CHUCK BERRY - RUN RUDOLPH RUN

RUN RUDOLPH RUN

CHUCK BERRY

SONGWRITERS: BROADIE MARVIN LEE & MARKS JOHN D.

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: CHRISTMAS WITH CHUCK BERRY

LABEL: CHESS RECORD

GENRE: CHRISTMAS SONG

YEAR: 1959

 

      Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926–March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven"(1956), "Rock and Roll Music"(1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.

      Born into a middle-class black family in St. Louis, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart. 

Out of all the reindeers you know you are the mastermind

Run, run Rudolph, Randolph ain't too far behind

Run, run Rudolph, Santa's gotta make it to town

Santa, make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down

Run, run Rudolph 'cause I'm reelin' like a merry-go-round

 

Said Santa to a boy child, "What have you been longin' for?"

"All I want for Christmas is a rock 'n' roll 'lectric guitar"

And then away went Rudolph whizzin' like a shootin' star

 

Run, run Rudolph, Santa's has to make it in town

Santa, make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down

Run, run Rudolph, reelin' like a merry-go-round

 

Run, run Rudolph, Santa's gotta make it to town

Santa, make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down

Run, run Rudolph, I'm reelin' like a merry-go-round

 

Said Santa to a girl child, "What would please you most to get?"

"A little baby doll that can cry, sleep, drink and wet"

And then away went Rudolph, whizzin' like a Saber jet

 

Run, run Rudolph, Santa's gotta make it to town

Santa, make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down

Run, run Rudolph I'm reelin' like a merry-go-round.