Decades before Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” became a Christmas classic, Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” ruled the airwaves.
Born in Montgomery, Ala. in 1919, Nathaniel Adams Coles relocated to Chicago with his family at the age of 4. And it was his time in Chicago that would set the foundation for Cole’s success, including his cherished holiday tunes.
His father was a Baptist minister, and his mother played the organ at church. A prodigious talent in a musical family, Cole was just 4 years old when he performed music for the first time.
While he is best remembered as a pitch-perfect baritone with dulcet tones, the piano was Cole’s first love. He started formal lessons at 12 and developed a broad repertoire that included classical and jazz music.
Cole walked away from formal education at 15 to pursue a career as a full-time musician. He landed in Los Angeles at Capitol Records studios, where he recorded the vast majority of his music, and it was indeed a lot of music. So much so that Capitol Record on Vine was referred to as “the house that Nat built” for the sheer amount of wealth the record label generated from the sale of his records and merchandise.
One of his most notable works is the six-time platinum “The Christmas Song.” It was written by Chicago pianist Mel Torme and lyricist Bob Wells in 1945. The pair worked on the song during a particularly hot California summer. The imagery in those famous opening lines — “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack frost nipping at your nose…” — was an attempt by Wells to “stay cool by thinking cool.”
Cole recorded two versions of the song in 1946; one version with an orchestra and a version with his King Cole Trio. He recorded the song again in the ’50s. But it was four times lucky for the crooner as his fourth rendition of “The Christmas Song,” recorded in 1961, is the version that would be the most popular and remains in heavy rotation today.
In 1964, Cole was diagnosed with lung cancer. A lifelong smoker, Cole picked up the habit at 14 and smoked up to three packs of cigarettes a day as an adult. He died at 45.
In 1992 his daughter, singer Natalie Cole, recorded a version of his 1951 hit song “Unforgettable,” mixing in her father’s voice to create a groundbreaking virtual duet. The song won seven Grammy Awards.
Cole holds posthumous honors from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and was inducted in the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2000.
To find out more about Chicago’s Cole, listen to WBEZ contributor and urban historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas’ conversation with producer Cianna Greaves.
