Jimmy Boyd
January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009
Jimmy Boyd was a popular ’50s and ’60s television actor as well as a singer and musician who is best remembered for his 1952 recording of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Recorded just before he hit his teens, the song as gone on to sell an astonishing 60,000,000 copies ever since. Thanks to its popularity, Boyd became a popular fixture on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Frank Sinatra Show, The Tonight Show, and American Bandstand, to name a few. Although Boyd had opportunities to make rock ‘n roll records, including with legendary producer Sam Phillips, he was working with Mitch Miller who hated the new style of music. Boyd was very loyal to Miller who had signed him to Columbia Records, but as a pop singer. During the mid ’60s, Boyd finally started making more rock-leaning records when he worked with the likes of Bobby Darin,Terry Melcher and Leon Russell. One such record was for a song written by Barry Gibb of Bee Gees fame – it helped Boyd land a recording contract with A&M. Jimmy Boyd was 70 when he died of cancer on March 7, 2009.
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