Country singer-songwriter Keith Urban put his own spin and style on when he performed “The Christmas Song” in 2011 at CMA Country Christmas.
Urban has an ability either to really belt out a song or calmly sing a warm, tender melody. For this classic, he sat down on a stool and sang to the gathered crowd in person and those watching at home on TV.
Many people connect “The Christmas Song” with a version done by legendary singer Nat King Cole in 1946. Country musicians, though, have a way of connecting with their own audiences.
Urban does his best to do so on the television special. He’s backed by a full orchestra, giving the performance a sound of lush, musical grace.
Take a few minutes and enjoy Keith Urban singing this holiday classic.
“The Christmas Song” was written by songwriters Mel Torme’ and Bob Wells. Actually, Torme’ also had quite a career as a singer of jazz and standards.
Torme’ went over during the summer of 1945 to Wells’ home. When he entered, Wells was not around but there were four lines written on a notepad on a piano.
“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”
According to Torme’s son James, his father Mel and Wells worked up the final version of the song 45 minutes later.
Keith Urban Draws High Praise From Tim McGraw
Keith Urban and his guitar work have been recognized in country music. He received quite a testimonial from singer-songwriter Tim McGraw.
McGraw talked about making his hit song “Highway Don’t Care” on the “Inside Machine Hits” series.
He said that he knew as soon as Taylor Swift was on board for the song, he “really” wanted Urban to join, too.
“I’m a huge fan of his playing, fan of his singing, just a fan of the person that he is as well,” McGraw said. “So I sent it over to Keith and right away he sent it back and was very happy to play on it.”
McGraw said he sent the song over to Urban and he laid down his guitar track.
“It just blew me away, because we had a really good guitar track already on there that I liked a lot, and you don’t wanna have to tell Keith Urban that you like the other guitar track better,” McGraw laughs. “I wasn’t worried about that because I knew Keith would blow it away. It really made it an iconic record.”
