Watch Bruce Springsteen play ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ in 1978
Christmas in 1975 was one to celebrate for Bruce Springsteen. That August saw the release of his third album with the E Street Band, Born to Run, and Springsteen was suddenly a household name across the country. Rock stations continuously spun songs like ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out’, and the band were able to move into larger theatres and even small arenas as the music world came around to New Jersey’s proudest son.
During his December 12th concert at C.W. Post College in Brooklyn, New York, Springsteen got everyone into the Christmas spirit by unleashing what would become his go-to holiday classic – a rendition of ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’. Taking after the version by The Crystals that appeared on A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, the E Street Band’s holly-jolly live version featured some witty crowd banter and an iconic bass-baritone backing vocal from Clarence Clemons.
Luckily for Springsteen, Born to Run engineers Jimmy Iovine and Thom Panunzio were on hand to record the live performance. Although it was immediately pegged as a classic cut from the E Street Band, there was no immediate use for a holiday song. The recording sat unused for over half a decade, eventually making its first appearance on the Sesame Street compilation In Harmony 2 in 1981. In the meantime, Springsteen kept performing the track, making it a tradition for his live shows around the Xmas season.
When Springsteen released his seventh single from the Born in the U.S.A. album, ‘My Hometown’, at the end of November 1985, he decided that it was time to dust off the recording he had made of ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ a decade earlier as the B-side. From that point on, even casual rock fans came into contact with Springsteen’s classic rendition of the song.
Real fans had always known about Springsteen’s fondness for ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’. Almost without fail, Springsteen and the E Street Band continued to play the song around the holidays throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Even into his later years, Springsteen has continued to play the song, making it a tradition that is unlikely to stop any time soon.
Check out Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ in 1978 down below.
