It was a hot afternoon in the summer of 1945, when a 19-year-old singer named Mel Torme drove out for a working session with his songwriting partner, Bob Wells. Wells lived with his parents in a home in the San Fernando Valley, where it was at least ten degrees warmer than in town.
There was no air conditioning yet, and before Torme’s arrival, Wells had tried everything to escape the heat, including a swim, a cold shower, and musing about Christmas and cold winter scenes from his boyhood days in Boston. Upon arriving, Torme, a frequent visitor, walked in and called for Bob. When there was no answer, he walked over to the piano where he spied a writing pad resting on the music board. Written on the open page were four lines of verse:
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.
“What’s this?” Torme asked when Wells appeared. Wells explained how tired he was of being hot and thought writing about something wintery would help distract him from the heat. Torme later described his friend’s efforts as trying to “stay cool by thinking cool.”
