. . . "2011-10-14"^^ . . "Gramophone record" . "0.0556899"^^ . . "American Christmas songs" . . "303663"^^ . "%22The Christmas Song%22 (commonly subtitled %22Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire%22 or, as it was originally subtitled, %22Merry Christmas to You%22) is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Torm\u00E9. According to Torm\u00E9, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to %22stay cool by thinking cool%22, the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born. %22I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells') piano with four lines written in pencil%22, Torm\u00E9 recalled. %22They 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.%22The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's behest \u2013 and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records \u2013 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\u201349, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974." . . "2009 singles" . "5714dedc25ac0d8aee4ae77f" . "USRE11200528" . "Mel Torm\u00E9" . "1999 singles" . "Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients" . "153.0"^^ . . "Robert Wells (songwriter)" . "8e9cd2d7-c552-422e-8ef8-1c1688853bf7" . . "Mel Torm\u00E9 songs" . "Songs written by Robert Wells (songwriter)" . "Songs written by Mel Torm\u00E9" . "TRDJGTZ128F4248133" . "-12.9"^^ . "true"^^ . "2003 recording" . "1946-08-19" . "true"^^ . "-0.144042"^^ . "61700787" . "The Christmas Song" . "1478" . "Nat King Cole songs" . "2012 singles" . "Capitol Records" . "english" . "258000.0"^^ . "6"^^ . "1953-08-26" . . "The Christmas Song" . . "16"^^ . . "Single (music)" . "false"^^ . "1945 songs" . "eng" .