Les Portes de la nuit (Gates Of The Night). Not long after American lyricist extrairdinaire Johnny Mercer wrote an English version of the track. Since then over a thousand renditions of this song have been recorded-some with vocals, some just instrumentals. Many of them are very well done but the interpretation I always found exceptional was by one of America’s greatest entertainers, Nat King Cole. His polished serene yet evocative vocals convey the loss of both love & one of the season’s most beautiful gifts in a truly sublime performance. He may be universally remembered best for his interpretation of Mel Torme’s classic, “The Christmas Song”, but Cole shines in all the other seasons too, including my favorite one of all.

“Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall“.

Nat circa 1955

Nat King Cole circa 1955. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Nat King Cole: “Autumn Leaves” (1955, music by Joseph Kosma, English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, French lyrics by Jacques Prévert).

Stay safe and well.

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2021: Day 22

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Music by

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the countdown.

Day 22

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today’s song is one of the defining songs of the Christmas season. No matter how many other renditions there are of this tune, none can compare to this man’s most popular interpretation recorded in 1961. What would this holiday even look like without Nat King Cole?

“And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it’s been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you“.

NatKingCole

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Nat King Cole: “The Christmas Song” (1961, written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2019: Day 1

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Music by

Happy December, everybody!!!

December

(Original source unknown.)

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving however you spent it.  I started mine in the usual way-by watching the parade.  I was absolutely thrilled to see Snoopy the Astronaut as the first balloon!!!  What an honor!!!

So now that we are officially in the Christmas season (and it really feels that way today here in New England because we are getting our first snowfall of the year…….YAY!!!) it is time for my 25 Days of Christmas music countdown!!!

Let’s begin with a classic by a classic.  Other than “White Christmas”, no other song defines the season like this one.  And this man’s version is the quintessential one at that.  He actually recorded this song a few times (1946, 1953) before, but the stereo version from 1961 is the one most of us know and love.  For a singer who began his career in jazz, it was his pop songs that turned him into a massive success that led to him starring in his own TV show beginning in 1956.

Nat King Cole.jpg Nat King Cole circa 1950’s (original source unknown).

Nat King Cole:  “The Christmas Song” (1961, written by Robert Wells & Mel Torme in 1945).

For an outstanding female take on this song, my pick is by a woman who became famous during the big band era.  Her smooth velvet-like voice was simply gorgeous and her take on the standards was like no one before her or since.  She recorded several Christmas classics, but this one is just magic to me.  And the fact that she is related to George Clooney only makes her more lovable (not to mention unbelievably lucky!!!)

Clooney

Rosemary Clooney circa 1950’s & in 1994 with nephew George Clooney on the set of ER. 
(KOBAL/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY)

Rosemary Clooney:  “The Christmas Song” (1978 and 1996, written by Robert Wells & Mel Torme in 1945).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!