More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Rudolph

[x Texas Monthly]
Texas Myth # 454: Gene Autry wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
by Anne Dingus


Gene Autry, Singin' Cowboy 

Fortunately, that’s not why the original singing cowboy will go down in his-to-ree; the Tioga native merely performed this novelty tune. The songwriter was Johnny Marks, of New York, who specialized in annoying holiday ditties (“Holly Jolly Christmas” is his too). Still, Autry’s 1949 recording sold a blitzin’ two million copies, and it’s still the second-best-selling Christmas song ever, outdone only by “White Christmas,” the classic first crooned by Bing Crosby.

Copyright © 2004 Texas Monthly Magazine

[x Wikipedia]


Rudolph, the commerical success 

Rudolph's story was originally written in verse by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores in 1939 and published as a book to be given to children in the store at Christmas time.

Rudolph is depicted as an ordinary reindeer with a large, red nose, often grinning and always leading the team pulling Santa's sleigh.

The Song

Johnny Marks, May's brother-in-law, decided to adapt May's story into a song, which through the years has been recorded by many artists (most notably by Gene Autry), and has since filtered into the popular consciousness.

The song contains these lyrics:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw him
You would even say it glows

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Then all the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
You'll go down in history!

Copyright © 2004 Wikipedia