Little Saint Nick

"Little Saint Nick"
Single by The Beach Boys
B-side "The Lord's Prayer"
Released December 9, 1963
Format Vinyl
Recorded October 20, 1963
Genre Hot rod, Christmas
Length 2:00
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Brian Wilson, Mike Love
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Be True to Your School"
(1963)		 "Little Saint Nick"
(1963)		 "Fun, Fun, Fun"
(1964)
Music sample
"Little Saint Nick"

"Little Saint Nick" is a holiday-themed hot rod song about Santa Claus' sled, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys.[1] The song was first released as a single on December 9, 1963, and peaked at number 3 on Billboard magazine's special seasonal weekly Christmas Singles chart. Its B-side was an a cappella cover of "The Lord's Prayer".[2]

The idea for the song was partly inspired by record producer Phil Spector's plans to record a Christmas album. Wilson recalled: "I wrote the lyrics to it while I was out on a date and then I rushed home to finish the music."[1] Some of its rhythm and structure derives from the group's "Little Deuce Coupe", also co-written by Wilson and released as a single six months earlier.[3] Love was not originally listed as the co-writer of "Little Saint Nick". His credit was awarded after a 1990s lawsuit.[1][4]

Commercial performance

The single also reached number 69 on the regular weekly sales chart surveyed by Cashbox magazine. Despite a media-hushed Christmas in mourning for recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy, the single went into the Top Tens of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Vancouver and Washington, D.C., and the Top Twenties of San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Miami, and Springfield, Massachusetts. Eventually, over several more Christmases, it was credited as an unofficial (non-RIAA audited) million-seller.

Variations

"Little Saint Nick" reappeared on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in 1964, with the stereo pressings of the album containing a new mix that removes the overdubbed sleigh bells and tuned percussion. This was done so that it would fit better with the sound of the album's first side, which was recorded in a hurry with basic instrumentation.[4] Another version of the song, utilizing the melody from the All Summer Long song "Drive-In", was recorded during the album sessions but remained unreleased until a 1991 CD reissue.[3]

Other versions

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Murphy, James B. (2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963. McFarland. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-7864-7365-6.
  2. ↑ Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-818-4 p. 45
  3. 1 2 Lambert, Philip (2007). Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-4411-0748-0.
  4. 1 2 Hickey, Andrew. The Beach Boys On CD vol 1: The 1960s. [[Lulu.com]]. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-4475-4233-9.


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