About this episode
To celebrate the holidays, we’re looking back at four archive Fresh Air interviews discussing popular Christmas songs: First, jazz singer Mel Torme tells Terry Gross about co-writing “The Christmas Song” on a hot summer day, in an interview from 1977. Then we hear from songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in 1989 about making “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and then Martin drops in again in 2006 to discuss the song’s long impact. Finally, musician Jon Batiste sits at the piano with Terry in 2024 to play some other favorite holiday tunes live. Listen to an episode of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast on the origin and impact of “The Christmas Song.” Listen to 40+ years of Fresh Air's archives at FreshAirArchive.org. To access bonus episodes, sponsor-free listening and to support public radio, become a Fresh Air+ supporter at plus.npr.org/freshair. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy