Posted on 12/24/2025 12:51:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
Written during a heatwave, ‘Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!’ became a holiday standard. Dean Martin’s version is impossible to beat.
August 1959 was an exceptionally hot month for most of the United States. It greatly amused Dean Martin, as he walked into Capitol Records’ studio, at 1750 North Vine Street, Hollywood, on Thursday, August 6, to think that he was about to record his own version of the winter song “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” on such a hot day.
Martin, whose singing imitated the smooth baritone vocals and phrasing of Bing Crosby, had the perfect voice for festive songs. His version of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” which was cut for the Capitol album A Winter Romance, is the best and most popular adaptation of a song that has become an absolute Christmas classic.
The writing of Let It Snow!
Fourteen years before Martin went into the studio, the song had been written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne on America’s hottest day of 1945. Lyricist Cahn and composer Styne were two of the greatest songwriters of that golden age of popular music: at his peak, Cahn was reportedly America’s highest-paid songwriter, often earning more than $1,000 a word. He won four Oscars: for “Three Coins In The Fountain,” written for the 1954 film of the same title; “All the Way,” written for the film The Joker Is Wild; “High Hopes,” from A Hole In The Head; and “Call Me Irresponsible,” from the film Papa’s Delicate Condition.
All those Academy winners pale in comparison, however, to the long-term success of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” which was penned in sunny California. In the book Songwriters On Songwriting, Cahn recalled how the famous tune came about: “‘Why don’t we go down to the beach and cool off?’ I asked Jule. He said, ‘Why don’t we stay here and write a winter song.’ I went to the typewriter. ‘Oh, the weather outside is frightful/But the fire is so delightful/And since we’ve got no place to go/Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.’ Now why three ‘Let it snow’s? Why not two or four? Because three is lyric.”
The many versions of Let It Snow!
The song was first recorded for RCA Victor in 1945 by Vaughn Monroe, and versions by Woody Herman and Connee Boswell soon followed. But it is Martin’s version, which was arranged by Gus Levene and conducted by Hy Lesnick, that became a festive classic. His 1959 recording is the latest in a series of classic holiday tunes to receive a new music video treatment for the festive season, created in 2019 by animation studio Fantoons.
Carly Simon and Rod Stewart have also recorded successful versions of “Let It Snow”; Simon’s 2005 take on the song is unusual in being sung from the point of view of the host instead of the guest. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Stewart, meanwhile, recorded “Let It Snow” on his 2012 album, Merry Christmas, Baby. His version reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart in December that same year.
Cahn and Styne’s song is so iconic that it can be interpreted in a variety of styles. Among the different takes are those by Kate Rusby (folk), Louie Bellson (jazz), Aaron Neville (soul), Randy Travis (country), Twisted Sister (heavy metal), Jeremih and Chance The Rapper (hip-hop) and Michael Bublé (pop). Martin liked it so much, he re-recorded a version in 1966, as part of The Dean Martin Christmas Album.
It is hard to beat that 1959 version, though. The singer was 78 when he died, on December 25, 1995, of acute respiratory failure, at his home in Beverly Hills. As film director Peter Bogdanovich said: “That Dean Martin died on Christmas Day was the kind of black joke he might have made.” Martin’s spirit lives on, however, and Christmas would not be the same without the famous crooner singing “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Le tits now.
Sorry, I can’t unsee it.
What is that from?
Carl Sagan Global Warming Christmas Special.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SNLvideos/comments/1h98m0r/the_global_warming_christmas_special/
I love Dean Martin and I love this version of the song, but, no, sorry, Vaughn Monroe is the unmatchable original.
70 degrees today in North Denver. It’s been hard to find the spirit of Christmas this year... it’s been a rough year.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
Just a few things I want to add. On 19 December 1944 American forces are taking a beating as Germany is making it’s last major offensive action in what would come to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. In a meeting with Eisenhower, Patton has committed to move his troops to disengage from active battle in Saarbrucken and engage the enemy in 48 hours, which Eisenhower calls foolish and unrealistic fearing it will only put a disorganized and poorly supported attack up to be taken piecemeal by the seasoned German forces. Patton responds that his command has prepared a plan for the move and will engage. Eisenhower tells him to alter his plan to engage in 72 hours and Patton tells Eisenhower men are dying and he’ll do it in 48. What followed is still considered one of the most brilliant and skillfully executed move of forces and engagement in the war and Patton engages the German army on 21 December as promised.
By Christmas Day Patton has improved his position and is preparing to attack the main German forces at Bastogne, but he needs air cover and meteorologists are calling for a white out on 26 December. Patton famously prays for fair weather on Christmas for the following day so that he can successfully attack the German forces amd end the killing. It is a beautifully clear day on 26 December and Patton launches a highly effective attack that quickly turns the tide of the battle and relieves the besieged American forces.
Lord - let it not snow.
This is the beginning of the end for the German army and VE Day follows just a few months later.
Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein write Let it Snow just a few weeks after VE Day.
As Let it Snow is beginning its run at the top of the charts in Decembet 1945, Patton is injured in a car crash on 9 December and finally succumbs as a result of his injuries on 21 December 1945, on the anniversary of his first engagement with German forces in the Ardenne.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
Merry Christmas to All in FReeperland.
Another odd things is how many Jewish and homosexual artists have cut Christmas albums through the years They’re not true believers, so it’s all about the money.
And one of the wierd things about editorials for products is that the editorial written by the salesperson invariably determines their product is the undisputed best.
Despite the fact that Martin’s version of Let it Snow (as much as I love and have played it at least a dozen times this season) didn’t come remotely close to the chart success of the Vaughn Monroe version, which has never been bested by any other version of Let it Snow.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
Love that voice - a natural wonder! There’s a youtube clip of him singing in “Rio Bravo” that I keep on a playlist. Silly tune called My Rifle, My Pony and Me. Anytime I get agitated that will iron everything out. :)
SNL parodies of Jeopardy. The character playing Sean Connery was always getting weird, like “therapists” became “the rapists”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.