The Greatest Christmas Songs of All-time - "The Christmas Song" - Nat King Cole cover art

The Greatest Christmas Songs of All-time - "The Christmas Song" - Nat King Cole

The Greatest Christmas Songs of All-time - "The Christmas Song" - Nat King Cole

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Welcome back to Hitmaker Chronicles! I'm your host, Garrett Fisher. Today, we begin our eight-week Christmas series with the song that defined what a Christmas standard could be - written in 45 minutes on the hottest day of summer 1945 to psychologically cool off. We'll trace how two young Jewish songwriters created the most-performed Christmas song ever, how Nat King Cole recorded it four times searching for perfection, and why Capitol Records thought strings would ruin everything. It's a story about thinking cool thoughts, breaking color barriers, and how the first Black artist to record a Christmas standard created the template for all that followed. Let's roast some chestnuts.

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