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The Christmas Waltz

This article is about the Christmas song. For the Mad Men episode, see Christmas Waltz.

"The Christmas Waltz" is a Christmas song written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne for Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in 1954 as the B-side of a new recording of "White Christmas",[1] in 1957 for his album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra,[2] and in 1968 for The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.[3] The 1957 recording made annual appearances on Billboard magazine's Holiday 100 chart from 2018 until 2022.

Background and recording

Cahn recalls, "One day during a very hot spell in Los Angeles the phone rang and it was Jule Styne to say, 'Frank wants a Christmas song.'"[4] Cahn resisted. "Jule, we're not going to write any Christmas song. After Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas'? The idea's just ridiculous."[4] Styne was emphatic, however. "'Frank wants a Christmas song.'"[4]

The two met in Styne's apartment to begin work on the project, and Cahn asked the composer, "'Hey, Jule, has there ever been a Christmas waltz?' He said no. I said, 'Play that waltz of yours.' He did so,"[4] and Cahn began work on the lyrics of "The Christmas Waltz", which many other artists have also recorded.

Referring to the line that goes, "And this song of mine, in three-quarter time," Cahn writes, "You'll notice there's an impure rhyme in that lyric, 'mine' and 'time'."[5] He notes that another of his collaborators, Jimmy Van Heusen, would not have let him get away with such an imperfection but that Styne was not quite so rigid.[5]

For what would become the B-side of "White Christmas", Sinatra first recorded "The Christmas Waltz" with a chorus as well as an arrangement by Nelson Riddle on August 23, 1954.[6] On July 16, 1957, Gordon Jenkins took over the arranging, and The Ralph Brewster Singers provided backing vocal on the recording for A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra.[6] On August 12, 1968, Riddle again provided arrangements, but it was The Jimmy Joyce Singers who lent their voices to the recording for The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.[6]

In 1992, Mel Tormé made a recording of the song for his first-ever Christmas album, for which the liner notes indicate that "Mr. Cahn wrote a new full set of additional lyrics as a personal gift to Mel."[7]

Commercial performance

There was not a version of "The Christmas Waltz" that reached any of the various charts in Billboard magazine until the 2003 holiday season when Harry Connick Jr. reached number 26 with it on the Adult Contemporary chart[8] during a two-week stay that began in the issue dated January 3, 2004.[9]

In December 2011, Billboard began a Hot Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitored the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data",[10] and in 2013 the number of positions on the chart was doubled, resulting in the Holiday 100.[11] "The Christmas Waltz" made its first appearance there during the 2018 holiday season, during which time it peaked at number 41.[12] It also charted at lower positions on the Holiday 100 during the seasons from 2019 to 2022.[a]

Critical reception

In their review of Sinatra's 1957 single that paired "The Christmas Waltz" with "Mistletoe and Holly", the editors of Cashbox magazine gave the former a letter grade of B+ and described it as a "lovely waltzer, which the master sings in his smooth, winning manner against a wistful choir backdrop."[13] Billboard magazine wrote, "Song is unusually good in concept. Sinatra gives the three-beat item a stylish performance."[14]

Cover versions

Jazz singer Nancy Wilson's version was mentioned in two AllMusic compilation reviews. For the first of the two, Merry Christmas, Baby: Romance & Reindeer, Dennis McDonald described it as "sultry".[15] Regarding the second, Holiday Slow Jams, Anthony Tognazzini wrote that her version was "alone worth the price of admission".[16]

Personnel

Credits for 1954[17] and 1957[18] recordings adapted from Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography by Luiz Carlos do Nascimento Silva:

1954 recording

1957 recording

Charts

Notes

  1. ^ See Charts section.

References

  1. ^ (1954) "White Christmas/The Christmas Waltz" by Frank Sinatra [78 RPM disc label]. Los Angeles: Capitol Records CL 14174.
  2. ^ (1957) A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra by Frank Sinatra [album jacket]. Los Angeles: Capitol Records W 894.
  3. ^ (1968) The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas by Frank Sinatra featuring Frank Sinatra, Jr., Nancy Sinatra, and Tina Sinatra [album jacket]. Burbank: Reprise Records FS 1026.
  4. ^ a b c d Cahn 1974, p. 138.
  5. ^ a b Cahn 1974, p. 139.
  6. ^ a b c "Songs Recorded by Frank Sinatra Beginning with the Letter C". Blue-Eyes.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  7. ^ (1992) Christmas Songs by Mel Tormé [CD booklet]. Cleveland: Telarc CD-83315.
  8. ^ Whitburn 2004, p. 69.
  9. ^ a b Whitburn 2004, p. 29.
  10. ^ "Andy Williams Hits New High, The Ronettes 'Ride' Back After 52 Years & More Hot 100 Chart Moves". billboard.com. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  11. ^ "Carey Brings Back 'Christmas'". Billboard. December 14, 2013. p. 115.
  12. ^ a b "Holiday 100: The week of January 5, 2019". billboard.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  13. ^ "The Cash Box Record Reviews > Frank Sinatra > "The Christmas Waltz"" (PDF). Cashbox. New York: Cash Box Publishing Co., Inc. November 30, 1957. p. 14. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  14. ^ "Christmas > Frank Sinatra – The Christmas Waltz" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 69, no. 49. December 2, 1957. p. 55. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  15. ^ McDonald, Dennis. "Merry Christmas, Baby: Romance & Reindeer". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 9, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  16. ^ Tognazzini, Anthony. "Holiday Slow Jams". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 10, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  17. ^ Silva 2000, p. 217.
  18. ^ Silva 2000, p. 273.
  19. ^ "Holiday 100: The week of January 4, 2020". billboard.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  20. ^ "Holiday 100: The week of December 12, 2020". billboard.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  21. ^ "Holiday 100 (Week of January 1, 2022)". Billboard. January 1, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Holiday 100 (Week of December 3, 2022)". Billboard. December 3, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.

Bibliography