If you recognize the band, Benny Grunch and the Bunch, then you probably grew up in New Orleans or have lived here long enough to experience Christmas in the city.
Many of us came to know of Benny Grunch through a series of music videos that aired every year around Christmas time on WWL-TV. Those videos started in the mid 1990’s and Grunch’s music continues to sell to this day. His song, the 12 Yats of Christmas, is a wildly entertaining spoof of the holiday classic, The 12 Days of Christmas. It’s arguably the one song that Benny Grunch is best known for, and I think it represents the very essence of the word “local.”
“Where I get my CD’s pressed is outside of Nashville, around Franklin. They say I’ve gotten more mileage out of one song that most country stars get in a lifetime,” said Benny Grunch.
Grunch’s real name is Benjamin Antin. How he became Benny Grunch was part of a conversation which I had with Benny when I visited his home in New Orleans a little before Christmas. It was my first time meeting Benny and I told him I felt like I was in the presence of a living legend. That may sound nice, but Benny told me reality is something different.
“It’s not easy being a legend. It’s not easy being a rock ‘n’ roll star when you’re 78 years old,” Benny told me.
Benny says a stroke last year kept him from performing as much he would’ve liked. But earlier in December, Benny Grunch and the Bunch were invited for a special performance at St. Louis Cathedral. They opened the concert with the 12 Yats of Christmas. Listen to how that song and other hits like Ain’t Dere No More came to be and how they became essentials for New Orleans’ Christmas season here.
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