Here Comes Santa Claus
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"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a Christmas song written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman.
Autry was inspired to write this song after riding his horse in the 1946 Hollywood Boulevard Christmas Parade in Los Angeles, to which the crowds chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus". This chant inspired him to write a song that Haldeman set to music. A demo recording was made by singer/guitarist Johnny Bond, whose recording made use of ice cubes to mimic the sound of the jingling sleigh-bells. This inspired the use of real sleigh-bells in Autry's own recording of the song.
Autry first recorded the song in 1947; released as a single by Columbia Records, it became a #5 country and #9 pop hit. He re-recorded it again for Columbia in 1953 and once more for his own Challenge Records label in 1957.
Other artists to record the song include Doris Day (1949), Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (1950), Elvis Presley (1957), the Ray Conniff Singers (1959), Willie Nelson (1979), and Ludacris (2007).
