Sleigh Ride
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"Sleigh Ride" was a song written by Leroy Anderson in 1948, and was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra. The song was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal 49-0515 (45 rpm) / 10-1484 (78 rpm). The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. This original monaural version has never been available on CD, although the later 1959 re-recording is available in stereo.
Leroy Anderson recorded his version of "Sleigh Ride" in 1950 on Decca 9-16000 (45 rpm) / 16000 (78 rpm). This monaural version is available on CD as well as his 1959 stereo re-recording. "Sleigh Ride" was originally an instrumental song. Lyrics were written later by Mitchell Parish.
[edit] Trivia
- The Boston Pops instrumental version was the original, in 1949, but Leroy Anderson himself recorded a similar instrumental version in 1959. Both versions of this song sound virtually identical. The 1949 version was slightly slower.
- Johnny Mathis is believed to be the first singer to record a vocal version of this song. He first performed it in 1958, with a backing orchestra conducted by Percy Faith.
- George Melachrino recorded an instrumental version in 1954. The arrangement is more string-heavy; even the horse's whinny is done by the violins.
- Andre Kostelanetz recorded an instrumental version in 1962. It was a similar arrangement to the Leroy Anderson/Boston Pops version, but moderately faster in speed and featured a whistle in portions of the song.
- The song has since been covered numerous times, both instrumentally and vocally, by artists such as Neil Diamond, Ella Fitzgerald, Andy Williams, Herb Alpert, The Spice Girls, Kenny G, The Ventures, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Amy Grant, The Ronettes, The Carpenters and Air Supply.
- Some versions replace the word "birthday" with "Christmas". Regardless of what party it is, it has always been held "at the home of Farmer Gray."
- Other notable variants include the background vocals singing "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding" in The Ronettes' version; and Harry Connick, Jr.'s exclamation of "Come on, horsey" in his recording.
- Currier & Ives was a popular printing company in the 19th century. The company was shut down in 1907, 41 years before the song was even composed.
- Ronnie & The Ronnettes recorded an altered version excluding the lyrics "giddy up giddy up let's go" and "The birthday/Christmas party at the home of farmer Gray" in 1963
- The Spice Girls recorded their own version of Sleigh Ride with the same structure as the Ronnettes' version.
- The Ventures recorded an instrumental surf version similar in beat and arrangement to Walk Don't Run in 1965. The "Farmer Gray" portion of the song, though, was left out
- The horse whinny 5 bars from the end is made by a trumpet half-valve glissando. The whip cracks are made by the drummer with a slapstick or a rimshot.
- Jump 5 performs the same song for the Radio Disney Jingle Jams album.
[edit] Mozart's Sleigh Ride
Sleigh Ride is also the popular name given to one of the Three German Dances composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The composition is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart.
