b'Merry Christmas Western StyleBy Bob Roloff,The Arizona DuuudeYou can follow Bob on Facebook.J ingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Would you believe this ever-popular Christmas song is a song about the annual Thanksgiving Day sleigh races in Medford, Massachusetts? It was written in 1857 as a Christmas present to a friend who had moved south and was nostalgic for the winter pleasures of his childhood. Its original title on the 1857 sheet music was, A One-Horse Open Sleigh. It was republished in 1859 with the title we all know today, by James Lord Pierpont.In my search for Arizonans who have spent their lives keeping the spirit of the west alive, I have found many that have done just that but what about western music? While looking for a western music historian, I was very lucky to find Buck The Big Guy" Helton in Tucson. Buck is a walking encyclopedia of western music. Hes a lifelong entertainer and next year he will be celebrating fifty years in the business. He\'s recorded twelve albums and has two more in pre-production. Buck is also a talented voice-over artist. He has been inducted into the Great Movie Cowboys Hall of Fame for his work in preserving classic western movie songs in live performance. He was also inducted into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017,Champion were upstaged by Santa Clause. As they along with Jeanne Seeley and Loretta Lynn, for his workrounded the turn the kids all started yelling, Here in keeping traditional Country and Western music alivecomes Santa Clause, here comes Santa Clause." GeneParty. Johnny Marks had pitched the song to Gene, who and well. His book Tales of the B-O Ranch took the Willremembered that line and the next summer took itpromptly rejected it for not fitting his image and the fact Rogers Silver Medal for Western Humor in 2013. to Oakley Halderman, who ran Gene\'s publishingthat he just didn\'t like the song. Bob May was acquainted company. Halderman wrote the music and polishedwith Gene\'s wife Ina Mae. He took Johnny\'s demo to her, Buck found it interesting that many on the frontierGene\'s lyrics. It was released in 1947 and went goldplayed it for her, and she fell in love with the tune. After celebrated Christmas in the old ways. That is theyalmost immediately. Gene was used to this by now, sincemuch persuasion on her part, Gene agreed to record it kept the tradition of the twelve days of Christmas. TheSilver Haired Daddy of Mine" started the whole notionfor her.celebration didn\'t begin until the evening of Decemberof gold records. 25th, and they would add more candles and decorationsHe didn\'t want to release it but had a hard time denying to the tree every evening until January 6th (the Feast ofThe studio wanted a follow up for Here Comes Santahis wife anything. In June of 1949 Gene was in the studio the Epiphany) when the tree would reach its full glory.Clause" and it came in the form of an underdog storyfinishing up with a recording session. There were about They would sing hymns and exchange gifts, and then theabout a little misfit caribou with a glowing proboscis.30 minutes left on the clock when he remembered his tree was defrocked and burned in the fireplace. Yup, it was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Afterpromise to Ina Mae. He hauled out the charts, passed the success of Here Comes Santa Clause," everythem out, and told the boys they were going to do a Most of the Christmas songs wesongwriter in the country, including Johnny Marks, wasChristmas present for Ina Mae. The song, exactly the know and love today aren\'ttrying to get Gene to record their Christmas song.recording you hear today, was done in one single take. the old hymns. They areJohnny had taken a poem written by his brother- Gene had no intention of releasing it, but Columbia very much 20th-centuryin-law Robert May and turned it into a song. TheRecords, who was paying for the session, thought works. The 40s and 50spoem and accompanying coloring book wereotherwise. After the first 8 million copies were sold, gave us a whole slew ofdone initially as a Christmas themed giveawayGene admitted he might have warmed up to the song cowboy Christmas songsby the Montgomery Ward department store anda wee bit. It remains his biggest hit, and for decades like, Rootin Tootin\'had already exceeded a million copies givenwas the second highest-selling single in history, behind Santa Clause, Old Texto delightedWhite Christmas.Kringle," Christmasyoungsters Carols by The Old Corral,long before theFinding Buck Helton was a real stroke of luck, mainly and Every Day is Christmastune was everbeing sent his way by my friends Ermal and Paula in the West," by Roy and Daleborn. BuckErlene, (duke@ermal.com or YodelLady.com). Buck from the 1950 film Trail of Robinlearned some ofhas many fascinating stories relating to the history of Hood. In that film, Roy, Dale, and most of the thenthis back storywestern songs/music and I will be sending them your active western stars all teamed up to stop a horde ofin 2009 whenway in a future issue of Arizona Real Country Magazine.Christmas tree rustlers. Buck performed with Bob May\'sBy the wayafter reading Tales from the B-O Ranch, According to Buck, Gene Autry the Singingdaughter in Genewritten by Buck, I know why it was awarded the Will Cowboy" rode in the Hollywood Christmas ParadeAutry, OklahomaRogers Silver Medal for Western Humor. I laughedin 1946 and was just ahead of Santa\'s sleigh atfor Rudolph\'sout loud and loved it. Buck is on Facebookthe end of the parade. Rather than the kids being60th Birthday@buckheltonmusic. excited to see their Cowboy hero, Gene and ArizonaRealCountry.com December 2020 13'