Suzy Snowflake

Album: Christmas with Rosemary Clooney (1951)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In 1951, the year after "Frosty The Snowman" was released, we were introduced to "Suzy Snowflake," another magical Christmas character. She was a fairy of some kind that would show up when the snow fell, inviting little boys and girls outside to play, where they could build a snowman or go sledding. She never caught on like Frosty, but did bring joy to some boys and girls in the 1950s.
  • Rosemary Clooney, who sang "Suzy Snowflake," wasn't particularly known for Christmas songs but was a very popular singer at the time, with a big hit called "Come-On-A My House" released the same year.

    Most of the big Christmas songs from this era were sung by men, usually Bing Crosby, Perry Como or Gene Kelly, and often were featured in movies. Clooney starred with Crosby in the 1954 film White Christmas, but she didn't sing "Suzy Snowflake."
  • "Suzy Snowflake" was the creation of the songwriters Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper, who wrote some songs recorded by Elvis Presley, including "Puppet On A String." They had another holiday hit with "Nuttin' For Christmas," recorded by Barry Gordon in 1955 and covered by several artists in the next few years.
  • Suzy Snowflake came to life in a 1953 stop-motion animation short film by Centaur Productions that aired on the Chicago TV station WBBM. The version of the song used in the film was sung by Norma Zimmer backed by the Norman Luboff Choir.
  • The comic Christmas singer Arthur Godfrey covered the song in 1967, and the industrial group Soul Coughing put out a surprisingly restrained version in 1997 on a promotional single called Made Especially For You.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.