Little Saint Nick Facts for Kids

"Little Saint Nick" is a fun Christmas song by the American band the Beach Boys. It came out as a single on December 9, 1963. Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote the song. It mixes Christmas themes with cool hot-rod ideas. Imagine Santa Claus driving a super-fast sleigh!

The song became very popular. It reached number 3 on Billboard magazine's special Christmas Singles chart. The other song on the single was an a cappella (singing without instruments) version of "The Lord's Prayer". A different version of "Little Saint Nick" was later the first song on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in November 1964.

How the Song Was Made

"Little Saint Nick" was recorded on October 20, 1963. The recording happened at Western Studio in Hollywood. The idea for the song came partly from record producer Phil Spector. He was planning to make his own Christmas album.

Brian Wilson remembered writing the song. He said, "I wrote the lyrics to it while I was out on a date." Then he quickly went home to finish the music. The song's rhythm and structure are similar to another Beach Boys song called "Little Deuce Coupe". Brian Wilson also helped write that song, which came out six months earlier.

For a long time, Mike Love was not listed as a writer for "Little Saint Nick". He received credit for writing the song after a lawsuit in the 1990s.

Different Versions of the Song

"Little Saint Nick" appeared again on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in 1964. The stereo versions of the album had a new mix of the song. This new mix did not have the extra sleigh bells and other sounds. This made the song fit better with the rest of the album.

Another version of the song was also recorded. This version used the music that later became the song "Drive-In" from the All Summer Long album. This different version was recorded in June 1964. However, it was not released until a CD version came out in 1991.

Little Saint Nick facts for kids

How the Song Was Made

Different Versions of the Song

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