Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto

Soul Brother Number One checks in with this Christmas song where he lets Santa know his first stop should be the ghetto, where he'll be warmly welcomed. It's the first track on his 1968 holiday album A Soulful Christmas, which is filled with original Christmas songs; others include "Soulful Christmas" and an ominously titled instrumental called "Believers Shall Enjoy (Non Believers Shall Suffer)." James Brown also released Christmas albums in 1966 (James Brown Sings Christmas Songs) and 1970 (Hey America It's Christmas).

The song was written by Hank Ballard, Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis and Charles Bobbit. Ballard, with his group Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, released the original version of "The Twist." He gets a shout-out in the lyrics with the line, "Tell 'em Hank Ballard told you so." Pee Wee Ellis was a saxophone player in Brown's band; Charles Bobbit was his manager.

1968 was a very turbulent year and a pivotal one for James Brown. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that April, Brown helped keep the peace by performing a concert in Boston. His Christmas offering was another way to connect and uplift the Black community. He got in the spirit by wearing a Santa suit on the album cover and appearing in Jet magazine in a Santa hat. In that article, he explained that he would be giving out gift certificates to families in need over the holidays.