Chuck Berry’s initial Christmas song is still with us

Christmas became more fun in 1958…when classic rock’n’roller Chuck Berry wrote and recorded a new holiday song – “Run Rudolph Run.”

 

The tune is a toe-tapper that’s musically similar to Berry’s popular song “Johnny B. Goode,” written in 1955…and melodically similar to his song “Little Queenie,” which Berry released in 1959.

 

The title “Run Rudolph Run” is probably a misprint. The lyrics say: “Run, run Rudolph….”

There was a messy legal matter that clouded the introduction of the song and its reference to Rudolph. The family business of legendary songwriter Johnny Marks owned the copyright and trademark associated with the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” song, which Marks had written. It was released in 1949 and sung by Gene Autry.

 

In 1958, Marks sued Berry over the unauthorized use of “Rudolph,” and Marks consequently was granted “songwriting credit” for “Run Rudolph Run,” although he “had nothing to do with the creation of Berry’s song.” 

There’s yet another “Run Rudolph Run” mystery that the folks at Songfacts, a music-oriented website based in Hartford, Conn., have picked up on. 

“In the introduction, Berry sings a warning to Rudolph about another reindeer that’s hot on his heels,” according to Sonfacts editors. 

“Out of all the reindeers you know you are the mastermind / Run, run Rudolph, Randolph ain’t too far behind….” 

“So, who is this Randolph character that’s creeping up on the most famous reindeer of all? It’s possible that Berry was referencing “Randolph the Flat-Nosed Reindeer,” a country-novelty tune from 1953 by Homer and Jethro, a duo known for satirizing popular songs.”

 

“In their take on the classic, Santa tries his hand at rhinoplasty when he lops off Randolph’s funny-looking snout, and then sews it back on upside down.” In reality, “Randolph probably wasn’t too much of a threat to Rudolph because he could never get his flat nose to light up ‘because his batteries were dead.’” 

“Run Rudolph Run” was used in the 1990 movie “Home Alone” in the scene when the McAllister family is rushing through the airport to board their flight, unaware that young Kevin has been left at home.

 

Throughout the years, scores of artists have covered “Run Rudolph Run.” Whitney Wolanin’s version in 2013 reached the highest level of them all on Billboard charts, reaching No. 2 in the Adult Contemporary category.

 

Another Christmas song from 1958 made it all the way to the top of the Billboard charts. It’s “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” by Alvin and the Chipmunks and David Seville (stage name of Ross Bagdasarian).

 

Bagdasarian began his career as a stage actor and made his Broadway debut in 1939 when he played the newsboy in “The Time of Your Life” by William Saroyan, his cousin.

 

His first success as a songwriter came with “Come On-a My House,” which Mitch Miller of Columbia Records persuaded Rosemary Clooney to record in 1951. The song launched Clooney’s career. In 1954, Bagdasarian wrote “Hey, Brother, Pour the Wine,” a hit for Dean Martin. 

Bagdasarian experimented with special sound effects by changing the speed of his recordings in early 1958 on his novelty song “Witch Doctor,” which became his first true chartbuster. 

He carried that over to alter the voices of his high-pitched singing chipmunks, whom Bagdasarian named after three executives at Liberty Records – Simon, Theodore and Alvin. 

In the song, Alvin is the chipmunk who always seems to be getting in “double trouble” for his inability to stay on-task. “The Chipmunk Song” won three Grammy Awards in 1959.

It’s hard to improve on the original, but YouTube cover artists are plentiful. Watch some to brighten your holiday season…“Alvin? Alvin? ALVIN!”