{"id":28651,"date":"2025-01-11T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T10:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28651"},"modified":"2025-12-16T12:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T17:33:00","slug":"countdown-to-christmas-ten-great-rock-n-roll-songs-about-santa-claus-part-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/11\/countdown-to-christmas-ten-great-rock-n-roll-songs-about-santa-claus-part-1-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to Christmas: Ten Great Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Songs About Santa Claus (Part 1 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, there are less than 365 days until Christmas! Ring in the season early!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The enduring myth of Santa Claus has been a part of Western culture for centuries. The modern concept of Santa was captured on \u201cMust Be Santa,\u201d the 1960 novelty single by Mitch Miller: \u201ccap on head, suit of red, special night, beard that\u2019s white.\u201d But that modern image had settled into the popular mindset decades earlier when the Coca-Cola Company included depictions of Santa in its print advertising.<\/p>\n

As a ubiquitous and beloved character in pop culture, it was inevitable that Santa Claus would find his way into one of the 20th<\/sup> century\u2019s foremost vehicles for arts and entertainment: rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. In celebration of the season, I\u2019m taking\u00a0a chronological look at ten rock \u2018n\u2019 roll classics featuring jolly old Saint Nick (plus a mischievous bonus track that pokes fun at the holiday music subgenre). And as my belated Christmas gift to you, a Spotify playlist with these songs can be found at https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/rocknrollsanta<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"10. \u201cLittle Saint Nick\u201d \u2013 The Beach Boys (single, 1963)<\/b>
\nAn American institution, the Beach Boys released their first single in 1961. By \u201863 they were one of the most popular groups in the nation. Bassist, primary songwriter and leader Brian Wilson was still coming into his role as one of pop music\u2019s most important figures when the group made The Beach Boys\u2019 Christmas Album<\/i>, their seventh long-player. Released as a single from that LP, \u201cLittle Saint Nick\u201d (backed with non-album track \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer\u201d) made it to #25 on Billboard<\/i>\u2019s singles chart in December 1963.<\/p>\n

\"\"9. \u201cSock it to Me Santa\u201d \u2013 Bob Seger & the Last Heard (single, 1966)<\/b>
\nDetroit rocker Bob Seger enjoyed his most widespread success beginning in the mid 1970s, with blockbuster albums Night Moves<\/i>, Stranger in Town<\/i> and Live Bullet<\/i>. But Seger was no overnight success: he worked hard in the studio and onstage for years before his big break. In the 1960s he released a number of catchy singles including the satirical \u201cBallad of the Yellow Beret.\u201d With his band the Last Heard, he released five singles including this somewhat overlooked (and non-charting) holiday-themed tune.<\/p>\n

\"\"8. \u201cBack Door Santa\u201d \u2013 Clarence Carter (single, 1968)<\/b>
\nA funky blues with a deep groove and soulful horns, \u201cBack Door Santa\u201d is a swaggering tune filled with sly double entendres, exploring the metaphorical meanings in words like chimney<\/i> and the phenomenon of \u201ccoming but once a year.\u201d Blind since birth, the Alabama-born singer, guitarist and producer chalked up two dozen charting singles including 1968\u2019s \u201cSlip Away\u201d (pop #6, r&b #2) and \u201cPatches (pop #4, r&b #2).<\/p>\n

\"\"7. \u201cI Believe in Father Christmas\u201d \u2013 Greg Lake (single, 1975)<\/b>
\nEmerson Lake & Palmer were renowned for their progressive rock pyrotechnics and virtuoso musicianship. Lead vocalist, guitarist and bassist Greg Lake was also a top-notch lyricist, with a sonorous voice. This acerbic look at the holidays features some of his best lyrics, including the memorable couplet, \u201cHallelujah no\u00ebl \/ be it Heaven or Hell \/ the Christmas we get we deserve.\u201d \u201cI Believe in Father Christmas\u201d was released as a Greg Lake single, but it was also included on ELP\u2019s 1977 album Works Vol. 2<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"\"6. \u201cFather Christmas\u201d \u2013 The Kinks (single, 1977)<\/b>
\nLed by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, London-based band the Kinks went through several phases during their time together (1963-1997). Starting off as a hard-driving, r&b based group, they blossomed into a sophisticated and literate outfit featuring Ray\u2019s superb and insightful lyrics. By the late \u201860s and early \u201870s they had moved toward conceptual works, but by the mid-to-late \u201870s they were back in hooky, hard-rocking territory and mainstream success. Their holiday-themed 1977 single combines all of the band\u2019s best attributes: humor, wit and melody.<\/p>\n

Click here to continue<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey, there are less than 365 days until Christmas! Ring in the season early! The enduring myth of Santa Claus has been a part of Western culture for centuries. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,37],"tags":[533,4013],"class_list":["post-28651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-holiday","tag-christmas","tag-santa-claus","cat-27-id","cat-37-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28651"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30550,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28651\/revisions\/30550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}