[PREORDER] Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (DSS One-Step Vinyl)

Indie Exclusive One-Step LP, 180 Gram Vinyl, Limited Edition

Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song is built around his signature holiday recording. The title song was written in 1945 by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells — reportedly during a sweltering summer, as a way to think cool — and Cole first recorded it with his trio in 1946. His 1961 stereo recording, arranged for orchestra by Ralph Carmichael, is widely regarded as the definitive version, and it anchors this album.

Released in the early 1960s on Capitol, the album collects Cole's readings of seasonal standards — "O Holy Night," "Silent Night," "Deck the Hall," "Joy to the World," and more — with orchestral and choral arrangements by Ralph Carmichael throughout.

This pressing is part of Interscope-Capitol's Definitive Sound Series, mastered from the original three-track analog master tapes and produced using the One-Step process — which cuts the grooves directly from the lacquer to the stamper for greater clarity and warmth. It appears on 180-gram vinyl as a one-time pressing of 3,000 numbered copies in a tip-on gatefold jacket and custom DSS slipcase, and adds two recordings not on the original album: "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen."

Tracklist

Side A

1. The Christmas Song
2. Deck the Hall
3. Adeste Fideles
4. O Tannenbaum
5. O Little Town of Bethlehem
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. O Holy Night
8. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Side B

1. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
2. A Cradle in Bethlehem
3. Away in a Manger
4. Joy to the World
5. The First Noel
6. Caroling, Caroling
7. Silent Night
8. O Come All Ye Faithful