BACKDOOR SANTA

Born in Montgomery, Alabama on 14 January, 1936, Clarence Carter's long career and strong soul sound perhaps earned him his most commercial exposure when RUN DMC sampled the horn break from Carter's song "Backdoor Santa" for their own funky Yuletide masterpiece, "Christmas in Hollis."

Carter had varying success with through the sixties recording in Muscle Shoals as a musician, releasing singles on Atco and Atlantic. Carter continued as a solo act, signing to the Fame Records label for 1967's Tell Daddy. Several more solid singles followed, until Carter released "Slip Away," which hit number 6 on the Pop Charts. "Too Weak to Fight" hit number 13. Several more soul singles followed, like "Snatching It Back," "At The Dark End of the Street," "The Feeling Is Right," "Doing Our Thing" and "Patches." "Patches", (first recorded by Chairmen of the Board), was a UK number 2[3] and a US number 4 in 1970, and was nominated for a Grammy in 1972.

"Backdoor Santa" is a song written by Clarence Carter in collaboration with Marcus Daniel, and originally performed by Carter. It was released on a compilation album Soul Christmas in 1968.