"All I want for Christmas is a rock ‘n’ roll electric guitar," sings Chuck Berry (1926-2017) – a sentiment shared by many a guitarist since the father of rock ‘n’ roll released his recording of “Run Rudolph Run” in 1958.
A Gibson devotee, Berry became synonymous with the company’s thinline semi-hollowbody electric guitars launched that year. Already known for playing an ES-350T thinline hollowbody electric, Berry was an early adopter of the ES-335, -345 and -355 instruments and continues to help popularize these iconic guitars to this day.
Indeed, earlier this year Gibson introduced the Chuck Berry 1970s ES-355 to their ES (Electric Spanish) line alongside the Chuck Berry 1955 ES-350T.
Berry’s cut of "Run Rudolph Run" made it well into the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1958. It eventually became a top ten-selling single earlier this year – several decades following its original release.
Over time, “Run Rudolph Run” has established itself as a firm seasonal favorite, with countless artists having recorded their own version of this generations-old rock ‘n’ roll Christmas classic.
We’ve compiled a playlist of ten of our favorites. Everyone has theirs, so in no particular order…
Brian Setzer
Lemmy, Billy F. Gibbons and Dave Grohl
Keith Richards
L.A. Guns
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Grateful Dead
Foo Fighters
Cheap Trick
Sheryl Crow
Dwight Yoakam
We hope you enjoyed listening. Stay tuned for more over the Christmas period, and from all of us at Guitar Player - happy holidays!
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