"Run, Rudolph, Run" by Chuck Berry

"Run, Rudolph, Run" by Chuck Berry is one of the all time great Christmas rock 'n' roll songs. It was released on November 19 1958. and has since become a standard. The song was originally attributed to C. Berry Music (Chuck Berry's company)-M. Brodie. Strangely enough, the many cover versions of the song attribute it to Johnny Marks-Marvin Broadie. The identity of Marvin Broadie is a bit of a mystery, but Johnny Marks is well known as the writer of the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," as well as such Christmas classics as "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Holly Jolly Christmas."

Of course, this begs the question as to whether Johnny Marks actually wrote Run, Rudolph, Run." It sounds exactly like the sort of song Chuck Berry would write. In fact, its melody is pretty much the same as his song "Little Queenie," recorded in the same session. "Little Queenie" was attributed to Chuck Berry alone. It also resembles Chuck Berry's other songs, from "Roll Over Beethoven" to "Johnny B. Goode." It then seems likely Chuck Berry was one of the writers, if not the only writer on the song.

If this is the case, then why is Johnny Marks credited? Much of it may be the fact that Rudolph was not in the public domain at the time and still isn't in the public domain. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by Robert May for a promotion for Montgomery Ward. Montgomery Ward allowed Robert May to retain the copyright on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. To handle the rights to the character Robert May founded The Rudolph Company L.P., which still controls the rights to the character to this day. This brings us to Robert May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks, who received permission from him to write the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is owned by Johnny Marks's company, St. Nicholas Music, Inc. It seems likely that St. Nicholas Music, Inc. lodged a complaint against "Run, Rudolph, Run," and as a result Mr. Marks was credited on a song he did not write (although he did shape Rudolph as we know him).

Regardless of who wrote "Run, Rudolph, Run," it remains a classic to this day and has been covered multiple times.