Christmas Time: The Christmas Song Robert Wells and Mel Tormé piano solo sheet music

Best Sheet Music download from our Library.

Please, subscribe to our Library.

If you are already a subscriber, please, check our NEW SCORES’ page every month for new sheet music. THANK YOU!

“The Christmas Song” by Bob Wells & Mel Tormé (Christmas Time songbook)

“The Christmas Song” (1946) by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé was the product of a sizzling hot day in Los Angeles in July of 1945. Tormé had gone over to Wells’ house to visit and found a notebook with a small verse which began “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”. When asked, Wells said he “thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off”. Tormé saw its possibilities as a song and in less than an hour of collaboration had written the melody, more lyrics and they had the song. First recorded by Nat “King” Cole in early 1946, his second recording later that year added a string section and was a hit on both the pop and R&B charts. The first recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. By 1999 over 1700 versions had been recorded and ASCAP lists it as the number one holiday song of the 21st century.

Mel Tormé (1925-1999) was a child prodigy who began singing when three years old, studied piano and drums, and published his first song when 15 years old, which was recorded by Harry James. He played drums, sang and wrote arrangements in the Chico Marx band starting in 1942. His solo singing career started in 1947 and his 1949 version of “Blue Moon” led to his nickname “The Velvet Fog”. He then went from crooning to scat, and is still considered one of the all-time top three scat performers. He acted in 41 movies and television shows, wrote six books, including an autobiography and maintained his vocal skills until the 1996 stroke from which he died in 1999.

Bob Wells (1922-1998) wrote over 400 songs, with “The Christmas Song” (with Mel Tormé) among the best known. They wrote 150 songs together. Wells worked with Blake Edwards on several films, including “A Shot in the Dark” and “10”. He won four Emmy Awards as producer and head writer of “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show” and two more for ”Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now”, as well as a 1957 Peabody Award for the “Dinah Shore Chevy Show”.

Lyrics

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

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa’s on his way
He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother’s child is going to spy
To see if reindeers really know how to fly

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

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
Merry Christmas to you

Mel Tormé

Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed “the Velvet Fog”, was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.

Bob Wells

Robert Wells (born Robert Levinson, October 15, 1922 – September 23, 1998) was an American songwriter, composer, screenwriter and television producer. During his early career, he collaborated with Mel Tormé, writing several hit songs, most notably “The Christmas Song” in 1945. Later, he became a prolific writer and producer for television, for such shows as The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, as well as for numerous variety specials, such as If They Could See Me Now, starring Shirley MacLaine. He was nominated for several Academy Awards and won six Emmys and a Peabody Award.

Browse in the Library: