The Foote Files: Mel Torme'

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Mel Torme' (born Melvin Howard Torme' on September 13, 1925 and died on June 5, 1999) was a singer, musician, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author (pretty good resume'!).

He was a member of a band led by Chico Marx from 1942-1943 and formed a vocal quintet in 1944 called the Mel-Tones.

Torme' was active in show business from 1929-1996 and appeared on many TV variety shows, including "The Judy Garland Show" that ran one season on CBS from 1963-1964, Sundays at 8pm. In fact, Torme' was the "musical advisor" for the Garland show, and later wrote a book on the behind-the-scenes on the show entitled "The Other Side Of The Rainbow", published in 1970.

He composed the music for today's song, "The Christmas Song" or "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire", along with Robert Wells composing the lyrics. We featured this song earlier with the Nat King Cole version but I thought you might want to hear it from the man who actually composed and performed it himself. What a great voice he had!

Enjoy!