Melvin Howard (Mel) Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed “The Velvet Fog,” was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author, who composed the music for “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé was born on September 13, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish Polish immigrant parents, William David Torme and Betty Torme (née Simkin). A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age 4 with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing “You’re Driving Me Crazy” at Chicago’s Blackhawk restaurant. Torme played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs The Romance of Helen Trent and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy and wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, “Lament to Love,” became a hit for bandleader Harry James. He graduated from Hyde Park High School.
From 1942 to 1943, Torme was a member of a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. He was the singer, drummer, and also did some arrangements. In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut in Frank Sinatra’s first film, the musical Higher and Higher. In 1944, he formed the vocal quintet Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones, modeled on Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers. The Mel-Tones, which included Les Baxter and Ginny O’Connor, had several hits fronting Artie Shaw’s band and on their own, including Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?” The Mel-Tones were among the first jazz-influenced vocal groups, blazing a path later followed by The Hi-Lo’s, The Four Freshmen, and The Manhattan Transfer. Tormé was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946, and soon returned to a life of radio, television, movies, and music. His appearance in the 1947 film musical Good News made him a teen idol.
“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is the name of a classic Christmas song, written in 1944 by Tormé and Bob Wells. The chord structure was inspired by the composition of World War II Marine Earle Warren Zaidins whom Tormé met while touring with the troops during the war. Nat King Cole originally recorded the song several times. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song, early in 1946; at Cole’s behest (and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records), a second recording was made the same year utilizing a small string section, and this version became a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole re-recorded the song in 1953 and again in 1961, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra; the latter recording is regarded by many as definitive and still gets heavy radio airplay each Christmas season. Mel Torme would eventually record his own version in 1965.
In 1947, Torme started a solo singing career. His appearances at New York’s Copacabana led local disc jockey Fred Robbins to give him the nickname “The Velvet Fog” in honor of his high tenor and smooth vocal style. Tormé detested the nickname. He self-deprecatingly referred to it as “this Velvet Frog voice.” As a solo singer, he recorded several romantic hits for Decca and with the Artie Shaw Orchestra for Musicraft (1946–1948). In 1949, he moved to Capitol, where his first record, “Careless Hands,” became his only number-one hit. His versions of “Again” and “Blue Moon” became signature songs. His composition California Suite, prompted by Gordon Jenkins’s “Manhattan Tower,” became Capitol’s first 12-inch LP album. Around this time, he helped pioneer cool jazz.
Torme had a radio program, Mel Torme Time, which appeared on the short-lived Progressive Broadcasting System in the 1950s. From 1955 to 1957, he recorded seven vocal jazz albums for Red Clyde’s Bethlehem Records, all with groups led by Marty Paich, most notably Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette. He became known for his arranging skills, earning the respect of musicians. His 1956 recording of “Mountain Greenery,” did better in the United Kingdom where it reached No. 4. In 1960, Tormé appeared in the TV crime drama Dan Raven with Don Dubbins. In the 1960s and ’70s, Tormé covered pop tunes of the day, never staying long with one label. His 1962 R&B song “Comin’ Home Baby,” arranged by Claus Ogerman, which reached No. 13 in the UK. The recording led the jazz and gospel singer Ethel Waters to say that “Tormé is the only white man who sings with the soul of a black man.” “Comin’ Home Baby” was later covered by Quincy Jones and Kai Winding.
In 1963–1964, Tormé wrote songs and arrangements for The Judy Garland Show, where he made three guest appearances. When he and Garland had a dispute, he was fired. In 1967, he appeared with Lucille Ball in a two-part episode of “The Lucy Show” — “Main Street U.S.A.” — as Mel Tinker, a songwriter who hopes to preserve the character of his small town. Torme also wrote the song that gave the episode its title, and performs it with Ball. The resurgence of vocal jazz in the 1970s resulted in a fertile period for Tormé. His live performances restored his reputation as a jazz singer. He performed as often as 200 times a year in venues all over the world. In 1976, he won an Edison Award (the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy) for best male singer, and a Down Beat award for best male jazz singer. For several years, his appearances at Michael’s Pub on the Upper East Side would unofficially open New York’s fall cabaret season. Tormé had a drum that drummer Gene Krupa used for many years and played the set at the 1979 Chicago Jazz Festival with Benny Goodman on “Sing, Sing, Sing.”
Tormé made nine guest appearances as himself (and one as a guardian angel) on the 1980s situation comedy Night Court. The main character, Judge Harry Stone played by Harry Anderson, was depicted as an unabashed Tormé fan, an admiration that Anderson shared in real-life. During the 1980s and 1990s he performed often with George Shearing, recording six albums together for Concord Records. Tormé made a guest vocal appearance on the 1983 album Born to Laugh at Tornadoes by the progressive pop band Was (Not Was). In the 1988 Warner Bros. cartoon The Night of the Living Duck, Daffy Duck has to sing in front of several monsters but lacks a good singing voice, so he inhales a substance called “Eau de Tormé” and sings like Mel Tormé, who provided the vocals. Tormé appeared in Mountain Dew commercials and on an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld (“The Jimmy”). In 1991 Tormé published Traps, the Drum Wonder, a biography of drummer Buddy Rich, who was his friend since Rich left the Marines in 1944.
Torme recorded a version of Nat King Cole’s “Straighten Up and Fly Right” with his son, singer Steve March-Tormé. He worked with his other son, television writer-producer Tracy Tormé, on Sliders. The 1996 episode, entitled “Greatfellas,” featured Tormé as a version of himself from a parallel universe in which he is a country music singer who is also an FBI informant. On August 8, 1996, a stroke ended Tormé’s 65-year singing career. In February 1999, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He died from another stroke on June 5, 1999, at the age of 73. He was survived by his wife, Ali; five children, Steve, Melissa, Tracy, Daisy, and James; and two stepchildren, Carrie and Kurt. He is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Tracy is a screenwriter and producer. James is a jazz vocalist based in Los Angeles, California. Steve is also a musician and lives and works in Appleton, Wisconsin.
My CD collection includes the following work by Mel Tormé:
The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You, or Chestnuts Roasting).
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