Snowmen,
Santa and angels generally come to mind when thinking of Christmas, but
chipmunks? Whether you love or hate The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)
it does have an interesting story, starting with an imaginary witch doctor and
a very stubborn rodent.
Song writer
Ross Bagdasarian was born in Fresno California in 1918. He co-wrote Rosemary Clooney’s Come-on-a-My-House but failed to score
another hit. He did some acting jobs and
had minor roles in such hits as Rear
Window and Stalag 17, but none
provided enough income to take care of his growing family.
In 1957 he
had only two hundred dollars to his name and, being a gambler, he spent a
hundred and ninety dollars on a tape recorder.
He sat down to write Witch Doctor,
a strange song about a teen hopelessly in love who goes to see a witch doctor
for advice. He wanted a different voice for his witch doctor and that’s when
the tape recorder came in handy. He experimented
with different speeds and found the witch doctor’s voice. Suddenly the country
was singing OO EE OO AH AH TING TANG WAL-LA WAL-LA BING BANG, and he had a hit
on his hands.
The Witch Doctor song saved Liberty Records
from bankruptcy, but not for long. The
company needed another hit and asked Bagdasarian to write one (no pressure, right?).
His four-year-old son inspired the words to a Christmas song but he wanted to
do something creative like Witch Doctor. While driving through Yosemite and thinking
of potato bugs, butterflies, gophers and ostriches he was forced to stop his
car for a chipmunk. The furry creature stood on hind legs daring him to
pass. Bagdasarian loved the audacity of
the chipmunk and a star was born.
In a
brilliant piece of marketing, Bagdasarian named his chipmunks Alvin, Simon and
Theodore after record executives at Liberty.
All that was needed was the straight man for the chipmunks. Since Bagdasarian
was too lengthy to fit on a 45 record, he changed his name to David Seville (Seville
was the city where he was stationed during World War II).
The song was
released in 1958 and soon Alvinnnnnnnnnnnn” was hitting the charts. It sold as many as 500,000 copies a day and
was the last Christmas song to reach number one in record sales. Bagdasarian and his singing rodents
won three grammys, and six months later the chipmunks landed their own network
show.
Bagdasarian died suddenly of a heart
attack in 1972 at the age of fifty-two. His son carried on the legacy and
the chipmunks continue to delight (and annoy) to this day.
Welcome to Two-Time, Texas
Where tempers burn hot, love runs deep
and a single marriage can
unite a feuding town...
...or tear it apart for good.
Available in print and eBook
Amazon
A great story by a wonderful author-Debbie Macomber
What a great post! Thank you for sharing, Margaret, and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you, too, Melanie!
DeleteNice to know how the chipmunks came into being. I remember seeing Alvin, Simon and Theodore singing on TV when I was younger. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed and merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHi Marilyn, thank you for stopping by. Merry Christmas!
DeleteI am thrilled to learn this piece of history. I grew up with Alvin singing this song and my granddaughter now watched Alvin on Disney.
ReplyDeleteThank you and Merry Christmas!
Hi Connie, isn't it fun to watch the grandchildren enjoy some of the same things we enjoyed as children? It really does create a bond. Merry Christmas!
Delete