Natalie Cole at the lighting (Getty Images)

Christmas in L.A. can feel a bit artificially inseminated. It’s coming, it will be Christmas, but it just feels…a little less natural. Its arrival is sure, but in a place like this, it must be implanted. This coming from a guy even who will readily admit one of his favorite Christmas flicks is the L.A.-set Die Hard. But much like that film, so is my Christmas spirit. Even in the face of 75-degree sunny days and palm trees. Even without snow. I know Christmas is coming. There are new signs for the season in L.A.: People dressed up like they’re from Dickens on Hollywood Boulevard promoting Disney’s Christmas Carol; the promise now on press releases that Santa himself will be among the celebrity guests at events; and, as I have learned is an L.A. tradition, the Christmas tree atop the iconic Capitol Records building. I was there the moment Christmastime started in L.A. — the moment the switch was flipped.

Ahem. Actually, I take that back — all the Christmas tree talk. In a hilarious moment of PC PR overload at the lighting ceremony, one of the hosts from Capitol referred to the tree as a “holiday festive lighting scheme in the shape of a tree.” Well, whatever. We all know what it is, and there was really no denying it as this icon was switched on this year with the help of another, Natalie Cole, in celebration of her father’s album, The Magic of Christmas, which boasts one of the biggest singles of all time, “The Christmas Song,” or to some, “Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire.”

Originally recorded by Nat King Cole and his trio in 1946, it eventually evolved into the song most known on its 1960 version and helped make Capitol Records itself “the house that Nat built.” It’s hard to imagine a celebrating home that wouldn’t hear the soft nostalgia of Nat’s voice bidding a Merry Christmas sometime during Christmas Day, and last Thursday evening, it rang through all halls and floors of Capitol Tower. This was in commemoration of  The Magic Of Christmas and this year’s re-release under the title of The Christmas Song. Nat’s daughter Natalie and other family members were on hand to light the tree, to celebrate Nat, and to receive plaques recognizing the new album and the Cole history at Capitol.

And what a history it’s been. Besides Nat’s legacy and unfortunate early death, Natalie herself has not been without success, controversy and tragedy. All at once a former drug addict, star child, Grammy-winner, hepatitis sufferer and, as of this year, kidney transplant recipient, Cole seemed strong as she took to the roof with her family, if not a little emotional. While the press eagerly awaited their arrival while admiring the sunset on Sunset, the family had a private celebration downstairs, and when they took to the roof, it was evident that this truly was a family, as they embraced, laughed and cleared throats and noses as if they had been recovering from tears. Who knows? But Cole was graceful, maybe even regal, as the Princess of her family and the company. The audience was told it’s not Christmas without “The Christmas Song” and it’s not Christmas in L.A. until Capitol’s tree is lit…which made Natalie the ideal person to begin the season.

Applause and vertigo accompanied the moment of the lighting, as heads were titled far back to see the star already atop the building. I could have used a little snow, but there really was something about having that be my first Christmas moment in L.A. See, my pops raised me on Natalie Cole — her 1991 album Unforgettable…With Love may have been the thing that convinced me girls didn’t have cooties, while every other guy five or six grades above me was discovering flannel and Nirvana. Unforgettable will always remain more memorable to me. Meanwhile, I remember, a few Christmases ago, listening to “The Christmas Song” with my Dad and he started to tear up. He had just lost his Dad, my Grandpa, and he recalled how it was his favorite Christmas song, and how when my Dad was the I age I was for Unforgettable, his Dad was filling their crowded home of five kids with Nat King Cole and his delicate and deliberate voice and orchestration. Christmas is tradition, and atop the tower, I discovered it in a new way.

Natalie took questions ranging from the stupid “How do you feel about Oprah leaving her show?” (her answer: “Is that what you really want to ask me?”) to the more normal, like mine, “What’s next for you?” to which she responded comically, “Dinner.” She also recalled how Christmas in the Cole home was also started, like in many of ours, with her father’s recording, and that it was about time for Capitol to finally recognize his achievements in this way. She described that home as a warm place, and said that her absent father would have been amazed and surprised by the moment we were then all sharing.

As I now sit in a T-shirt hardly feeling chilly, I cannot say that I truly feel that Christmas is on the horizon. But when Natalie Cole is telling you it is to her father’s soundtrack, you don’t need much more convincing. Standing there post-drugs and post-op, concerned only with dinner, truly Cole was already in the Christmas spirit — all her troubles were miles away. So Merry Christmas to her, to Nat, to my Dad, Frank Moorhead, for introducing my ears to them years ago in car rides to kindergarten, to L.A., sure, but Merry Christmas to you.

As we usually conclude articles with where you can find the product or see the event, I’d point you to amazon.com, the New Testament, your local mall Santa, and now, strangely enough, the Hollywood skyline.