JIMMY BOYD

1939 – 2009

Goofy freckled-faced youngster Jimmy Boyd was a national sensation in 1952 with his squeaky-voiced rendition of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”  Hard to believe the innocent little tune was condemned by the Catholic Church as too suggestive saying it linked the holy day of Christmas with sex.  What?!   But the kid had moxie; he traveled to Boston himself to convince the church officials otherwise.  

Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 in McComb, Mississippi to Leslie and Winnie Boyd. The family was extremely poor.  Jimmy’s grandfather was a character named Fiddler Bill with 21 children.  Jimmy’s father was a cotton-picker turned carpenter, but had trouble supporting his wife and two sons in Mississippi. At age 2, Jimmy’s father put the family on a train to Riverside, California—Dad would join them later traveling out west  hitchhiking and “riding the rails.”

Jimmy started playing guitar and singing at age 4.  His first break came at age 7 when he was called on stage to sing in the nearby town of Colton at a barn dance with Texas Jim Lewis’s band.  He was such a hit that he started singing with them on their radio program.  

In 1951 he won first prize on “The Al Jarvis Talent Show” on Channel 13 KLAC in LA.   Al liked him so much that Jimmy would become a regular on Jarvis’ marathon 5-hour talk show (which also included regular and future co-star Betty White).  This led to a couple of guest spots on “The Frank Sinatra Show” in 1951-52, which brought him to the attention of Columbia Records.  He was quickly signed.

At age 12, he went into the recording studio to record his first few songs.  The country tune “(The Angels Are Lighting) God’s Little Candles” made a slight dent on the charts, but it was his second---the novelty song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” that would go on to huge success released later in the year (1952).  The country boy with the cute high-pitched voice was transformed into an “overnight national musical figure.” 

But not everyone liked it.  The Catholic Church in Boston issued the statement that the lyrics of the song linked the holy day of Christmas to sex.  They asked radio stations to ban it (which some did).   However, the record sold over 2 million in 10 weeks and skyrocketed to #1 on the charts.  Later on, Jimmy himself would travel to Boston and plead the case that indeed the song did not imply anything “indecent.”  The stunt made national headlines as the boy went before Church officials and “explained” the lyrics to them!  The Church relented, and the next Christmas the ban was lifted.  He triumphantly sang the song on Ed Sullivan in December 1953.   The precocious Boyd even did a stand-up routine on the show.