🎄 Holidays! The Christmas Song, Mel Torme vs. Carpenters

[350hunny]

Do they play Mel Torme's version in your country?
Perhaps Nat King Cole's may have more airplay.
I have a copy of My Kind Of Music cd, including this classic.(2'44")
Well, Mel's version has different lines in the lyrics (after 'Though it's been said many times, many ways Merry Christmas to you):

Love and joy come to you
and to you your carol, too
And God bless you and send you
A happy new year
And God send you
A happy new year

On the other hand, Carpenters begin with this:

All through the year we've waited
waited through spring and fall
to hear silver bells ringing
see wintertime bringing
the happiest season of all

Each act sings the different lyrics. I don't know why Richard put away with
the original part and instead repeated the same lyrics as well as he added new opening words to it. I guess King's version is similar to Carpenters' except these opening lines. I also wonder if Mel has another version.

Carpenters' version was the first Christmas record that I bought and really enjoyed. This song appears on Christmas Portrait but I like to hear it not in the way it is interlaced with Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.
I'm hoping that Richard is really preparing for the single boxset including this single version.

 

[AM Matt]

There is a CD called "Santa's Greatest Hits" (Various Artists) on Hip-O (from 1999) which has the 1962 version of Mel Torme "Christmas Song" not the original version. The first time I heard Mel's song was on a album compilation called "Sounds Of Christmas" on MCA (which looks like a man who is bowling) which came out in 1969 or 1970 which was the 1962 version. A must have CD. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[newvillefan]

This song appears on Christmas Portrait but I like to hear it not in the way it is interlaced with Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.

I'm hoping that Richard is really preparing for the single boxset including this single version.

This song appears on Christmas Portrait as a separate track and not interlaced with Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. When you hit play on the CD, it starts without any overlap from the previous track.

So in effect you already have the 'single' version you are waiting for (since it has a clean ending too)!

Stephen

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The song with these lyrics:

Love and joy come to you
and to you your carol, too
And God bless you and send you
A happy new year
And God send you
A happy new year

...is not "The Christmas Song" but another song "The Wassail Song."

As for "The Christmas Song," the version I like the most is Herb Alpert's. It is appealing for the same reason "This Guy's In Love With You" is...simplicity, sincerity and feeling.

 

[andywithaz]

I thought it was "HERE WE COME A CAROLING," not the Wassail song???

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Oops, you're right. My bad. That's what I get for listening to OTHER Christmas music while "playing" that song in my head!

 

[350hunny]

Thanks, Matt for your input. I'm thinking of getting one for me. A friend of mine who likes Mel Torme and Fred Astaire played me the song, which was different from the one I have on the cd, which was lost in a pile of cds and found recently.

Stephen, thanks for your info. I'm sorry but the single version has no chimes at the beginning if I remember right. As my 45 of this song is in a heap of records, I can't get it out and play it right now. I hope you will compare these two:single to album. The album version has the chimes of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town ringing into the beginning of The Christmas Song. I have a copy of mini-single cd of this song but I was disappointed at the fact that they just culled it from the album version so that you hear not-the-complete single version. It's like having the partial chimes of (Want You) Back In My Life Again during the intro of Ticket To Ride as a 45. Would you be satisfied with that?

Thank you guys, Mike & Andrew. Here we come a caroling? There doesn't seem to be any credit or name of the song but Melvin's version doesn't repeat the part 'They know that Santa's on his way' into 'Merry Christmas to you' and instead goes into the part of Here We Come A Caroling.
In fact I find a difference between the songs due to the melodies and progerssion chord, it's rather a medley of these two songs.

Does anybody know any other singer who sings the opening part of Carpenters' vesion?

 

[Murray]

Oops, you're right. My bad. That's what I get for listening to OTHER Christmas music while "playing" that song in my head!

Mike, you and Andrew were both right. "Here We Come A Caroling" and "The Wassail Song" are the SAME song, just with the word "caroling" substituted for the original "wassailing". Why this was changed I've no idea. Probably done by someone who didn't think that modern people were smart enough to look "wassail" up in the dictionary!

Murray

 

[andywithaz]

Oops. Sorry Mike. I'm ignorant.

 

[350hunny]

I dug out the 45 and played it.
Yes, my memory is right.
There's no chime at the beginning, just strings and oboe? .

As I'm going out, I'll come back and listen to it carefully for other differences later.