Natalie Cole records Christmas album and tells why her father's holiday music remains so popular

Jet, Dec 19, 1994 by Clarence Waldron

Every Christmas, the late Nat King Cole sets the of the holiday season with his classic tune, The Christmas Song.

It seems practically every radio station you turn on this holiday season, you can hear Cole singing: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose. . ."

Keeping the holiday spirit in the family, Cole's famous daughter, Grammy Award-winning superstar Natalie Cole includes the song on her new Christmas album, Holly and Ivy, which already has become a top favorite among music lovers this season.

In a recent Jet telephone interview from her home in Los Angeles, Ms. Cole discussed her new Christmas album and explained why her father's holiday music remains so popular after nearly 50 years.

Ms. Cole's album is produced by her longtime collaborators, her husband, Andre Fischer and Tommy LiPuma, who were responsible for her smash albums, Unforgettable With Love, which features her fathers hit tunes and its follow up album, Take A Look, which highlighted songs popularized by her father's show business friends, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others.

On Holly and Ivy, she performs a few of the same traditional holiday tunes that her father included on his classic The Christmas Song album including Caroling, Caroling, Silent Night and The First Noel.

She takes listeners to church on her gospel flavored rendition of Joy to the World, swings through a jazzy, sassy Jingle Bells and proves that she is one of the sweetest songbirds around on the touching Christmas ballad, Holly and Ivy.

"Holly and Ivy is a non-traditional album," Natalie says. "Though we do Silent Night, Merry Christmas Baby, and a wonderful gospel version of Joy to the World, (featuring L.A.'s Friendly Baptist Church choir) we move around a lot. No one really does much with Jingle Bells, so my approach was very 40ish, very Andrew Sisters, very fun and up."

The first single from the album is No More Blue Christmas, an original tune written by the singer's longtime friend, Michael Masser. "Michael called and said, `I've got this beautiful Christmas song I wrote just for you.' He played it for me, and it was beautiful and then we thought, why not put out a whole album?" She adds with a laugh, "and then I was running around in April, looking for Christmas songs."

The Christmas Song was first introduced by Nat King Cole in 1946. Written by jazz singer Mel Torme and Robert Wells, it remains a major holiday favorite. Natalie says the smooth, distinctive quality of her father's voice, is the reason his holiday music remains so popular today. "It's the same reason that Unforgettable or Mona Lisa remains so popular every year. There is just a quality in my dad's voice, a very magical, special individual quality.

"I think the song itself is just a darling sweet song," she says proudly. "When it came out it stood out because everybody was putting out a lot of traditional Christmas songs. I still haven't heard too many original Christmas songs that have been as good as that one. The world just seems to know about this one."

Says Natalie, "Dad was already in his prime in his career and this song added another crown to his already glowing works."

She notes that her father always recorded quality music that would stand the test of time. "My father always tried to do things with elegance, a touch of elegance, without being pretentious. And that's one of the things that stands out about his music."

She enthuses, "That whole album that The Christmas Song is on is really probably one of the nicest, warmest Christmas albums that I've ever heard."

This holiday season finds Natalie Cole busier than ever. In addition to her album, she recently starred in a Christmas special on PBS-TV's "Great Performances" and made her movie acting debut in Lily in Winter on USA Cable Network.

"Acting is a little more difficult than singing," she notes. "The singing process is something that I've done all my life. When you are singing live, you have the audience there, you have all that inspiration going for you. But when you're on the set, it's just you, your co-stars, and the crew." She remembers filming winter scenes in 105 degree weather: "Acting is probably one of the least glamorous jobs in Hollywood. kind of respect for actors."

With all the joy she hopes her fans will experience from her yuletide projects, Natalie hopes they wont forget the true spirit of the holiday season.

"Christmas is a time as well as Thanksgiving to be thankful that we made it this far. It is a time for families to reflect and not just wait until the holidays to be a family, but continue to connect and communicate with each other all year long."

Looking toward the new year, the superstar singer plans to return to her soulful roots on her next album, slated for release in the spring of next year.

"One of the things that a lot of people have been asking about Natalie Cole is `When is she going to do another one of those `down' albums?" she laughs. "Natalie Cole hasn't gone anywhere," she assures her fans. "She just likes to expand a little, every now and then."