An Unfortunate Holiday Accident
December 11th, 2007 | 1:02 pm est |
It’s hardly a nostalgic tune, and it certainly doesn’t present the ideal formula for a wonderful family holiday, but “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” is pretty much unavoidable this time of year. The song itself, which details Grandma’s abuse of eggnog and untimely demise under the runners of Santa’s sleigh, was written by Randy Brooks, originally tracked by the husband-and-wife duo of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg in 1979 (Trigg neither sang nor played an instrument at the session and is actually not on the record at all), and independently released in the San Francisco area on the hastily-created Elmo & Patsy imprint with a song simply called “Christmas” as the B-side. The song was re-recorded in the early 1980s and privately released again, this time on Oink Records, which was really just the Elmo & Patsy label restructured and renamed. The song was re-recorded yet again in 1984 when Elmo & Patsy signed to Epic Records along with a new B-side, “Percy, the Puny Pointsettia.” Unfortunately the couple divorced shortly after the Epic deal, and Elmo, an interesting character in his own right, having been a veterinarian, horse trainer, jockey, and long-distance runner, recorded a fourth and “solo” (but Patsy was never actually on the song in any of its incarnations in the first place) version of the song in 1992 and then did yet a fifth (and second “solo”) rendition in 2000.
- Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Two years later in 2002 Elmo tried his hand at a sequel to Grandma’s story called “Grandpa’s Gonna Sue the Pants Off Santa,” but holiday lightning didn’t really strike a second time (perhaps because Christmas litigation is even less nostalgic than Grandma’s intoxicated passing). Along the way “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” was turned into an animated kids show that gets played annually during the holiday season (Grandma doesn’t die in the animated version of the story but staggers off into the woods instead).
What often gets lost in the shuffle of all of this is that the song as performed is actually presented as evidence in the debate about whether Santa really exists or not. Santa does exist, Elmo proclaims, because he killed Grandma, and that’s the end of the matter. Neither nostalgic nor sentimental, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” persists as a holiday favorite simply because it is so absurd. Everyone knows Grandma can hold her eggnog better than that.
I’d rather have Elmo than Sir McCartney and his wonderful Christmastime.
I was working in radio (well, I still am) when this song came across my desk in 1984. Oh, thank you, Epic! Ever since then, it has become the most dreaded, yet inevitable, request this time every year. Sometimes I have to do a double-take on the release date, as it seems like only yesterday. Other times it seems this song has haunted me my whole life. Only “Blue Christmas” sung by a stuttering pig gets on my nerves more during the holiday season. Elmo, go away!
Greetings,
Yesterday I was having lunch with a friend who told me that when my name was googled there were several sites listed. Imagine my surprise especially when I read your article and the statments made about my “lack” of participation in “Grandma”. What surprised me most was that I was never contacted to deny or confirm what was written.
If you are interested in a more accurate rendition of “your story” with facts that can be checked out, as Paul Harvey would say, “Well, here’s the rest of the story.”
I began my musical career at the age of 11 performing professionally with my sister Kim and brother Larry in a family band called the “Trigg Kids” in Anchorage, Alaska. My primary instrument was the guitar. Music carried me through High School and paid my way through University. At MTSU I played drums in a cocktail trio, and guitar in a rock and country band and managed to graduate on the Deans List. Great fun!
After graduating from MTSU I decided to set the music aside for awhile and travel. As an Airline Hostess for TWA my home base was San Francisco, California. It was at this point that I met Elmo and the band he was in. In the beginning I was the bass player and we called ourselves The Homestead Act. In the mid-70’s we met Liberace and following his suggestion we changed our look and our name to Patsy & Elmo. With the release of our first album under this name Elmo’s ego got cold feet and he thought it best that we go by Elmo & Patsy.
Here are some interesting facts about “Grandma”. We first heard “Grandma” in 1979. We were performing at Hyatt Lake Tahoe and we followed the group Young Country of which Randy Brooks was a member. After our first show Randy approached us and told us about a song he had just written and thought it would be a good song for us. We liked it immediately and performed it with Randy on the next show. The audience response was there! The song was published with Kris Publishing, and we went into the studio to make a single.
“Grandma” was recorded in a studio in Oakland, California and Mike Cogan was the engineer. The original arrangement was for “Grandma” to be sung as a duo. Once in the studio Elmo decided it would be best if he sang the song solo. We had Doug Corrigan on drums, Gary Potterton on lead guitar and I played rhythm guitar and bass. Doug, Gary and I sang the back up voices.
After Gene Nelson, a DJ at KSFO, played “Grandma” over the air, the rest was history. In fact after that one airing we sold over 10,000 copies in less than a week.
Bill Trigg, my father, had a recording studio and did the final mix and sweetened the sound with one his regular studio musicians, Wayne Bridge, one of the original Flying Burrito Brothers among others. From there Bill introduced us to Joe Gibson of Nationwide Sound who was a major East Coast distributor. In addition to “Grandma’s” novelty and incredible audience acceptance, Joe Gibson was paramount in “Grandma’s” number one position in the charts in 1983.
On this single that was originally released in 1979 and reached the #1 spot on the charts was the song “Christmas”. Yes I did write this song. As this was also recorded in Mike Cogan’s studio at the time we were recording “Grandma”. I sang the lead and played both rhythm and bass on the reording.
Cont’d
Not being the most literate in computers I somehow managed to send this response without finishing so,…here’s the rest of that story :)
Due the incredible “overnight” success of “Grandma” we decided to follow the single release with an album. The songs were divided so that we would both have solo performances as well as duets. YES! I am the female vocalist on the “Grandma” Christmas album. I also palyed rhythm guitar and backup harmonies.
Well, what ever button I keep hitting??? This will be last submission no matter what.
Epic/Sony/BMG purchased the rights to the “Grandma Christmas Album” and Epic released a single in 1984 and replaced “Christmas” with “Percy the Puny Poinsettia” on the B side. This can be confirmed as follows.
In 1999 Dan Dee Toys released a toy reindeer that sang “Grandma” by Dr. Elmo. The version of “Grandma” used in this toy was one and the same that we recorded on our Christmas Album. Upon hearing the toy reindeer perform I recognized my voice. I began to inquire and did considerable research to discover that Elmo had represented to Dan Dee that he had re-recorded “Grandma” as Dr. Elmo for this toy release. Elmo took me to court on this matter and I retained the services of Professional audio Laboratories. I sent Paul Ginsberg a reindeer and an unopened CD of the Elmo & Patsy Christmas Album and he confirmed my voice on both the CD and in the toy. (Check out proaudiolabs.com to see Mr. Ginsberg’s credentials. I will be glad to send you a copy of his Affidavit that was used in Court.
Speaking of litigation. Since 1985 I have been involved in some form of legal litigation that was initiated by Elmo and/or Fred Rappoport, his partner, over “Grandma”. To date I have not initiated one legal action. 23 years of accounting to and responding to the Courts in the matter of “Grandma” alone is evidence enough that I particiapated.
I would really be interested in knowing your source who claims that I did not participate in any way in the recording of “Grandma”. Shame on you for not confirming your facts before puting them in to print or contacting me to hear my side of the story.
Patsy