"Old Toy Trains" (sometimes titled "Little Toy Trains") is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

written and originally recorded by American musician

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road", "Dang Me", and " England Swing ...

. It was released in late 1967 as a single for

Smash Records Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records. History Mercury Record Corporation president Irving Green announced the formation of the company’s new pop subsidiary label, Smash Records, in Ma ...

. Since the original recording, the song has also been covered by various other artists including Miller's son

Dean Miller Roger Dean Miller Jr. (born October 15, 1965) is an American country singer, songwriter and music producer known professionally as Dean Miller. He is the son of Roger Miller, a country pop artist who had several hit singles from the 1960s thro ...

(for whom the song was written), as well as

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

History

Roger Miller wrote "Old Toy Trains" in 1967 for his son,

. Released on

late in the year, the song ended an eight-year ban on Christmas single releases by the label.

Critical reception

An uncredited review in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' gave Roger Miller's original version a positive review, saying that "Miller has composed one of his most moving and touching ballads for all ages which he performs to perfection."

Other versions

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

recorded the song for his 1968 album ''

That Christmas Feeling ''That Christmas Feeling'' is the tenth album (and first Christmas album) by American singer-guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1968 by Capitol Records. Reissues While the album has never been formally reissued on CD in the United States, the ...

''. Nana Mouskouri released her version on her Christmas album entitled ‘’Christmas With Nana Mouskouri’’ in 1972.

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

recorded the song for his 1983 album ''Raffi's Christmas Album''.

The Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening a ...

recorded the song for their 1985 album ''

Christmas Present A Christmas gift or Christmas present is a gift given in celebration of Christmas. Christmas gifts are often exchanged on Christmas Eve (December 24), Christmas Day itself (December 25) or on the last day of the twelve-day Christmas season, Twel ...

''.

covered the song for the 2000 multi-artist album ''A Country Christmas 2000''. Keith's rendition spent two weeks on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts that year, peaking at number 57. Two years later,

Universal South Records Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

released a version that incorporated Roger Miller's original vocals with those of Dean Miller. Scott Miller recorded the song for his 2010 EP ''Christmas Gift''. Violinist

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (, ; born 1 October 1949) is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known as the founder of the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra tour worldwide, often playing in stadiums. He resides ...

performed the song with vocalists

Mirusia Louwerse Mirusia Louwerse (born 29 March 1985) is an AustralianMirusia Louwerse
at ...

, Carla Mafioletti (with Guitar) and Kimmy Skota on his 2012 DVD ''Home for the Holidays''.

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock, power pop and New wave music, new wave,Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

singer

Susan Aglukark Susan Aglukark, ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓲᓴᓐ ᐊᒡᓘᒃᑲᖅ ''suusan agluukkaq''; born 27 January 1967) is a Canadian singer whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording st ...

recorded a version that appears in her 2013 album ''Dreaming of Home'' with additional

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

lyrics.

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements wit ...

covered the song for their 2023 compilation album '' The Greatest Christmas Hits''.

Language versions

Petit Garçon

The tune has been popular in other languages, notably it was translated to French and recorded in 1968 just one year after the English version by the New Zealand / French singer songwriter

Graeme Allwright Graeme Allwright (7 November 1926 – 16 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born French singer and songwriter. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a French language interpreter of the songs of American and Canadian songwriters such as Leona ...

as "Petit Garçon" (meaning "little boy") in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. It was covered in French by Greek singer

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...

in 1972 as one of the tracks of her album ''Pour les enfants(for children). In 2014, the song was adopted as the official tune for the annual French charity event ''Téléthon 2014''. The Canadian French singer Garou that year's main campaign sponsor (parrain) recorded Graeme Allwright's French version "Petit garçon" with Ryan, a young French singer for official release. The song was included in Garou's new album ''It's Magic'' released 1 December 2014 in France. During the Téléthon, Garou sang it live accompanied by

Hélène Ségara Hélène Ségara (, born ''Hélène Aurore Alice Rizzo''; 26 February 1971), is a French singer of Armenian and Italian descent, who came to prominence playing the role of Esmeralda in the French musical ''Notre Dame de Paris''. She has sold o ...

and tennisman and singer

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Noah won the French Open in 1983 French Open – Men's singles, 1983, and is a forme ...

Chart performance

;Toby Keith version ;Garou & Ryan version as "Petit garçon"

References

{{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus Songs about trains 1967 singles 2000 singles Roger Miller songs Toby Keith songs Glen Campbell songs Songs written by Roger Miller Song recordings produced by Jerry Kennedy American Christmas songs Smash Records singles 1967 songs