Rouses_FINAL-November-December-2017

the Holiday issue

How the “Grunch” Stole Christmas by Alison Fensterstock + photo courtesy Benny Grunch & the Bunch

D uring the holidays in South Louisi- ana, snow is unlikely (to say the least), and even wintry weather isn’t guaran- teed,but there are still some dependable,festive traditions that always let you know what time of year it is.There’s the Celebration in the Oaks light display at City Park, for one. There’s the grand opening at the track on Thanksgiving Day, when locals work up their turkey appe- tites by showing off their holiday finery. From Christmas to NewYear’s,restaurants host Rev- eillon dinners, reviving an elegant and magical 19 th -century dining tradition. And, of course, there’s Benny Grunch. A local institution since at least 1990, when he released his four-song cassette featuring the signature parody “The 12 Yats of Christmas,” Benny Grunch works year- round: the Benny Grunch & the Bunch band

has played Jazz Fest and the French Quarter Festival, and takes plenty of gigs outside the holiday season. Carnival time is a busy one, due to their other big seasonal comedy hit, “Ain’t No Place to Pee on Mardi Gras Day.” But Christmastime — which, on the band’s calendar, starts around late September — is the true Grunch season, when audiences clamor for Benny’s extensive songbook of holiday-themed joke songs with a New Orleans twist, including “O Little Town of Destrehan,” “Santa and his Reindeer Used to Live Right Here,” and of course, the “12 Yats,” the one that started it all. In the early ’60s, the comedian Allan Sherman, probably best known for his hit novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” had put out a parody of the classic carol “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which

did well on Billboard’s special Christmas chart. As Grunch recalls, it was the wife of one of his bandmates who remembered the Sherman tune and suggested they do their own New Orleans-flavored version. “The original ‘12 Days of Christmas’ is in the public domain — it’s probably from the Middle Ages or something like that,” Grunch explained.There was no need to pay to license the melody; all he had to do was come up with his own countdown. “And I just started thinking backwards,” he said. “Twelve dozen Manuel’s tamales. Eleven — I couldn’t think of anything to go with eleven. Seven — 17th Street Canal. Six — six-pack of Dixie. Five fried onion rings. Three, instead of French hens, French breads . Two — Tujague’s restaurant.” Slowly, he filled in the rest: eleven Schwegmann’s bags.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2017