Singin' Santa Claus

White Christmas; The Drifters

In 2002, a young Italian cartoon artist named Joshua Held animated a little four-minute long gem that featured Santa Claus and his reindeer singing “White Christmas”. At some point it became an internet sensation with web surfers all over the world sending it to their friends and loved ones as a holiday “card”. I downloaded it onto my computer and shared it with my own family, watching it several times and seeing something new with each repetition.

I have searched the world wide interweb many times in search of a biography of Mr. Held but have found nada each time. However, one such search did yield a very creative piece that he animated called Teletransport. I like the way he thinks.

But the big question: Who sang “White Christmas” on this animation? A substantial amount of hunting online supplied me with the answer: The Drifters. This African-American doo-wop/R & B group has a long history with many members coming and going with varying degrees of artistic and financial success along the way. The group include such titles as “Save The Last Dance For Me”, “On Broadway” and “Under The Boardwalk” among their most famous singles. And in 1954, they recorded “White Christmas”.

Bill Pinkney sang the bass part (or Santa Claus) in this version of the Christmas classic. Clyde McPhatter sang the tenor part (or the solo reindeer). Mr. McPhatter had a short career, passing away in 1972 at the age of 39. Mr. Pinkney stuck around until July 4, 2007, where he passed away just before a Drifters performance in Daytona Beach at an annual Independence Day celebration called Red White and Boom. He would have turned 82 in August. Bill Pinkney had a respectable career as a solo artist and would have seen himself inducted into the Rock and Rock, Rockabilly, Vocal Group and Grammy Halls of Fame. The US Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor in 1993. Mr. McPhatter received many of the same honors, sang for Presidents and accepted honors from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

I find it fascinating to note that two of our most beloved Christmas songs, “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin and “A Christmas Song” by Mel Torme, come to us from composers of the Jewish faith. Neither song references the religious facet to the holiday, but they do put the word “Christmas” in their respective titles.

Mr. Berlin didn’t like his songs played in any different style than the way that he composed them. He preferred that musicians play his creations with the notes that he printed on the page. This accounts for the absence of his songs in your typical fake book. He didn’t think of his songs in terms of a melody with chord changes underneath them. So, he never granted permission for inclusion of his songs in any song books but his own. And under these circumstances, he wouldn’t have approved of The Drifter’s version of “White Christmas”. But I do.

Credits: To Irving Berlin and Mel Torme, for honoring a holiday and holiday season that falls outside of their faith, but finding values within the sentiments we celebrate that everybody, even they themselves, can claim, admire and share.