Snoopy's Christmas

This song takes place during World War I, and follows up on "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," where Snoopy is a fighter pilot. In "Snoopy's Christmas," The Red Baron decides not to shoot Snoopy down, but forces him to land and gives him a Christmas gift. There really was a Christmas Truce in 1914 between the British and German troops, mainly on the Western Front. Trench warfare had created a bit of a stalemate, and the soldiers were able to communicate with each other. They negotiated a cease-fire and even exchanged small gifts like whiskey, rum, cigars, and chocolates, meeting in "No Man's Land," which was the battlefield between the trenches.

The Royal Guardsmen were a six-piece from Ocala, Florida. Signed to Laurie Records, their first single was "Baby Let's Wait," which stiffed. Their next single was "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," which was a huge hit, leading to three sequels: "The Return of the Red Baron," "Snoopy's Christmas" and "Snoopy for President." All four songs were written by Laurie producer Phil Gernhard and staff songwriter Dick Holler. They were based on Snoopy the Beagle, a character in the Peanuts comic strip, which was drawn by Charles Schulz. In the strip, Snoopy had recently begun fighting the Red Baron, although it was just in his doggie imagination - the Red Baron was never actually seen in the comic. How did the band feel about recording these Snoopy songs? Barry Winslow, who was their guitarist and sang lead on these tracks, told us in 2014: "The popularity of Snoop was incredible (as still to this day). When 'Snoopy's Christmas' came along, we just did it. That and 'Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron are my favorites. We were a bit let down though, since we never really got to do our own songs. In those days, most bands were stuck in the 'hit rut.'"

Two lines from the traditional song "O Tannenbaum" (the German version of "O Christmas Tree") are featured at the very beginning of this song. The song also contains different sound effects: zooming airplanes, sounds of gunshots and explosions of bombs, and Christmas bells.