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The Magic of Christmas (Nat King Cole album)

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The Magic of Christmas
Studio album by
Nat King Cole
Released1960
RecordedJuly 5–7, 1960
StudioCapitol (Hollywood)[1]
GenreChristmas music
Length31:00
LabelCapitol
ProducerLee Gillette
Nat King Cole chronology
Wild Is Love
(1960) 		The Magic of Christmas
(1960) 		The Nat King Cole Story
(1961)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

The Magic of Christmas is a 1960 album by Nat King Cole, arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael.[3]

This was Cole's only complete album of Christmas songs, although he had recorded several holiday singles earlier in his career. One of these, "The Christmas Song", originally recorded in 1946, was re-recorded for the 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story.

It is the best-selling Christmas album released in the 1960s, and was certified by the RIAA for shipments of 6 million copies in the U.S.[4] The 1963 version reached number 1 on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart and remained for two weeks.

Track listing

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Side one

  1. "Deck the Halls" (Traditional)
  2. "Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful)" (John Francis Wade)
  3. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (Traditional)
  4. "O Tannenbaum" (Traditional)
  5. "O, Little Town of Bethlehem" (Phillip Brooks, Lewis Redner)
  6. "I Saw Three Ships" (Traditional)
  7. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight)

Side two

  1. "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley)
  2. "A Cradle in Bethlehem" (Alfred Bryan, Larry Stock)
  3. "Away in a Manger" (Traditional)
  4. "Joy to the World" (Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts)
  5. "The First Noel" (William B. Sandys)
  6. "Caroling, Caroling" (Alfred Burt, Wihla Hutson)
  7. "Silent Night" (Franz Gruber, Josef Mohr)
  • All tracks, save for "A Cradle in Bethlehem" and "Caroling, Caroling", are credited on the LP label as being adapted by Nat King Cole and Edith Bergdahl.[5]
  • The album was reissued in 1963 as The Christmas Song, with the title track added as the leadoff to Side 1 and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" omitted.[6]
  • An alternate, all-English performance of "O, Come All Ye Faithful" was recorded during the album sessions and first released in 1990 on the compilation album Cole, Christmas, & Kids.[7]

Personnel

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Orchestra members[1]

  • Piano: Milton Raskin
  • Guitar: John Collins
  • Bass played by: Lloyd Lunham
  • Arco Bass: Bob Stone
  • Drums: Lee Young
  • Percussion: John Cyr (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Ralph Hansell (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Dale Anderson
  • Harp: Kathryn Thompson
  • Violins: Harold Dicterow (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Dave Frisina (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Nate Kaproff (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Joe Livoti (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Emanuel Moss (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Lou Raderman (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Isadore Roman (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Victor Arno, Emil Briano, James Getzoff, Alex Murray, Erno Neufield, Ralph Schaeffer, Joseph Stepansky, Jerry Vinci, Israel Baker
  • Violas: Milt Thomas (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Alvin Dinkin (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Ray Menhennick (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Gary Nuttycombe (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Al Harshman, Lou Kievman
  • Cellos: Dave Filerman (A3, A5, A7, B2, B6), Armand Kaproff (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Ed Lustgarten (A1-A2, A4, B1, B4), Emmett Sargeant, Joseph Saxon

On A1-A2, A4, B1, B4:

The Christmas Song reissue

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The Christmas Song cover of a 2009 reissue

In 1999 The Magic of Christmas was reissued under the title The Christmas Song, with several added tracks including an alternate version of "The Christmas Song" with Cole's daughter, and with new cover art.[8] This version of the album was placed at number 38 on Rolling Stone's top 65 greatest Christmas albums of all time.[9]

No.TitleLength
1."Nat's Christmas Wishes"0:16
2."The Christmas Song"3:14
3."Deck The Hall"1:08
4."Adeste Fideles"2:24
5."God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"1:32
6."O Tannenbaum"3:03
7."O Little Town of Bethlehem"2:21
8."I Saw Three Ships"1:28
9."O Holy Night"3:02
10."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"1:51
11."A Cradle in Bethlehem"3:27
12."Away in a Manger"2:01
13."Joy to the World"1:28
14."The First Noel"2:01
15."Caroling, Caroling"2:03
16."Silent Night"2:11
17."Buon Natale (Means Merry Christmas to You)" (featuring Anthony Hamilton)1:36
18."All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)"2:31
19."The Happiest Christmas Tree"1:45
20."The Christmas Song" (featuring Natalie Cole)3:44
Total length:43:00

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications and sales for The Christmas Song
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[38] Gold 10,000‡
United States (RIAA)[39] 6× Platinum 6,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b Nat King Cole with Ralph Carmichael Orchestra. "Capitol Tower, Los Angeles, CA: July 5-7, 1960". Jazz Disco. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ The Magic of Christmas at AllMusic
  4. ^ Grein, Paul (December 19, 2012). "Chart Watch Extra: Christmas Albums, From Bing to Buble". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  5. ^ Cole, Nat King (1960). The Magic of Christmas (Liner Notes). Capitol Records.
  6. ^ Cole, Nat King (1963). The Christmas Song (Album Notes). Capitol Records.
  7. ^ a b Cole, Nat King (1990). Cole, Christmas and Kids (Liner Notes). Capitol Records.
  8. ^ "A Pile o' Cole's Nat King Cole website – The Magic of Christmas". Apileocole.alongthehall.com. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  9. ^ Edwards, Gavin (November 30, 2019). "40 Essential Christmas Albums". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Ultratop.be – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "Nat King Cole Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  14. ^ "Hitlisten.NU – Album Top-40 Uge 1, 2024". Hitlisten. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  16. ^ "Albumit 52/2022" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  18. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2023. 52. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  19. ^ "Tónlistinn – Plötur – Vika 52 – 2023" [The Music – Albums – Week 52 – 2023] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on December 31, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  20. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  21. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 22.12.2023 al 28.12.2023)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  22. ^ "2022 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  23. ^ "Album 2022 uke 52". VG-lista. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  24. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 22.12.2023–28.12.2023 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  25. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Nat %22King%22 Cole – The Christmas Song". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  27. ^ "Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor's Version) Tops Billboard 200 for Fifth Week". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  28. ^ "Nat King Cole Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  29. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  30. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  31. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  32. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  33. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  34. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  35. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  36. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  37. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2023". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  38. ^ "Danish album certifications – Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  39. ^ "American album certifications – Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
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