Songwriter Walter E. ‘‘Jack’’ Rollins (September 15, 1906-January 1, 1973),
West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, (WMHOF) Class of 2011.
“Frosty the Snowman was a jolly, happy soul, with a corncob pipe, and a button nose, two eyes made out of coal.” -Lyrics by Jack Rollins.
Walter E. “Jack” Rollins is one of the quintessential unsung heroes of the music business. At his 2011, WVMHOF induction ceremony, songwriter, and then Mountain Stage host Larry Groce, told the crowd, “While few know him by name, it’s not an exaggeration to say that everyone, young and old, is familiar with at least one of his songs.” A tall claim indeed, but as a lyricist, when your top three compositions are “Frosty the Snowman”; “Here Comes Peter Cottontail”; and “Smokey the Bear”, I think it’s a claim that is most certainly true.
Jack Rollins was born, raised and buried in Mineral County, West Virginia. As a boy, the kid from Keyser developed a knack for poetry. Family members remember him making up poems, “on the spot”, to describe everyday scenes around their home in the Allegheny Mountains. He also cared for his mother who suffered from glaucoma, and enjoyed his vivid poetic descriptions of life in the mountains. Snowmen, rabbits, and even a heroic black bear or two, could be described to his mother’s delight, and perhaps, later these poetry snapshots could evolve into Frosty, Peter and Smokey.
He left home at 18, working first at a glass factory in Pittsburgh and later traveling with a carnival. He also worked at Penn Station in New York, starting as a baggage handler. Rollins wrote song lyrics as a freelancer before joining music publishers Hill and Range in New York in 1948. In 1949, he wrote the lyrics to ‘‘Peter Cottontail,’’ with Steve Nelson writing the music. The song sold more than a million copies, with recordings by Guy Lombardo, Gene Autry, Dinah Shore, Roy Rogers, and others.
In 1950, Rollins wrote ‘‘Frosty the Snowman,’’ with Nelson again supplying the tune. Now considered a holiday classic, the song was first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. Over the years, the song was recorded by many others, including Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and the Partridge Family. He relocated to Hollywood in the early 1950’s.
Rollins, who authored about 500 songs, also wrote ‘‘Smokey the Bear’’ with Nelson in 1952 for the U.S. Forest Service. The character was known originally as Smokey Bear, but Rollins and Nelson added the “the” to his name because it worked better in the song.
Rollins also wrote for some big stars of the day, including George Jones and Eddy Arnold. The song he wrote for Hank Snow, “I Don’t Hurt Anymore,” became a number one hit. Rollins spent nearly 30 years in Hollywood, moving to Cincinnati in 1965. He is buried in Keyser.
Larry Groce, as he inducted Jack Rollins into the WVMHOF in 2011, one songwriter to another. “I wish that Jack Rollins could be here. I would like to have met him. But with every great songwriter I feel like I know the best part of him already, and so do you, because we know his songs.”
RECOMMENDED LISTENING – by the author.
Frosty the Snowman – Jimmy Durante (1950). I love this version. Durante was a versatile vaudeville veteran with, as my dad would say, “a face made for radio”. His delivery and comic timing were impeccable. His version of “Frosty”, the best.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail – Gene Autry (1949). Steve Nelson wrote the music for all three of Rollins’ big hits. When he presented the music for this tune, his working title was “Reginald the Rabbit”. Jack found that moniker difficult to work with, so he changed the bunny’s name, and as the story goes, then finished the song in 15 minutes.
Smokey the Bear – Eddy Arnold (1952) Written during the height of Smokey Bear’s popularity and commissioned by the US Forest Service, it is here Jack Rollins can take credit for giving Smokey Bear his “middle name”.
I Don’t Hurt Anymore – Hank Snow (1953) Rollins wrote over 400 songs. This was a number one, country and western song he wrote, 70 years ago this month.
This piece originally ran on December 19, 2023.
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