American Treasures: Burl Ives, a Legend of Folk Music and Much More

American Treasures: Burl Ives, a Legend of Folk Music and Much More
Burl Ives in the role he is likely remembered best for today: The voice of the narrator, Sam the Snowman, in the stop-motion-animated TV special "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." NBC
Michael Kurek
Updated:

If nothing else, younger readers will at least know the distinctive, slightly scratchy voice of the great Burl Ives from the perennial Christmas songs “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” These songs are both from the beloved NBC stop-motion-animated TV special of the latter title (1964), still aired annually, in which Ives performed the voice of the banjo-playing snowman-host and narrator.

Older readers will know Burl Ives for much more, be it his contributions to radio, Broadway, folk music, country music, Hollywood films, or television. Many of us saw him pop up in these venues for decades, but perhaps we never connected the dots. To see all that Ives did, laid out together in one list, is to realize just what a head-spinning whirlwind of a career he enjoyed.

Michael Kurek
Michael Kurek
Author
American composer Michael Kurek is the composer and producer of the Billboard No. 1 classical album, “The Sea Knows,” and a member of the Grammy Producers and Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy. He is Professor Emeritus of Composition at Vanderbilt University. The most recent of his many awards for composition was being named in March 2022 “Composer Laureate of the State of Tennessee” by the Tennessee State Legislature and governor. For more information and music, visit MichaelKurek.com
Related Topics