Biography
Dan Crow's work as a children's musician extends across multiple decades and tracks the broader trajectory of the field itself. His journey moved between regional and nationwide reach before circling back, yet he maintained a steady output of genuine, melodic material suited to listeners from preschool through the elementary years.
Raised in the Denver vicinity, Crow completed a bachelor's degree in education in Colorado followed by a master's in speech communication at the University of New Mexico. He began his professional life as a speech therapist in Virginia's public schools. While there he connected with local folk and bluegrass players, and after collaborating with Doc Boggs, Mike Seeger, and Jack Wright he began performing for children throughout the state. His earliest original songs for young audiences drew directly from speech and language themes.
Crow relocated to the Los Angeles area in 1976 and issued his debut children's album, Sound Songs, on his own Crow label. The recording presented straightforward guitar arrangements and original pieces such as "American Gum" and "Fred, Frank, and Francis Frog." He joined forces with other local children's performers including Peter Alsop and Marcia Berman to launch CAMAL (Children's Artists Making a Living). The organization's optimistic name captured their shared goal of widening concert circuits and sales, and the group helped cultivate interest in children's music in Los Angeles that extended past animated characters.
Crow appeared alongside Alsop on the 1979 compilation Silly Songs and Modern Lullabies while sustaining a demanding schedule of school and daycare performances. He released I'm an Elf in 1983 and, four years later, Thunderwear, an album centered on language-arts skills. Songs such as "Homonyms" and "The Ballad of Collective Nouns" made the humorous collection popular with teachers.
In 1988 Crow signed with Rounder Records and delivered the first of two albums, Oops!. Its title track, consistent with his plainspoken yet self-effacing manner, described a child's habitual mishaps. Two years afterward he reunited with CAMAL colleagues to produce Chanukah at Home, which received a Parent's Choice Award.
Seeking wider distribution, Crow accepted an offer from Sony Music during its entry into the children's market under the SonyKids and SonyWonder imprints. He issued the first of several Sony projects in 1991 with Santa Songs, a reworking of I'm an Elf that added new material including the poignant "Will Santa Find Us Here?," a song about a homeless child. That year he also appeared on the Golden Book video Sing Together Baby Songs.
The following year Crow introduced A Friend, A Laugh, A Walk in the Woods on Sony; the album earned a Parent's Choice Gold Award and featured the theme from the family film Milo and Otis. His final Sony release, The Word Factory, again adapted Thunderwear material and likewise received a Parent's Choice Award.
After Sony concluded that the children's market had not met expectations, the label retained only one of its performing artists and released the rest. Crow returned his focus to the Los Angeles area, where he began developing and producing language-arts packages for Disney. He also worked as a staff songwriter for the Disney channel series Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus. An arrangement with Alls House Family Entertainment led to the release of The Giggling Dragon in late 1997.
Raised in the Denver vicinity, Crow completed a bachelor's degree in education in Colorado followed by a master's in speech communication at the University of New Mexico. He began his professional life as a speech therapist in Virginia's public schools. While there he connected with local folk and bluegrass players, and after collaborating with Doc Boggs, Mike Seeger, and Jack Wright he began performing for children throughout the state. His earliest original songs for young audiences drew directly from speech and language themes.
Crow relocated to the Los Angeles area in 1976 and issued his debut children's album, Sound Songs, on his own Crow label. The recording presented straightforward guitar arrangements and original pieces such as "American Gum" and "Fred, Frank, and Francis Frog." He joined forces with other local children's performers including Peter Alsop and Marcia Berman to launch CAMAL (Children's Artists Making a Living). The organization's optimistic name captured their shared goal of widening concert circuits and sales, and the group helped cultivate interest in children's music in Los Angeles that extended past animated characters.
Crow appeared alongside Alsop on the 1979 compilation Silly Songs and Modern Lullabies while sustaining a demanding schedule of school and daycare performances. He released I'm an Elf in 1983 and, four years later, Thunderwear, an album centered on language-arts skills. Songs such as "Homonyms" and "The Ballad of Collective Nouns" made the humorous collection popular with teachers.
In 1988 Crow signed with Rounder Records and delivered the first of two albums, Oops!. Its title track, consistent with his plainspoken yet self-effacing manner, described a child's habitual mishaps. Two years afterward he reunited with CAMAL colleagues to produce Chanukah at Home, which received a Parent's Choice Award.
Seeking wider distribution, Crow accepted an offer from Sony Music during its entry into the children's market under the SonyKids and SonyWonder imprints. He issued the first of several Sony projects in 1991 with Santa Songs, a reworking of I'm an Elf that added new material including the poignant "Will Santa Find Us Here?," a song about a homeless child. That year he also appeared on the Golden Book video Sing Together Baby Songs.
The following year Crow introduced A Friend, A Laugh, A Walk in the Woods on Sony; the album earned a Parent's Choice Gold Award and featured the theme from the family film Milo and Otis. His final Sony release, The Word Factory, again adapted Thunderwear material and likewise received a Parent's Choice Award.
After Sony concluded that the children's market had not met expectations, the label retained only one of its performing artists and released the rest. Crow returned his focus to the Los Angeles area, where he began developing and producing language-arts packages for Disney. He also worked as a staff songwriter for the Disney channel series Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus. An arrangement with Alls House Family Entertainment led to the release of The Giggling Dragon in late 1997.
Albums
