Artist:Jimmy Durante
Song:Frosty the Snowman
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Season's Greetings
Today when most folks think of Jimmy Durante, the first thing that comes to mind is when he narrated the 1969 Rankin Bass animated TV special Frosty the Snowman. That show still airs during Christmas season so I'm sure plenty of kids know about Durante through that show. But I'm sure you don't know that Durante scored a chart hit with his 1950 recording of Frosty the Snowman. The song was written by the team of Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson. They also wrote the Smokey the Bear theme. Rollins seemed to specialize in holiday songs as he also wrote Here Comes Peter Cottontail. Frosty the Snowman was written for Gene Autry one year after his smash hit Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Autry's recording of Frosty the Snowman reached #7 on the Pop Singles chart and #4 on the Country Singles chart. Back in those days, it was not unusual for several artists to chart with the same song at the same time. Frosty the Snowman was recorded by Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole and Guy Lombardo. Durante's version reached #7 on the Pop Singles chart and it was #44 on Rolling Stone's 2019 US Top 100. Durante's recording was released on MGM and was arranged and conducted by Al Bargy from Paul Whiteman's band. The reason Durante's recording of Frosty the Snowman has had such longevity is the Rankin Bass 1969 production of the animated TV special Frosty the Snowman that first aired on CBS. Rankin Bass were known for these holiday specials and they are still very popular. The big thing is they hired Durante to narrate and had him re-record Frosty the Snowman. Other voices included Billy De Wolfe, Jackie Vernon, Paul Frees and June Foray. As was typical of Rankin Bass productions, the animation was done in Japan. This was Durante's final film role as he retired after a 1972 stroke and died in 1980. There is a soundtrack album for Frosty the Snowman. But Universal has produced a great video for Durante's 1950 recording and that version is on this 3CD various artists budget comp of Universal Christmas songs starting with Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Here's the video for Frosty the Snowman by Jimmy Durante.
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