Al Jolson - His First Record from 1911 - That Haunting Melody - A Victor Recording
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ย. 2009
- That Haunting Melody sung by Al Jolson from 1911 on his first record. The song was composed by George M. Cohan. It was Jolson's first of 3 recording sessions with Victor during that early period and he would later be signed to Contracts with first Columbia and then with Brunswick in the 1920's. His Brunswick contract was rumored to be the highest price ever paid for any performer on record up to that time.His Final Recordings were during his "revived popularity period" of 1945-1950 for Decca.
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The story goes that Jolson couldn’t or wouldn’t be still while doing recordings. He would have had to sing directly into a horn like this to make the recording. He was so used to shimmying around to music that someone’s coat literally had to be found to put Jolson’s arms into and button it backwards over a chair to make him be still while he sang. Good thing that they did-and we have this first recording from Jolie to enjoy. Thank you for uploading!
Thanks for sharing this. Al had a long career and a distinctive voice. My grandfather played saxophone with him in the "Jazz Singer" in 1927 (see the caberet scene where he sings Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye). He is sitting in the back just behind Al Jolson. He always enjoyed working with Al.
Wow! It's crystal clear and you can understand everything! It's older than WWI too!
This is 17 flavors of AWESOME!!!!!! Many thanks!!!!
Amazing quality for a record from 1911, thank you for uploading it.
The condition of this record is amazing. I don't see scratches. It has a high gloss. The sound is clear. Any 78s I've seen are scratched and look more dull gray than glossy black. I'm more of a Cohan fan. Al Jolson always gives me the creeps. This song sounds like it should be in Kubrick's The Shining.
110 years old
OMG this all is so rare! I luv it
This really is a haunting melody, being 112 years old. It's so old in fact, that the grandkids of everyone involved with making this record are most likely dead now, and their great grandkids are my parent's age (they're in their 50s).
I'm only in my mid-twenties and have great-grandparents who were young, married adults when Jolson made this record 112 years ago. I never knew them, of course, the last surviving one, my maternal great-grandma (born 1892), having died six years before I came onto the scene in the late '90s. But still, their lives not infrequently inspire introspective meditation on my part on the vast gulf of differences that separate the world they were born into and came of age in and the one I now inhabit.
it's eerie to think this is 109 years old. it feels like i shouldn't be able to listen to it
Very True, His Victor's were the earliest, and also the most difficult for Collectors to find. Thanks for your comments, glad you enjoyed it.
this is so cool. would love to own one of these antiques someday!
Gracias por compartirlo.
Thanks
The King.
I hope Murdoch Mysteries features one of his early songs when it comes around to Season 16-20 of the show.
Recorded on December 22, 1911.
@Fiftiesflashback Yes, your observation is correct. This is the classic early Humpback style Victor II Talking Machine from about 1905.
Victrolaman
i want one of those record players! my granny had one of these but where did it go??? Where can i found one???? TELL ME!
Any Jolson 78 RPM original is always a sweet find, as I understand his recording career was always secondary to his career as a stage entertainer. I read somewhere he did not record at all between 1930 and 1945.
@pongboy1100 Depending on where you are located, there are also some phonograph shows and sales where collectors and dealers offer Talking machines and phonographs as well as a large variety of related items and records for sale. The larger ones that come to mind are in Wayne, N.J., Danbury Conn. (coming up on August 29th, and in Union ILL. usually in June I believe.
Victrolaman
Amazing to hear his voice from over 100 years ago. Wonder why he didn't want to be a religious singer?
Al Jolson seems to have been a really zany guy. Kind of strange. And he was very, very popular in his strangeness.
@victrolaman Or likewise, the City of London Phonograph & Gramophone Society. They welcome members from any part of the world!
@victrolaman phonagalerie has a phonograph/gramophone store in france
@pongboy1100 There are a variety of different places where an original Victor Talking machine can be purchased. In this day and age they come up for sale quite often on online auction sites like E Bay. Or you can buy one that may be for sale through members of your nearest Antique Phonograph Society. You should take care and be careful and be absolutely sure that what you are buying is real and authentic. There are lots and lots of phoney crapophones out there for sale so beware !!
hmm im trying to look fer the haunting melody that my choir and i are doing
Peter Farrar:- Al Jolson's first recording in 1911, obviously & Understanderly, the current modern day technologywas absent, therefore the quality was very poor, & that is why Jolson's wonderful voice was decimated into a terrible sound. Golden words of regret, by Peter E. Farrar.
You obviously heard something all of the other people who gave very positive comments below, did not. Did you play it all the way through ?
what a lousy song. i'd expect better from george cohan. i guess al was eager to get recording opportunities. luckily he connected with gershwin.
What a forgettable song!
@victrolaman phonogalerie has a phonograph/gramophone store in france