Al jolson sang in black face to bring black talent to the forefront. He wasnt racist, he was trying to promote black talent the best way he could. Its a shame he has been so condemned because he loved the black community and the music. He didn't have a racist bone in his body.
Yeah, there are real good reasons this is considered offensive in this day and age... but I don't see the faintest sign Al meant any harm with it. He was a product of the times, working with the culture we had. We have to move on from that, but there's no sense in punishing him for it.
Jolson wore blk face 2 expose WHT audiences 2 blk music. He also insisted on blk musicians being hired during his performances. IMO as a WHT person, blk culture and history is all part of American History.
Jolson had a powerful voice. He performed mostly in the pre-amplifier era, and it's probably incomprehensible to modern audiences that many singers at this time performed in theaters like this without microphones or a PA system. His voice could fill a music hall.
@@JudgeJulieLit: Loved Jolson, Merman always annoyed me. Not just because of her singing voice but because her overall persona, (and speaking voice, too) seemed crass to me.
I just heard this song when I asked Alexa to play songs from 1918 , as I ask her to play very old old songs, this song was very good recorded even for our time and his voice was so powerful for such a young performer as he was in his 20's at the time he sang it first.
Where did these days go ??? Just listen to the "Crap" they give us today. Now I now what Hell is like !! NO Auto Tune, NO Strobe lights and special effects. Just PURE Talent. O'h, what I wouldn't give to go back to those times. Air was clean and Sex was dirty !! >
People complained about "newfangled" jazz back then too, and how it wasn't "real music." Quite a lot, actually. Read a damn book someday, Jimbo, and maybe you'll start to notice how much history repeats itself.
Watched the Dvd of the AL JOLSON STORY with the Dad the other night,Loved every minute of it,Had to Laugh when he Said to me,sorry probably not your cup of tea,Proved him wrong when my recenty played Vinly(7inch) They Sold a Million no.3 appeared.
Mammy mine, your little rolling stone that rolled away, rolled away Mammy mine, your little rolling stone is home today, there to stay! I want to see your smiling face, smile a welcome smile I want to feel your fond embrace, listen, Mammy mine! Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody When you croon, croon a tune From the heart of Dixie Just Hang that cradle mammy mine Right on that Mason-Dixon line And swing it from Virginia To Tennessee with all the soul that's in ya Weep no more, Weep no more my lady Mammy, sing it again for me And "Old Black Joe" Just as though You had me on your knee A million baby kisses I'll deliver If you will only sing that Swanee River Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody Rock-a-bye Rock your little baby With a Dixie melody When you croon, croon a little tune From the heart of Dixie Just hang that cradle mammy mine Right on that Mason-Dixon line And swing it from Virginia To Tennessee with all the soul that's in ya Mammy, mammy listen to what they're playing They're playing Weep No More My Lady Sing it again for me And you remember, remember " Old Black Joe" God love you Mammy, you sang when I was on your knee A million baby kisses -- [kissing sounds] -- I'll deliver Mammy sing that Swanee River Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody!
@@dichheng344 it wasn't the mock black people it was to bring black songs and culture of the black people to an extremely segregated society would not have ever known about it otherwise. You can never reply today's standards to history. It's art not anything political.
Watch for the "blooper". The film makers made a mistake in the lyrics. It's supposed to read: "Rock a bye your baby ... with a JOLSON Melody." His style became a genre all its own ! Jolson led the way, in show business, for decades. Revolutionizing the Entertainment Industry -- NOT Once, but Several Times. 70 years After his death, he is still IMMORTAL.
Jolson was one of the 1st entertainers to play for the troops in Korea. It greatly affected his health and led to his death. Also. "Jolson's comming?" from the movie My Favorite Year.
My Dad had a good voice and sing like Jolson. He loved Al Jolson! He died last year and I miss his singing so much. I feel like he is speaking to me through his music because these old songs will pop into my head and I can hear my Dad singing clear as a sunny day.
Wiliam Frawley was also Bub on my three sons. Upon his death he was replaced by Wiliam Demarest who played Uncle Charlie. William Demarest of course is known to us largely for his role in The Jolson Story.
The ONLY reason this gets deleted from TH-cam is because it is from the 1939 movie The Rose of Washington Square staring Alice Fayec and Tyrone Power. NOT BECAUSE JOLSON IS SINGING IN BLACKFACE which was his trademark and was not to make fun of black people, but to emulate them. Back in those days there was not one black person who thought Jolson was a racist. They loved him because he introduced the white listening audience to black music....jazz. And he opened the doors for future black performers. When two black performers were asked to leave a restaurant because of their color, Jolson told the manager, if they had to leave, then he would leave too. He also used real black performers in his movies instead of white people playing black people. See video, 'Liza Lee' I never understood why a black person would get upset with the then greatest entertainer of all time wanting to sing as a black man. ❤
In 1907, when Al Jolson was just 20, he married Henrietta Keller. At the time he could not find work. So he took a job with Lew Dockstader's Minstrel Show which was white men singing and dancing in blackface. Jolson was not happy singing the same old songs, the same old way night after night. One night while the show was in New Orleans, Jolson goes for a walk and winds up in the black section of town where he hears music that he had never heard before coming out of a club. It was JAZZ! He had never heard that kind of music being played by black musicians before. He loses track of time and doesn't get back in time for the Minstrel Show. He is fired. But this experience, hearing JAZZ music, changed his musical career forever. Here is that scene from The 1946 motion picture 'The Jolson Story'.. Jolson is being played by actor Larry Parks. th-cam.com/video/4sN2WG2jr0U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=KIqm5vPeJ4KjxRm5
This priceless clip had disappeared from You Tube for a very long time. Already a huge fan of the entertainer, I recall being blown-away when I first came across this several years ago now. I used to search for it again occasionally but it had vanished.Thrilled to see its been returned here, as it showcases one of his greatest songs and accompanying performances. Of course, I've owned the movie which contains this scene(and many other awesome Jolie moments)so it doesn't really matter that it's back on You Tube--except for all those who, like me once, are discovering it for the first time! He's amazing, rivetting, & thrilling here, putting his entire heart & soul into the number. A quick word about Jolson's use of blackface--this may sound like treason but it doesn't bother me because I understand it within its historical-context, as a mode of wildly-popular, uniquely-American, theatrical-form of entertainment--he didn't use it in a racist-fashion. Furthest thing from his mind. Once he realized he'd struck gold, emphasizing the music from an idealized-South, how enthusiastically audiences responded to it as ENTERTAINMENT, he employed blackface as a way to portray a man closely-associated with this then-exotic region & culture--and noone could put it across like Jolson! Please note that he NEVER belittled African-Americans in his performances--he sang & danced with emotional-depth, heartfelt-sincerity, and, when the occasion called for it, with pure-joy as well.
@@jackbuckley7816 Exaclty jack I can take Jolie with or without Blackface, and Larry Parks, It is the Great Entertainment value I get out of it nothing else. YES times were different, but that does not mean they were all bad.There should be more Jolie. There is a big chance Movies of his will be out on Blu ray with extras. Go to Criterion to get the Jolson Story on Blu Ray and/ or the several Jolson fcebook sites for links
Thank you for your kind words about Al Jolson!! I first heard him in the Jolson Story when I was around 11 years old......I'm 67 now and have loved him ever since!!
Mr. Jolson was not mocking black people he was playing a simple part, many black men wear a white face in those days for vaudeville, mime, and comedy, also tribesmen and women in Africa And South AMERICA Wear MULTICOLOR FACE PAINT IN THEIR Rituals THANK YOU. ** MARK J MASSARE** Ph. D.. .
A Hungarian-Jewish immigrant to America who became famous for singing jazz sometimes coloring his face black to emphasize to the racist Americans that the music they love so much originated from the Bllack Americans.
Al Jolson was a God when I was growing up. He was celebrated as a great entertainer, great singer and a man who did more to advance the centuries long battle between Jews and Gentiles. He was the first 20th Century Superstar who was loved by Christians as well as Jews. He logged thousands of miles entertaining servicemen during World War II. He was responsible for many black performers finding work through his efforts. Now he is vilified as a racist. Perhaps you can see what a fucked up world we live in when such a great man as Al Jolson is now raked over the coals.
Not really. Actually he didn't like the way Jolson sang and called him a "Coney Island beer singer, not for us". Obviously he cost his company tons and tons of money. Edison had no clue about popular artists! He even hated Caruso!!!! ("To much tremolo, no good")! The genius wasn't a genius when it came to talent.
@@JudgeJulieLit no. Warner brother did a test with Jolson a year before and ordered all the copies to be destroyed so they could promote The Jazz Singer as the “first talkie”. Luckily a tape of “A Plantation Act” was found in tacked in the 90s and you can see it here on TH-cam. So 1926
Seems so unnessesary, he's clearly extremely talanted and doesn't seem to be trying to mock anyone (seems like a serious performance) so why the need to paint his face? What's the point, he surely must have known it could be hurtful to people?
@@teijaflink2226 it was to add pathos to the song and bring black culture and music to the audience. In a light song like Toot Toot Tootsie he doesn't wear this make-up.
@@ibrahimalee23: I don't see anything wrong with it. It´s not being used to mock or deride Blacks but is paying homage. Im Italian on my father´s side and Irish/German/Indian on my mother´s side. Am I supposed to be offended when I see a pizza box with the stereotypical Italian w/ the big nose and mustache or Italians being depicted as mobsters? Am I supposed be outraged when I see a cowboy and Indian movie or a sport team´s name paying homage to the American Indian? Or Irish being depicted as drunken gingers? This whole racial issue is a bunch of bullshit fabricated by Marxist Liberals and does nothing but divide people.
@@jaelge it's literally made to mock blacks, not pay homage. Where did you get that info from? The literal reason for black face was to play into the racist stereotypes associated with Black Americans. Black Americans (and people in general) are allowed to be offended by black face if they choose too.
Al called his blackface character 'Gus'. It was just a role he was playing. Al Jolson was not a racist. Neither were Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, or multitudes of others who blacked up for a role. Racism is defined in one's actions and one's motivations, not necessarily by the color of one's make-up, or of one's skin.
It's truly a shame the black face make up in AJ'S act was taken out of context ____ truly misunderstood. ___ sure for sure AJ was not a racist . He loved black influenced music __ in retrospect his presentations were knocked and discredited. In his heart his music expressed love and in no way did he intend to disrespect or discredit. Truly a shame this stigma still sticks to his legacy. If one listens to this piece you come away with only his live respect .
He loved black people and their music so much that he participated in a practice that was used to stereotype, belittle, and replace them in American entertainment. Yeah umm, maybe that was his justification, but it's not an excuse. Black face then and now isnt okay. I'm sure Al never asked a single black person how they felt about him impersonating them and singing their songs. He wasn't honoring them. He was replacing them. Why was his voice more valuable than the black people who wrote it? Honoring black people would've been actually giving them a platform to perform as themselves instead of the racist charactures they were relegated to. Don't forget that he was pulling this in an age where black people were barred from the success Al enjoyed because of their skin color. I don't see any respect here. There's no such thing as respectful black face
glad to see woksters and children of the lie at large missed out on this beautiful piece of American Spirit. all they would have taken from it would have been the black face.
Our Australian aboriginals use white make up in their sacred dances which is screened Nation Wide at Big Sporting events etc. I have no comment on it. I Don't feel offended or anything? It is part of a culture, I respect all that. I don't try to unite the masses to have it banned or anything.Blackface Minstrels used by different races is in deed long, complicated and definatelly not contemporary now, but it has never been proven it is the monstrosity in recent times it has been painted to protect the contemporary image, or more so CONTEMPORARY PROFIT!!! AL JOLSON had a unique voice all his own, HE WAS immensly popular and left an indelible mark on Entertainment with or without BLACKFACE. For more about Blackface in a broad general context see the Tim Brooks book The Blackface Minstrel Show IN Mass MEDIA
Australian Abroriginals were doing that long before white people came to their continent. It was never intended to mock or offend them. Blackface was meant to mock and offend black people. That history can’t be changed to fit your narrative.
@@RapRants They may have well done it before Adam and Eve, or Apes evolved into humans, however you want it? All I know is, because I have seen it with my own eyes, unless my TV set is tuned different to everybody else's in Australia, or something? and I am like talking in the last 12 months, at big sporting events, and likely other big occasions? DREAM TIME AT THE G for our Australian football a fine example. They paint on, some full face, a lot of white, other stripes of it over their faces,on their arms and legs and dance around, sing etc etc, It could be seen as an aboriginal minstrel show mocking white people, I CERTAINLY DON"T. I JUST ACCEPT IT AS THEIR CULTURE, OR A WAY OF CELEBRATION WHATEVER! and I thought that way too when I went to the some Church as the Pastor Nicholis Family in Australia, and experienced him as a minister.There will always be people that won't judge anybody by color, or any other trait about them, and. unless they do something bad, insulting, or intimidating to them,give them the benefit of the doubt, even though they may not understand or even like what they do. What they won't do is be bullied brainwashed into contemporary or mob mass hysteria to protect something of mass interest like the anti old stuff! EVER hear of a guy in Germany in the 1930's, who wanted to change the whole world order, was against this and that because it was not his way etc etc, and got the masses with him, brainwashed, this is what the control all's are doing here, Painting something, fabricating it, Thousands of times worse than it was! TO PROTECT THE CONTEMPORARY HIP POCKET PROFIT MARGIN, and fools who are worried about there contemporary image fall for it! THAT is not doing anything to help anybody!
To some everything is racist. The word has been so overused by the left to represent everything they don't agree with. The swear words come from illiterates who haven't got the vocabulary for extended comments. You don't like it, leave and take your filthy mouth with you.
Blackface was just a trend and al Jolson did a lot of stuff for black people we have a lot of bad trends and in 100 years people will look back and call us bad people even though we were just being who we are
Al jolson sang in black face to bring black talent to the forefront. He wasnt racist, he was trying to promote black talent the best way he could. Its a shame he has been so condemned because he loved the black community and the music. He didn't have a racist bone in his body.
No microphones,no tinsel on the stage. Just greatness of a man with a great voice. The end. ❤
So well said!!! 😊😊
Was no one like him,never will be!
The greatest entertainer in the world.
he was
Still a wonderful timeless classic, Jolly in black face was amazing.
Jolson had the guts to go on stage to celebrate our black heritage in an impermissible time…he did it with blackface out of respect….God bless him.
He did respect black entertainers tremendously, as did Eddie Cantor, who also performed in blackface early in his career. Both men loathed racism.
Yeah, there are real good reasons this is considered offensive in this day and age... but I don't see the faintest sign Al meant any harm with it. He was a product of the times, working with the culture we had. We have to move on from that, but there's no sense in punishing him for it.
Jolson wore blk face 2 expose WHT audiences 2 blk music. He also insisted on blk musicians being hired during his performances.
IMO as a WHT person, blk culture and history is all part of American History.
I wish I could have been in that audience. Wow!
As an extra. A free lunch too!
As an extra. A free lunch too!
As an extra. A free lunch too!
As an extra. A free lunch too!
As an extra. A free lunch too!
Jolsen he is the best !!
Greetings from Australia
Do you mean JOLSON? Please give my love to daughter Lucy, and grandchildren Max and Jemima in Melbourne. Regards from England, February, 2024.
Yep.
I don't know why,but I love this!
I suspect I do. The big sanctimonious American flag and the blackface explain it all.
and al,speaks 4 himself,he was the best
this guy was a showman
l’m 74 yrs old hearing this song brings back childhood memories l could cry !!!
Owl Jolson,I Love to singa lika the Moona and the Juna and the springa...I like to singa
Jolson had a powerful voice. He performed mostly in the pre-amplifier era, and it's probably incomprehensible to modern audiences that many singers at this time performed in theaters like this without microphones or a PA system. His voice could fill a music hall.
Too that may explain the popularity of Ethel Merman, whose voice I find too strident.
@@JudgeJulieLit:
Loved Jolson, Merman always annoyed me. Not just because of her singing voice but because her overall persona, (and speaking voice, too) seemed crass to me.
J
He also sang with just 1 lung in his later career. Amazing!
Tony Bennett . " I will show you how they did it in old days.." He belted it out..
I saw him twice in a Theater built 1928 .Ohio..
I just heard this song when I asked Alexa to play songs from 1918 , as I ask her to play very old old songs, this song was very good recorded even for our time and his voice was so powerful for such a young performer as he was in his 20's at the time he sang it first.
I think of where my grandparents lived from my birth up to when they came to Horsforth in 1978. Al Jolson was loved by us all in our family.
One of my very favorite artists. Rosa Larsen
This performance is timeless. I am to young to have had the opportunity to experience vaudeville. This shows me how wonderderfull it must have been.
Is it though….
"Listen you ain't heard nothing yet folks"
Where did these days go ??? Just listen to the "Crap" they give us today. Now I now what Hell is like !! NO Auto Tune, NO Strobe lights and special effects. Just PURE Talent. O'h, what I wouldn't give to go back to those times. Air was clean and Sex was dirty !! >
People complained about "newfangled" jazz back then too, and how it wasn't "real music." Quite a lot, actually. Read a damn book someday, Jimbo, and maybe you'll start to notice how much history repeats itself.
beautiful perfection sing Jolly we're listening!
Watched the Dvd of the AL JOLSON STORY with the Dad the other night,Loved every minute of it,Had to Laugh when he Said to me,sorry probably not your cup of tea,Proved him wrong when my recenty played Vinly(7inch) They Sold a Million no.3 appeared.
Mammy mine, your little rolling stone that rolled away, rolled away
Mammy mine, your little rolling stone is home today, there to stay!
I want to see your smiling face, smile a welcome smile
I want to feel your fond embrace, listen, Mammy mine!
Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody
When you croon, croon a tune
From the heart of Dixie
Just Hang that cradle mammy mine
Right on that Mason-Dixon line
And swing it from Virginia
To Tennessee with all the soul that's in ya
Weep no more, Weep no more my lady
Mammy, sing it again for me
And "Old Black Joe"
Just as though
You had me on your knee
A million baby kisses I'll deliver
If you will only sing that Swanee River
Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody
Rock-a-bye
Rock your little baby
With a Dixie melody
When you croon, croon a little tune
From the heart of Dixie
Just hang that cradle mammy mine
Right on that Mason-Dixon line
And swing it from Virginia
To Tennessee with all the soul that's in ya
Mammy, mammy listen to what they're playing
They're playing Weep No More My Lady
Sing it again for me
And you remember, remember " Old Black Joe"
God love you Mammy, you sang when I was on your knee
A million baby kisses -- [kissing sounds] -- I'll deliver
Mammy sing that Swanee River
Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody!
The Great Al Johnson!!!
Regards from Argentina...
I love it. ❤
What a great singer there will never. Be another one like him
He did black face wtf
@@dichheng344He entertained American troops in three wars and was one of the first to stand up for rights for blacks.
@@dichheng344 yes, and?
@@dichheng344 it wasn't the mock black people it was to bring black songs and culture of the black people to an extremely segregated society would not have ever known about it otherwise. You can never reply today's standards to history. It's art not anything political.
Ask some black people how they perceive it hmmmmm
The always great Al Jolson
Watch for the "blooper". The film makers made a mistake in the lyrics. It's supposed to read: "Rock a bye your baby ... with a JOLSON Melody." His style became a genre all its own ! Jolson led the way, in show business, for decades. Revolutionizing the Entertainment Industry -- NOT Once, but Several Times. 70 years After his death, he is still IMMORTAL.
Al Jolson was awesome
Love jolsen !!!
Jolson was one of the 1st entertainers to play for the troops in Korea. It greatly affected his health and led to his death. Also. "Jolson's comming?" from the movie My Favorite Year.
More Jolson please 🤩
My Dad had a good voice and sing like Jolson. He loved Al Jolson! He died last year and I miss his singing so much. I feel like he is speaking to me through his music because these old songs will pop into my head and I can hear my Dad singing clear as a sunny day.
My experience…exactly…❤️
Yes I get you.
Brilliant entertainer !!!
I am now well into my seventies. This was one of my first records.
I wasn't yet born when Mr. Jolson passed away.
@@Juliaflo Me neither, not for another 52 years. I own a bunch of his Columbia records from the teens and twenties, great music.
Great. Al Jolson was terrific.
Greatest entertainer ever, no more tobe to said . What a voice !!!!!!!!!
"Listen you ain't heard nothing yet folks"
El hombre inolvidable😅
The Greatest Voice ❤
Wiliam Frawley was also Bub on my three sons. Upon his death he was replaced by Wiliam Demarest who played Uncle Charlie. William Demarest of course is known to us largely for his role in The Jolson Story.
Did you know that Frawley introduced the song, My Manny
Thank you Al
The ONLY reason this gets deleted from TH-cam is because it is from the 1939 movie The Rose of Washington Square staring Alice Fayec and Tyrone Power. NOT BECAUSE JOLSON IS SINGING IN BLACKFACE which was his trademark and was not to make fun of black people, but to emulate them. Back in those days there was not one black person who thought Jolson was a racist. They loved him because he introduced the white listening audience to black music....jazz. And he opened the doors for future black performers. When two black performers were asked to leave a restaurant because of their color, Jolson told the manager, if they had to leave, then he would leave too. He also used real black performers in his movies instead of white people playing black people. See video, 'Liza Lee'
I never understood why a black person would get upset with the then greatest entertainer of all time wanting to sing as a black man. ❤
You made us love you !
I Love Al Jolson!
Fantastic 👍
Mammy bravo Al swing it from Virginia 🇺🇸🎤🎶😎
Wow ❤ its in his heart ❤
Bravo 🎶 it all Al 🎤🎶 Mamy memories!
Al Jolson was, AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE WORLD'S GREATEST ENTERTAINER!!!
No matter what role he performed, William Frawley always looked the same age
Fred Mertz. Love it
He was old there too ! LOL.
Outstanding!
Both Jolson and Garland gave 2 spectacular takes on this standard!!!
Jerry Lewis tried also but-- failed...
So did Connie Francis .
Fantastic.
Such a beautiful voice.
The Greatest
In 1907, when Al Jolson was just 20, he married Henrietta Keller. At the time he could not find work. So he took a job with Lew Dockstader's Minstrel Show which was white men singing and dancing in blackface. Jolson was not happy singing the same old songs, the same old way night after night.
One night while the show was in New Orleans, Jolson goes for a walk and winds up in the black section of town where he hears music that he had never heard before coming out of a club. It was JAZZ! He had never heard that kind of music being played by black musicians before. He loses track of time and doesn't get back in time for the Minstrel Show. He is fired. But this experience, hearing JAZZ music, changed his musical career forever.
Here is that scene from The 1946 motion picture 'The Jolson Story'.. Jolson is being played by actor Larry Parks.
th-cam.com/video/4sN2WG2jr0U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=KIqm5vPeJ4KjxRm5
Such power but with a rich timbre. I've evangelised him all my life. my kids laugh at me but they have no idea.
This priceless clip had disappeared from You Tube for a very long time. Already a huge fan of the entertainer, I recall being blown-away when I first came across this several years ago now. I used to search for it again occasionally but it had vanished.Thrilled to see its been returned here, as it showcases one of his greatest songs and accompanying performances. Of course, I've owned the movie which contains this scene(and many other awesome Jolie moments)so it doesn't really matter that it's back on You Tube--except for all those who, like me once, are discovering it for the first time! He's amazing, rivetting, & thrilling here, putting his entire heart & soul into the number. A quick word about Jolson's use of blackface--this may sound like treason but it doesn't bother me because I understand it within its historical-context, as a mode of wildly-popular, uniquely-American, theatrical-form of entertainment--he didn't use it in a racist-fashion. Furthest thing from his mind. Once he realized he'd struck gold, emphasizing the music from an idealized-South, how enthusiastically audiences responded to it as ENTERTAINMENT, he employed blackface as a way to portray a man closely-associated with this then-exotic region & culture--and noone could put it across like Jolson! Please note that he NEVER belittled African-Americans in his performances--he sang & danced with emotional-depth, heartfelt-sincerity, and, when the occasion called for it, with pure-joy as well.
Perfectly put Jack!
@@margaretthomas8899 So glad. Thanks! I'll always defend Mr. Jolson from these unfair--and mostly uninformed--attacks!
@@jackbuckley7816 Exaclty jack I can take Jolie with or without Blackface, and Larry Parks, It is the Great Entertainment value I get out of it nothing else. YES times were different, but that does not mean they were all bad.There should be more Jolie. There is a big chance Movies of his will be out on Blu ray with extras. Go to Criterion to get the Jolson Story on Blu Ray and/ or the several Jolson fcebook sites for links
Thank you for your kind words about Al Jolson!! I first heard him in the Jolson Story when I was around 11 years old......I'm 67 now and have loved him ever since!!
Priceless??
He was the greatest entertainer ever brought up listening to Al Jolson as a child , !,,,
Wonderful form of entertainment!! Love it!
the performance is unique
Al Jolson played himself in this movie.I think was about 20 years from his original Stradom.
Great.
I watched this in the theater
What a master. Great in everything he did.
More like slave master…
Good voice
Mr. Jolson was not mocking black people he was playing a simple part, many black men wear a white face in those days for vaudeville, mime, and comedy, also tribesmen and women in Africa And South AMERICA Wear MULTICOLOR FACE PAINT IN THEIR Rituals
THANK YOU.
** MARK J MASSARE**
Ph. D..
.
take away any objections to the blackface...listen to his songs,is a reason he was the BEST
he was the taylor swift of that time
Yes 👍🤗😃
A Hungarian-Jewish immigrant to America who became famous for singing jazz sometimes coloring his face black to emphasize to the racist Americans that the music they love so much originated from the Bllack Americans.
My dad use t sing this to me at bed time.
Did he douse himself in shoe polish first?
@@thejollyrancher6713:
Seriously, STFU.
Ignore that dickhead, Wayne.
Brilliant voice !,,, greatest entertainer ever !!!
great!
“WE GOT AL JOLSON HERE!! AL JOLSON!!” -George Castansa”
I'm looking forward to the new reboot coming out.
you are on NOTICEEEE
@@cameronmorck8510: NOTICE for what???
@@varietyguy shoe polish face!!!! lolololol
Al Jolson was a God when I was growing up. He was celebrated as a great entertainer, great singer and a man who did more to advance the centuries long battle between Jews and Gentiles. He was the first 20th Century Superstar who was loved by Christians as well as Jews. He logged thousands of miles entertaining servicemen during World War II. He was responsible for many black performers finding work through his efforts. Now he is vilified as a racist. Perhaps you can see what a fucked up world we live in when such a great man as Al Jolson is now raked over the coals.
@@varietyguy its white people being upset for black people which in and of it self is offensive im right there with you guy
Al Jolson was the 1st person ever video recorded singing,by Thomas Edison.
Not really. Actually he didn't like the way Jolson sang and called him a "Coney Island beer singer, not for us". Obviously he cost his company tons and tons of money. Edison had no clue about popular artists! He even hated Caruso!!!! ("To much tremolo, no good")! The genius wasn't a genius when it came to talent.
Were Jolson's soundtrack songs in the film The Jazz Singer (1927) the first ever video recording of singing?
@@JudgeJulieLit no. Warner brother did a test with Jolson a year before and ordered all the copies to be destroyed so they could promote The Jazz Singer as the “first talkie”. Luckily a tape of “A Plantation Act” was found in tacked in the 90s and you can see it here on TH-cam. So 1926
@@cjc4765 I can only agree with that. Edison was a brilliant inventor, but he saw no talent at all.
Color of face? Ridiculous. The man was an absolute genius.Everything he sang he "killed."
Seems so unnessesary, he's clearly extremely talanted and doesn't seem to be trying to mock anyone (seems like a serious performance) so why the need to paint his face? What's the point, he surely must have known it could be hurtful to people?
@Tarnell Lol to make himself unique this is minstrel performing
@@teijaflink2226 it was to add pathos to the song and bring black culture and music to the audience. In a light song like Toot Toot Tootsie he doesn't wear this make-up.
Don't have to be politically correct..
It's art..
@@teijaflink2226 so u can c his eyes n mouth better from the back of the theatre. Like clown makeup but for srs stuff.
thank you for reuploading this. his best performance for me, god knows why it disappeared before
Liberals, no doubt.
@@jaelge cuz of black face obviously. I don't think conservatives are cool with that either, at least i hope not.
@@jaelge personally, i think people just aren’t generally okay with blackface no matter how they lean politically.
@@ibrahimalee23:
I don't see anything wrong with it. It´s not being used to mock or deride Blacks but is paying homage. Im Italian on my father´s side and Irish/German/Indian on my mother´s side. Am I supposed to be offended when I see a pizza box with the stereotypical Italian w/ the big nose and mustache or Italians being depicted as mobsters? Am I supposed be outraged when I see a cowboy and Indian movie or a sport team´s name paying homage to the American Indian? Or Irish being depicted as drunken gingers?
This whole racial issue is a bunch of bullshit fabricated by Marxist Liberals and does nothing but divide people.
@@jaelge it's literally made to mock blacks, not pay homage. Where did you get that info from? The literal reason for black face was to play into the racist stereotypes associated with Black Americans. Black Americans (and people in general) are allowed to be offended by black face if they choose too.
This is much better then Motown.............lol....
I have his autograph
Al called his blackface character 'Gus'. It was just a role he was playing.
Al Jolson was not a racist. Neither were Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, or multitudes of others who blacked up for a role. Racism is defined in one's actions and one's motivations, not necessarily by the color of one's make-up, or of one's skin.
Well, talk about politially incorrect,
love it!
Same camera shots as in THE JAZZ SINGER(Jolson's view of audience over his shoulder, etc.)
Omg, at 0:04 backstage that's actor William (future "Fred Mertz") Frawley urging Al to "go out there and kill them!"
William Frawley was the same age for 50 years!! Great character actor!!
His manager is Fred Mertz! William Frawley before "I Love Lucy".
It's truly a shame the black face make up in AJ'S act was taken out of context ____ truly misunderstood. ___ sure for sure AJ was not a racist . He loved black influenced music __ in retrospect his presentations were knocked and discredited. In his heart his music expressed love and in no way did he intend to disrespect or discredit. Truly a shame this stigma still sticks to his legacy. If one listens to this piece you come away with only his live respect .
He loved black people and their music so much that he participated in a practice that was used to stereotype, belittle, and replace them in American entertainment. Yeah umm, maybe that was his justification, but it's not an excuse. Black face then and now isnt okay. I'm sure Al never asked a single black person how they felt about him impersonating them and singing their songs. He wasn't honoring them. He was replacing them. Why was his voice more valuable than the black people who wrote it? Honoring black people would've been actually giving them a platform to perform as themselves instead of the racist charactures they were relegated to. Don't forget that he was pulling this in an age where black people were barred from the success Al enjoyed because of their skin color. I don't see any respect here. There's no such thing as respectful black face
What. Lovely. Days
William Frawley was Fred Mertz, I ♡ Lucy.
He also recorded "My Mammy" before Al Jolson.
glad to see woksters and children of the lie at large missed out on this beautiful piece of American Spirit. all they would have taken from it would have been the black face.
Cheezy…
Our Australian aboriginals use white make up in their sacred dances which is screened Nation Wide at Big Sporting events etc. I have no comment on it. I Don't feel offended or anything? It is part of a culture, I respect all that. I don't try to unite the masses to have it banned or anything.Blackface Minstrels used by different races is in deed long, complicated and definatelly not contemporary now, but it has never been proven it is the monstrosity in recent times it has been painted to protect the contemporary image, or more so CONTEMPORARY PROFIT!!! AL JOLSON had a unique voice all his own, HE WAS immensly popular and left an indelible mark on Entertainment with or without BLACKFACE. For more about Blackface in a broad general context see the Tim Brooks book The Blackface Minstrel Show IN Mass MEDIA
ITS NOT TRADITION YOU BUM STFU BRUH LEAVE YOUR LONG PARAGRAPH TRYNA EXPLAIN RACIST PASTTIMES IN THE DRAFTS MY GUY NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE
@@evanbruce9737 - Pardon???
@@evanbruce9737 "Margaret" is a lady, you lout.
Australian Abroriginals were doing that long before white people came to their continent. It was never intended to mock or offend them. Blackface was meant to mock and offend black people. That history can’t be changed to fit your narrative.
@@RapRants They may have well done it before Adam and Eve, or Apes evolved into humans, however you want it? All I know is, because I have seen it with my own eyes, unless my TV set is tuned different to everybody else's in Australia, or something? and I am like talking in the last 12 months, at big sporting events, and likely other big occasions? DREAM TIME AT THE G for our Australian football a fine example. They paint on, some full face, a lot of white, other stripes of it over their faces,on their arms and legs and dance around, sing etc etc, It could be seen as an aboriginal minstrel show mocking white people, I CERTAINLY DON"T. I JUST ACCEPT IT AS THEIR CULTURE, OR A WAY OF CELEBRATION WHATEVER! and I thought that way too when I went to the some Church as the Pastor Nicholis Family in Australia, and experienced him as a minister.There will always be people that won't judge anybody by color, or any other trait about them, and. unless they do something bad, insulting, or intimidating to them,give them the benefit of the doubt, even though they may not understand or even like what they do. What they won't do is be bullied brainwashed into contemporary or mob mass hysteria to protect something of mass interest like the anti old stuff! EVER hear of a guy in Germany in the 1930's, who wanted to change the whole world order, was against this and that because it was not his way etc etc, and got the masses with him, brainwashed, this is what the control all's are doing here, Painting something, fabricating it, Thousands of times worse than it was! TO PROTECT THE CONTEMPORARY HIP POCKET PROFIT MARGIN, and fools who are worried about there contemporary image fall for it! THAT is not doing anything to help anybody!
Was this the former governor of Va.' Ralph Northern?"
This is Rachel Dolezal's favorite song.
the people in the crowd are like wtf
Was that William Frawley who was off stage? It definitely looked like him.
The Woke Brigade will be after your life for putting this one online!
Stuff the woke.
Wonderful lennon1252. Why 1252 tho. I know what that is but wouldn't 2631 be better?
Exelente
Looked like Michael Jackson standing up there with those three quarter length black britches and white socks.
A true Legend. I don't care what color his face was. If you don't like it then go listen to Louis Farrakhan.
Fu"cken racist
Its racist
To some everything is racist. The word has been so overused by the left to represent everything they don't agree with. The swear words come from illiterates who haven't got the vocabulary for extended comments.
You don't like it, leave and take your filthy mouth with you.
Newman black face goes a long with the root of racism, this isnt an ideology of racism, it just is.
Blackface was just a trend and al Jolson did a lot of stuff for black people we have a lot of bad trends and in 100 years people will look back and call us bad people even though we were just being who we are