25 Days of Christmas Albums: The Christmas Song ✧ Nat “King” Cole ✧ 1963

And now for one that most everyone knows. Nat King Cole will always be “the voice” for me. Sinatra, Crosby, Bennett, and Martin can all pack up and go home. Cole carries joy and wonder in his presentation in an earnest, non-saccharine way. This album is a monster: the best selling (platinum six-times-over) Christmas album of the 60’s.

The title track may well be the standout, and it’s the one I always equate with this album. The piano and guitar solos in the middle of the song hearken to Cole’s jazz bona fides. “The First Noel” is probably my second favorite, stuffed full of good nature as it is. Cole really treats it as a story he walks the listener through. Nat King Cole is even able to take a typical snooze-fest like “I Saw Three Ships” and reinterpret it as a jaunty and playful confection.

It should be noted that Cole’s cardigan game is also on point. “Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.”