"Little Saint Nick" is a Christmas song written by Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson

Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

 and Mike Love

Mike Love

Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...

 and originally performed by their group The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

. It was first released as a single in December 1963, reaching number three on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

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

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

, 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

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

- The Musicians :* Al Jardine - guitar, vocals* Mike Love - vocals* Brian Wilson - bass guitar, vocals* Carl Wilson - guitar, vocals* Dennis Wilson - drums, vocals- Orchestra :...

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

Little Deuce Coupe

Little Deuce Coupe is The Beach Boys' fourth album, and third overall LP release in 1963. Almost unintentionally, the album was rush-recorded and compiled when leader Brian Wilson sought to protect his band from exploitation from Capitol Records....

." 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

What I Really Want for Christmas

What I Really Want for Christmas is the seventh studio album by Brian Wilson and his first seasonal release. It was released by Arista Records in October 2005 and features many traditional Christmas songs, as well some of Wilson's originals, including remakes of The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick"...

.

The song has been covered several times, including versions by 1910 Fruitgum Company

1910 Fruitgum Company

The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's biggest hits included "Simon Says," "1, 2, 3, Red Light," "May I Take A Giant Step," "Special Delivery," "Goody Goody Gumdrops," and "Indian Giver." Guitarist Frank Jeckell claimed to have adopted the name from a...

, Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem is the name of a Muppet rock band of The Muppet Show. Following The Muppet Show, they appeared in various Muppet movies and television specials, and have also recorded album tracks. Dr. Teeth and Animal were designed by Jim Henson, while the rest of the original...

 on John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together

John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together

John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together is a 1979 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets and singer/songwriter John Denver.-Home media releases:...

(1979), Hanson

Snowed In

Snowed In is the fourth album by American pop rock group Hanson. A Christmas album, it was quickly released following the success of their previous album, Middle of Nowhere, and was recorded in London...

 (1997), Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...

 (2001), McFly

McFly

McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...

 (2004) and Overboard

Overboard (a cappella)

Overboard is a male a cappella group based in Boston, MA. The group's repertoire consists of a cappella covers of popular contemporary pop/rock artists, such as Train, The Script, and Rascal Flatts, and of a cappella standards, such as "Blue Moon", "In the Still of the Night" and "Stand by Me".-...

 (2008). The song is also used in a Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 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

Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...

.