"Sleigh Ride" is a lightorchestrastandard composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. The original recordings were instrumental versions. The lyrics, about riding in a sleigh and other fun wintertime activities, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. "Sleigh Ride" was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal 49-0515 / 10-1484, and has become one of the orchestra's signature songs. The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. The Pops have also recorded the song with John Williams, their conductor from 1979 to 1995, and Keith Lockhart, their current conductor.
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Leroy Anderson's own 1950 recording of "Sleigh Ride" on Decca 9-16000 and 16000 reached Cashbox magazine's bestsellers chart when re-released in 1952. The main melody of "Sleigh Ride" was used as the main theme of Victor Young's score for the 1949 western Streets of Laredo. Mitchell Parish worked with Young around this time, writing the lyrics for Young's version of Hoagy Carmichael's previously instrumental "Stardust". In 1950, The Andrews Sisters recorded the first vocal version of "Sleigh Ride", using the lyrics written by Parish. Although "Sleigh Ride" is often associated with Christmas and appears on Christmas compilation albums, its lyrics mention no holiday. The song is noted for the sounds of a horse clip-clopping, and a whip used to get the horse moving. In most performances, a percussionist provides these sounds on temple blocks and a slapstick, respectively. Toward the end of the piece, a trumpet imitates the sound of a horse whinnying. According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers review of Christmas music, "Sleigh Ride" consistently ranks as one of the top 10 most-performed songs written by ASCAP members. ASCAP named "Sleigh Ride" the most popular piece of Christmas music in the U.S. in 2009–2012, based on performance data from over 2,500 radio stations. Anderson's recording remains the most popular instrumental version, while Johnny Mathis's has become the most popular vocal version. In his book Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography , Steve Metcalf says "'Sleigh Ride'... has been performed and recorded by a wider array of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music." "Sleigh Ride" is in seven-part rondo form. The first rondo episode utilizes an unusual, unprepared modulation to the mediant, then the supertonic. has caused several recordings to alter the harmonies or omit this section altogether, as in the Phil Spector / Ronettes version.
"Sleigh Ride" was covered by the American girl group the Ronettes. The Phil Spector-produced recording has become the most popular version outside the traditional pop standard genre, charting yearly in Billboards Top Ten U.S. Holiday 100 and was #26 in 2018 in the Hot 100. It features the well-known "Ring-a-ling-a-ling, ding-dong-ding" background vocals, and the clip-clop and whinny of a horse at its beginning and end.
1949 – Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. The original hit recording, this version has never been available on CD. Other Boston Pops recordings have been made under conductors Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart.
1950 – Leroy Anderson. The Decca Gold Label Series singles referenced above were not issued as individual records, but were part of the four-disc set Leroy Anderson Conducts His Own Compositions. This version is played mostly during the holiday season, and has appeared in various compilations. Anderson re-recorded "Sleigh Ride" in stereo for the 1959 Decca LP Leroy Anderson Conducts Leroy Anderson.
1992 – TLC recorded a version of the song for the 1992 film that was later included on the 1993 holiday album, A LaFace Family Christmas, featuring them and other artists signed to the LaFace Records label. Their version features a rap written and performed by their late member Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes.
2002 – S Club Juniors, the junior spin off of S Club 7, released their version as part of a double-a-side with their version of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love". Reaching #6 in December that year, it is still the only version of the song to have charted in the UK.
Classical "Sleigh Ride" pieces
"Die Schlittenfahrt" is also the popular name of one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Three German Dances. It is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart, whose own Divertimento in F major is popularly known as "Musical Sleigh Ride". The "Winter Night" segment of Frederick Delius's Three Small Tonepoems is also commonly known as "Sleigh Ride". The "Troika" movement of Lieutenant Kijé by Sergei Prokofiev is also a musical sleigh ride, referring to a three-horse team drawing a carriage. Christmas carol expert William Studwell wrote that Prokofiev's work was "even better" than "Sleigh Ride", having a more "exhilarating" style and imagery. "Caribbean Sleigh Ride" is a work for symphony orchestra by Robert Wendel in the style of a fast Latin merengue.
