Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

Some recordings simply become the song. Nat King Cole's version of "The Christmas Song," with its opening line about chestnuts roasting on an open fire, is the definitive reading of Mel Tormé and Bob Wells' standard, and this Capitol album built around it remains one of the cornerstones of American holiday music.

Cole's warm, effortless baritone was made for this material, and the album leans into tradition rather than novelty. Alongside the title track are reverent, beautifully sung carols: "O Holy Night," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Joy to the World," "The First Noel" and "Silent Night," plus gentler pieces like "A Cradle in Bethlehem" and "Caroling, Caroling." "Adeste Fideles" and "O Tannenbaum" let him show off the elegant phrasing that made him one of the great vocalists of his era, singer and pianist alike.

Decades later, it is still the record many families reach for first when the tree goes up, and for good reason: there is nothing dated about a voice this good.

This Capitol reissue presents the fourteen-track album in stereo on black vinyl.