| "Little Saint Nick" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album The Beach Boys' Christmas Album | ||||
| Released | December 9, 1963 [1] | |||
| Format | Vinyl | |||
| Recorded | October 20, 1963 | |||
| Genre | Rock, Christmas | |||
| Length | 2:00 | |||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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"Little Saint Nick" is a Christmas song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love and originally performed by their group The Beach Boys. It was first released as a single in December 1963, reaching number three on the Billboard Christmas charts and peaking at #69 on the regular weekly sales chart surveyed by Cash Box. 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 DC, and the Top Twenties of San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Miami, and Springfield, MA. Eventually, over several more Christmases, it was credited as an unofficial (non-RIAA audited) million-seller.
"Little Saint Nick" reappeared on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in 1964, minus the overdubbed sleigh bells from the original single mix. The song borrows its rhythm and structure from the group's 1963 hit "Little Deuce Coupe." An alternate version, utilizing the melody from "Drive-In," was recorded for the album but remained unreleased until a 1991 CD reissue.
The song is sometimes mistakenly called "Run Run Reindeer" because of the lyrics in the bridge. In 2005, the song was re-recorded by Brian Wilson for his solo Christmas collection, What I Really Want for Christmas.
The song has been covered several times, including versions by 1910 Fruitgum Company, Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem on John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979), Hanson (1997), Sugar Ray (2001), McFly (2004), Overboard (2008), and She & Him (2011). The song is also used in a Coca-Cola holiday commercial featuring a family of polar bears who stumble upon a festive penguin gathering. Some versions of the song include the usage of a xylophone.
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