"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a popular Christmas song originally performed by Gene Autry, with music composed by Autry, Oakley Haldeman and Harriet Melka.[3] Autry's original recording (in which he pronounces Santa Claus as "Santy Claus") was a top-10 hit on the pop and country charts; the song would go on to be covered many times in the subsequent decades.
History
Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade (now the Hollywood Christmas Parade) in Los Angeles, during which crowds of spectators chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus".[4] Autry's lyrics combined two veins of the Christmas tradition, the mythology of Santa Claus and the Christian origin of the holiday (most explicitly in its mention of the nativity promise of "peace on Earth" to those who "follow the light"). A demo recording was made by singer/guitarist Johnny Bond, whose recording made use of ice cubes to mimic the sound of jingling sleigh bells. This inspired the use of real sleigh bells in Autry's own recording of the song.
Autry first recorded the song on August 28, 1947;[2] released as a single by Columbia Records, It became a No. 5 country and No. 9 pop hit.[5] Autry performed the song in his 1949 movie The Cowboy and the Indians.[6] He re-recorded it again in 1953 for Columbia,[7] and once more in 1957 for his own Challenge Records label, which released it on more than one album that year.[8][9]
^"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) Song Information". Geneautry.com. Gene Autry Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019. Gene Autry's Columbia Records Information for Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane): Columbia Records, Recorded August 28, 1947, in Hollywood... Columbia Records, Recorded June 25, 1953, in Hollywood.
^"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Song Information". Geneautry.com. Gene Autry Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019. In the Autumn of 1957 in Hollywood, California Gene Autry recorded seven Christmas tracks that were originally released on LP as Christmastime with Gene Autry on his own Challenge record label... All songs had vocals by Gene Autry with accompaniment by full orchestra and chorus condected [sic] by Carl Cotner.
^Hughes, Becky (December 24, 2018). "Why We Still Love National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays. AMG/Parade. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019. When a SWAT team arrives to the strains of Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus," the tone is just right.
^Roberson, Joe (December 5, 2014). "25 Things You Never Knew About 'Christmas Vacation'". Zimbio.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019. Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus" scores the scene when the police storm the Griswolds' house. Coincidentally, Randy Quaid is Autry's third cousin.
