cover image Rudolph, Frosty, and Captain Kangaroo: The Musical Life of Hecky Krasnow: Producer of the World's Most Beloved Children's Songs

Rudolph, Frosty, and Captain Kangaroo: The Musical Life of Hecky Krasnow: Producer of the World's Most Beloved Children's Songs

Judy Gail Krasnow. Santa Monica Press, $24.95 (408pp) ISBN 978-1-59580-026-8

The producer of such classic children's songs as ""Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer,"" ""Frosty the Snowman,"" ""Davy Crockett"" and a bevy of others, Hecky Krasnow was involved with an inordinate amount of music that has since become ingrained in popular culture. In this wide-ranging narrative, youngest daughter Judy tells his story in great, at times frustrating, detail. As a child, Krasnow was able to meet and interact with virtually every star her father worked with, including Gene Kelly, Jackie Robinson, Rosemary Clooney and Bob ""Captain Kangaroo"" Keeshan, and her encounters make for a number of warm anecdotes. Present for many recording sessions, including Gene Autry's canonized recording of ""Rudolph,"" Krasnow takes readers into the studio and behind the scenes of the changing cultural climate of the 1950s and '60s. Unfortunately, her memoir is hampered by a tin ear for dialogue and a strong tendency toward overmodified attribution (""'But there is already an inbuilt audience for the song,' my father continued his case.""), and slowed by an abundance of irrelevant minutiae, such as verbatim snippets of concerts and seemingly every recording Hecky participated in, successful or not. Though there are bright spots to be found (and a handy index for skipping to them), a thorough editing could have made this memoir a real holiday treat.