is a light Orchestra l piece written by Leroy Anderson on, ironically, a hot summer day in 1948 ; lyrics were written later by Mitchell Parish . It 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.
- 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 Lorrie Morgan , Neil Diamond , Ella Fitzgerald , Andy Williams , Herb Alpert , The Spice Girls , TLC , Kenny G , The Ventures , Squirrel Nut Zippers , Amy Grant , The Ronettes , The Carpenters , the Mormon Tabernacle Choir , the Hampton String Quartet , The Three Tenors , Hilary Duff 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."
- Harry Connick, Jr.'s exclams "Come on, horsey" in his recording.
- Ronnie & The Ronnettes recorded an altered version with background vocals singing "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding" and 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
- Jump 5 performs the same song for the '' Radio Disney Jingle Jams '' album.
- 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.
- 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 .
''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 .
|
