*** Songs My Father Played for Me *** More of My Father's Favorites

1. Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" was written on a hot, oppressive summer day in 1945. Mel Torme, went over to the house of one of his writing partners, Bob Wells. There was a spiral pad at the piano. There were four lines scribbled down on it in pencil. Those four lines were: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire/ Jack Frost nipping at your nose / Yuletide carols being sung by a choir / And folks dressed up like Eskimos." When Bob Wells eventually appeared, he told Mel that he had been trying to do everything to cool down on that hot day. Wells said, "I thought that maybe if I could just write down a few lines of wintry verse, I could physiologically get an edge over this heat." Forty-five minutes later, the lyrics of what would be "The Christmas Song" were finished. Have you eaten Roasted Chestnuts?

2. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was written by the songwriting duo Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, who created it for the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis" where it was introduced by Judy Garland. Frank Sinatra later popularizing a version with modified, happier lyrics. Have you............

3. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (1947 ) was written by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent and recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, who scored a top ten hit with the song. Originally written to honor soldiers overseas who longed to be home at Christmas time it has gone on to become a Christmas standard. The song ends on a melancholy note, with the soldier saying, "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams". Have you heard this song before?