The Magic of Christmas is a 1960 album by Nat King Cole, arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. This was Cole's only complete album of Christmas songs, although he had recorded several holiday singles earlier in his career. One of these, "The Christmas Song", originally recorded in 1946, was re-recorded for the 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story. It is the best-selling Christmas album released in the 1960s, and was certified by the RIAA for shipments of 6 million copies in the U.S. The 1963 version reached number 1 on Billboard Christmas Albums chart and remained for two weeks.

Track listing

Side one Side two

Personnel

Orchestra members On A1-A2, A4, B1, B4:

The Christmas Song reissue

In 1999 The Magic of Christmas was reissued under the title The Christmas Song, with several added tracks including an alternate version of "The Christmas Song" with Cole's daughter, and with new cover art. This version of the album was placed at number 38 on Rolling Stone's top 65 greatest Christmas albums of all time.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications