"Santa Claus Is Back in Town" is a Christmas song written in 1957 by

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

, and first recorded that year by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

as the opening track on ''

Elvis' Christmas Album ''Elvis' Christmas Album'' (also reissued as ''It's Christmas Time'') is the third studio album and first Christmas album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley on RCA Victor, LOC -1035, a deluxe limited edition, released October 15, 1957, ...

'', the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of all time in the United States. The song has become a rock and roll Christmas standard. "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" was paired with "

Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" is a 1957 Christmas song by Aaron Schroeder and Claude Demetrius, recorded by Elvis Presley. The song was released on the RCA Victor ''Elvis' Christmas Album'' in 1957. Background The song, written by Aaron Sc ...

" and was issued as a UK single concurrently with the album's release in 1957. The single reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1957. RCA rereleased the song as a 45 vinyl 7" single in 1985, PB-14237B, paired with "

Merry Christmas, Baby "Merry Christmas Baby" is an R&B Christmas standard credited to Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore. In 1947, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers recorded the tune, featuring vocals and piano by Charles Brown. Subsequently, many performers have recorded rend ...

". In 1980, the song reached #41 on the UK singles chart in December in a six-week chart run. "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" backed with " Blue Christmas" was released by RCA Victor as a 45 single in 1965 in the US, reaching #4 on the ''Billboard'' Christmas Singles chart. The "Blue Christmas"/"Santa Claus is Back in Town" single was certified Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in 1999.

Synopsis

The song, set in a basic

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

layout with three verses, consists of an elaborate

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

in which the singer, identifying himself as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

but having no sleigh, reindeer or sack of toys, promises to arrive in "a big black

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

" with the intent of "coming down (a young woman's) chimney" Christmas Eve.

Album appearances

The song appeared on the original RCA Victor LP, ''Elvis' Christmas Album'', the 1958 reissue, the 1970 RCA Camden reissue, the UK release of the Camden version, CDS 1155, the 1975 Pickwick reissue, and the 1985 RCA Special Products rerelease. The song also appeared on the 1982 RCA ''Memories of Christmas'' compilation, the 1994 BMG album ''If Every Day Was Like Christmas'', the 2003 BMG ''Christmas Peace'' collection, and the 2006 BMG ''Elvis Christmas'' album. The song was featured on the 2008 Presley album ''

Christmas Duets ''Christmas Duets'' is a 2008 album released by RCA Records, consisting of archival Elvis Presley vocal recordings mixed with completely re-recorded instrumentation and new vocals by contemporary country and gospel singers. Three tracks on the al ...

'' in a duet with

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd or simply Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964) is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country singers. In all, she has had 19 No. 1 singles, incl ...

. The song is the opening track on the 2017 album '' Christmas with Elvis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra''.

Personnel

"Santa Claus Is Back In Town" was recorded on September 7, 1957, at

Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorder ...

, Hollywood, California. The musicians on the session were: * Elvis Presley – vocals *

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic D ...

– guitar *

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...

– bass *

D. J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationshi ...

– drums *

Dudley Brooks Dudley Brooks (December 22, 1913 – July 17, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Biography Brooks was born on December 22, 1913, in Los Angeles, California.

– piano *

Millie Kirkham Millie Kirkham (born Mildred Eakes; June 24, 1923 – December 14, 2014) was an American singer who was featured on many classic hit recordings from the mid-1950s through the 1980s. Early life Kirkham was born Mildred Eakes in Hermitage, Tenne ...

and

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

(Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews Jr., Hoyt Hawkins, and Hugh Jarrett) – backing vocals

Covers

Many musical artists have covered the song. Notably,

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and film director. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album '' Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerab ...

featured the song on his 1997 Christmas album ''

Come On Christmas ''Come On Christmas'' is the eighth studio album, and the first Christmas album by Dwight Yoakam released in 1997 on Reprise Records. It peaked at No. 32 on '' Billboards Top Country Albums chart. Track listing # "Come On Christmas" (Dwight Yoak ...

'' and released it as a single. The single reached #60 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The song was covered by Nashville band, The Royal Court of China and featured, along with Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley's original band,

Jimmy "Orion" Ellis James Hodges Ellis (born James Hughes Bell, February 26, 1945 – December 12, 1998), who used the stage name Orion at times in his career, was an American singer. His voice was similar to Elvis Presley's, a fact which he and his record company ...

, and

on MWC America Records. This was the last recording the original members appeared on together. Another notable version was by

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

and

The Honeydrippers The Honeydrippers were an English rock and roll band of the 1980s, deriving their name from Roosevelt Sykes, an American blues singer also known as "Honeydripper". Former Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant formed the group in 1981 to sati ...

, as performed on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' on December 15, 1984. Jonny Lang covered it on 1997's '' A Very Special Christmas 3''.

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandol ...

covered the song for the 2018 film ''

The Christmas Chronicles ''The Christmas Chronicles'' is a 2018 American Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman. The film stars Kurt Russell, Judah Lewis, Darby Camp, Lamorne Morris, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Oliver Hudson ...

''.

Chart performance

The recording was a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart and a top five hit on the ''Billboard'' Christmas Singles chart. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Elvis Presley recording

1980 Elvis Presley re-release

Dwight Yoakam recording

Movie appearances

*''

Iron Man 3 ''Iron Man 3'' (titled onscreen as ''Iron Man Three'') is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Ir ...

'' (2013) *''

Fred Claus ''Fred Claus'' is a 2007 American Christmas comedy film directed by David Dobkin, screenplay by Dan Fogelman and a story by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, and starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, John Michael Higgins, Eliz ...

'' (2007) * ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1994) *'' C.R.A.Z.Y.'' (2005) *''

The Long Kiss Goodnight ''The Long Kiss Goodnight'' is a 1996 American action thriller film co-produced and directed by Renny Harlin, and produced by Shane Black and Stephanie Austin with screenplay written by Black. It stars Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Amand ...

'' (1996) *''

Bad Santa 2 ''Bad Santa 2'' is a 2016 Christmas black comedy drama film directed by Mark Waters and written by Shauna Cross and Johnny Rosenthal. A standalone sequel to the 2003 film ''Bad Santa'', the film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, ...

'' (2016) *''

'' (2018)

References

Sources

*Guralnick, Peter. ''The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters'', insert booklet. RCA 66050–2, 1992. *Guralnick, Peter. ''From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters'', insert booklet. RCA 66160–2, 1993. *Guralnick, Peter (1994). ''Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley''. Little Brown GBR. . *Hopkins, Jerry (1971). ''Elvis: A Biography''. . *Wolfe, Charles. ''Elvis Presley: If Every Day Was Like Christmas'', liner notes. BMG Australia Limited, 7863664822, 1994.

External links

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 20 Essential Rock and Roll Holiday Songs.
{{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus Elvis Presley songs 1957 songs American Christmas songs Dwight Yoakam songs Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller