Al Jolson Swanne Reaction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มี.ค. 2019
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Keep in mind he was a singer before microphones so he had to be loud to be heard.
As a younger fan of Al Jolson - This really makes me happy to see that others can appreciate this era and style. His style is certainly not in step with today, but the music still has an energy and excitement that carries through the decades!
Yes Jolson’s magic reaches out down though the decades
Al Jolson should be more well known today for his talent. Damn good performer.
Al Jolson starred in the first ever "Talkie" picture. Unfortunately he performed in Blackface so is a controversial performer these days but was very popular in his day.
seeing how this was recorded about 100 years ago was pretty good, wonder how many singers recording today will be played in 2120?
@@jimb2992 The version heard here was actually recorded in 1945.
@@antoniod yeah this was from the compilation he did in the late 40s
It is sad too because he did so much to fight racism
Al Jolson was a great booster of Black entertainers, and helped many of them. He got a lot of flack for sometimes performing in Blackface, but I'm of the opinion that it was a bum rap.
"Sometimes?" It's what he was known for.
It is what YOU know him for. He was actually quite a versatile performer. But, don't bother with a comeback; your mind is clearly made up. @@theactualbajmahal833
Oh stop whitewashin'
@@theactualbajmahal833
Evidence?
th-cam.com/video/LfiftuUUV8Y/w-d-xo.html
@@theactualbajmahal833 Oh, boo-hoo. That was normal in vaudeville and early movies.
Jolson was the biggest star Broadway ever had. At a time when Broadway was BROADWAY....
His reviews are like no others. Look him up.
Al Jolson (1886-1950) was apparently a very impressive performer. Bing Crosby regarded him as an electrifying entertainer, or words to that effect. I got to know him through Dean Martin (1917-1995) doing his songs in an exaggerated style. By the way, Doing reaction videos without reacting to Dean Martin's singing is a shame. He was one of the great vocalists of the 20th century, as well as being an incredible comedian, dramatic actor and possessed personality plus. Dean succeeded in movies, radio, TV, Las Vegas --everything but the stage.
Tim Carr
Dean was so good. ❤️
Bing too❤️
I like Bing's version of Alexander's Ragtime Band with Jolson
Bing describes his idol Jolson as having an ‘electric’ personality who could connect with the audience and later Bing had Jolie on his radio shows during the late ‘40s. Great entertainer
I am 65, and this song was one of those songs when I was a kid that was on alot of the old 'variety' shows like Ed Sullivan and Kate Smith... it was a 'feel good' song .. sorta like 'Bye Bye Blackbird' and the old 'Charleston' songs. Al Jolston was probably the very first commercial recording of this tune and the most beloved. He is a classic!
Al Jolson was known as the World's Greatest Entertainer during the first half of the 20th Century, He could sing,dance,and tell a Story. Ty You should check out the videos of Him performing in The Jazz Singer 1927, The first Talkie Movie.
I’m a younger Jolson fan (age 20) and I just enjoy that older music
I’m more so a fan of Jazz but I owe a lot to Jolson for opening the doorway to Cab Calloway who is my absolute favorite
I first heard Swanee on a record at my grandfathers house
This song was George Gershwin’s first hit song. When Jolson was on top in the 1920’s and early 1930’s, the songwriters were nearly guaranteed a hit if Jolson sang it. He was no racist and far from it. He was instrumental for having the first all black cast show on Broadway. He and his wife
Ruby Keeler were the only studio stars to invite black performers to their home in Encino CA. When Jolson read in the papers that the black song writer team of Noble Sissle and Hubie Blake were refused service at a restaurant, Jolson found them and took them out for a meal and said he will punch anyone in the face that refused service to them. When Al Jolson died in October 1950, several members of black organizations attended his funeral out of respect for what he had done for their cause over the years. I have done a lot of research on Al Jolson. Performers such as Bobby Darin, Clarence “Frog Man” Henry, Elvis Presley and Jackie Wilson idolized him. He wasn’t the greatest talent, like Sammy Davis Jr.
But was the greatest entertainer of his time. He used to ask the audience during a show, you know that the boy gets the girl,etc. would you rather hear me sing and of course they would. He would call the cast out on the stage and those who had dates left and the other stayed and listen to him sing for another 2hours and then tell the audience after he got tired, I am going across the street to get something to eat. Why don’t you come over there and I will sing top you another dozen songs. No other entertainer did this. He was only satisfied when he was in front of a live audience.
Jolson was a great monologist,as well, but because of his singing talent, his ability to be a great comedian was sometimes overlooked. He was a very impatient and cruel man at times and could also be very generous. If you got him at the moment, you may get a car or a house. He was always promising people things at the moment, but you had to catch him at that exact moment. They say that is how he sang his songs, all powerful at the moment. Al Jolson recorded “Are you lonesome Tonight” in 1950. It was a hit for him, and it has been said that Elvis Presley recorded this song in the late 1950’s as a tribute to Al Jolson.
Modern Renaissance Man
Hats off to you for what you're doing. You strike me as a man who's on the side of the truth, carry on brother !!
Al Jolson had a home in Palm SPRINGS. Many celebrities would vacation there in the summertime. It was known at one point for celebrity attractions. Anyways, My Grandpa did yard work for him and other top A celebrities in the late 1940s i believe. Al Jolson died of a heart attack in 1950. My dad said my Grandpa drove Al Jolson to his house in Banning at one point and hungout for a bit cuz Al Jolson gave my Grandpa a dresser and other stuff he would give away. My grandpa was kind of poor in those days but he made good money working in Palm Springs for those top A celebrities. I cant remember what other celebrities he worked for but they were close to Al Jolson. He slipped a $100 dollar bill in my grandpas shirt pocket and said he liked him cuz he minded his own business. Which my Grandpa was really quiet. My grandpa fought in North Africa in WW2 but lost an eye in combat and was sent home. Sometime after working in palm springs, my dad was concieved in Hemet, Ca in 1950.
Great story!
Toot Toot Tootsie goodbye. Watch it.
Greetings! I find your videos fascinating and love your honesty and openness. Your choice of playing this recording (by request) is an amazing one particularly in light of all the negative beliefs (all false) that have been floating around for 50 years about Jolson. Let me explain that I am a musicologist who has made a special study of Jolson's career and life. I find him to be a always fascinating persona. One thing is for sure: he was the Broadway greatest state performer of the 20th century. Even a cursory glance at reviews from his shows are remarkable. But the point I want to make here is that Jolson, who so often is used as an example of bigotry, was, in fact, a heroic figure within the black community of the time and especially among black performers. There are numerous examples of Jolson helping out black performers, demanding their equal treatment, often fighting to have black performers he liked ON STAGE WITH HIM! Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle were especially close friends with Jolson as was Cab Calloway. The reasons why are fascinating and anyone with an interest in truth should investigate. I could go on and on but. . .
Anyway, congratulations on your fine channel.
I never thought this a good representation of his voice, a better song and a really romantic song (for some) was "The anniversary waltz"
You have to have lived in both worlds to appreciate the life. I first heard it in the 50's,but I lived in a different world.
i got familiar with this music when i worked in memory care with elders. this was the music of their childhood. even though they have dementia they really loved hearing this songs. from there they kind of grew on me too. i learned a bunch of them including swanee
Al Jolson is probably the most underrated singer ever
My Dad's only favorite singer that he had an album of. I'm always responding to Beach Boys and me cruising to that stuff. He liked that stuff to but it gives some kind of prospective to the 30 year difference in our age. I still have that album thankfully. Just seems strange he was the early 50's cool drag racer type and that music seemed old for him to listen to. Thanks for the memories.
Edward, music is ageless. 🤔
Great to see you do a reaction to the great Jolson
This was furing the era of performances in blackface and Minstrel shows. Jolson was considered one of the greatest singers of his time. He starred in the first talking movie (The Jazz Singer). You should check out his version of the song "Mamie". Larry Parks played Jolson in the movie "The Al Jolson Story". He perfected his mannerisms.
I think the first time I heard this was in a Looney Tunes cartoon.
Love anything written by the great George Gershwin!
Al Jolson in real life did a lot for
He did this in black face back in the day. He was very famous I heard this along time ago my mom had a lot of albums
You have 78's? Do you also have any good pre-vinyl wax albums?
@@BarnicleBillable My folks used to have this on a 78 ... don't know where it is now, though .....
@@nozecone If you did and it were in "good" condition. $8k to 15K original 78.
@@BarnicleBillable Oh, man - it probably went to the auctioneer after the folks died ... I'm tellin' ya, I've been swindled out of a fortune - look at me, I'm a wreck - it slipped right through my fingers ... !
@@nozecone Saw a friend go through money away. Had $130K Bought a truck and after I helped him get a job he decided we were beneath him. The truck was $blah) Waisted the rest learning how to buy property. By the time he ran out of cash...He had to fight to get his partners money back. Not an idiot, he was.....
You need to Al Jolson Anniversary Song
1. Hello Tye Great work, Good content, No one has done a reaction to Al Jolson That I have Seen, So way to put that Bingo Ball out there. 2. Today I found out Has a very Fine Video on "Al Jolson Misunderstood hero or villain" if you want to dig deeper and a great Mass I Can't under state this of Al Jolson's work biographs plural are on TH-cam 3.The Description You're giving of Al Jolson ,Is because of Him the things he did as a entertainer became the way it was done. 4.He would tour like a maniac He was a big part of Black Music and culture integrating into American culture which was a separate thing at the time. Stay on your side separate lives work together live apart. And Is a Jewish child straight from "a fiddler on the roof refuge 3/4 generation childhood.5.The farther back you go the more Al Jolson's legacy goes. He was a main act for Warner brothers and his finger prints are all over their music old School Loony Toons in particular.6.And to be Clear the black face thing was a mask of someone (Jolie) He wanted to be someone Not Him as Al Jolson was almost Hysterically unsure of his standing in the world and scared to even hear other performers play and would run the shower while waiting his turn to perform. Even on shows He was running full on Broadway things. Wild Stuff! 7. Al was touring till the 50's Did USO visits in Korea.
Check out some of his live performances
Loved it!
That song is nearly 100 years old, who is old enough to remember when it came out? Jolson was a vaudeville superstar at a time when they had no microphones or amplification, you had to belt out a song so the whole audience could hear it. Later he was a famous Broadway star and made the first movie musical when talkies came out.
BUT he was famous for performing in blackface and a lot of his songs would be terribly racist and cringey today.
Modern Renaissance Man
If you'd like to here another one of his great ones check out Alabamy Bound.
If you really wanted to find about about Jolson, watch The Jolson Story, the movie about his life. Known as the World's Greatest Entertainer, he was in his era the most popular singer then alive.
Check Wikipedia for the history of the song - it was written in 1919. and performed on B'way. 1920 it became a hit by Jolson. The lyrics referenced "Old Folks at Home" (1845) by Steven Foster. I am 70 and I heard it whenever Jolson was spoken of, but his day was long past.
The age of radio was arriving just at the time of this hit single. Jolson had a career into the 1940s on radio. He was legend by then, and thy was even a Jolson bio-movie. in 1946. Jolson starred in the first "Talkie" - sound motion pictures, which was THE JAZZ SINGER. The sound came only for short selected parts of the film. The primitive technology used a record player that the film projectionist had to co-ordinate with the movie.
Jolson is not heard much since he is identified with Black-face re-creations of Minstrel shows of the 19th century. These performances were in Hollywood films. They are not shown on TV since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s considered these to be racially offensive to Black people.
Bravo
George Gershwin's first hit song.
Ragtime. Vaudeville. Al Jolson. All these as part of American music history!
Al Jolson did a lot for Blacks in his time, he hired them in his films ans contributed His time and Money to Civil Rights. In the firs half of the 20th century Blacks and Whites had to sing in Blackface when performing a black number or they could not do it at all.
Lobe Al , should check out his movies too. But he did perform in blackface at times. Check out The Al Jolson Story.
I think its funny how they sang back then. This song was probably on OOOOLD LOONY TONES at one time or another.
Those singers performed in theaters, without amplification. A singer had to reach the back row of the balcony with his own lung power. When they made recordings, they sang them in the style that they performed them.
It was later singers like Sinatra who recognized the microphone as an instrument and created a new style of singing geared specifically toward recordings.
My sweet, innocent, Grandma played hooky from school to go see Al Jolson at the movies once. Great story from back in the day.
I have always liked Al Jolson. I copied a lot of his 78s to reel to reel tapes. (Which I still have). By the way, the 3 to 3 1/2 minute song was because that was the maximum time you could fit on a 10" 78 rpm record. 78s go back to the 1890's. Radio broadcasting of music didn't start until the early 1920's. I absolutely love 1920's music. You can listen to it on Radio Dismuke. Find it on Facebook or tune in radio. God bless. Jack
He came up in an era when singers - like actors - had to reach the back of the hall without much, if any, technological aid. A wispy voice or 'understated' acting was useless in the showbiz of the day.
I love how the thumbnail makes it look like Jolson has a huge head and small body
WOW, you went WAY BACK with this one. Hmmmmm, not sure what I think about this?
Ty, I use to imatate this man back in the early sixties.
Me too! I still can't help but break into sond along with him as soon as I hear him!
He had an original often imitated vocal style . Yes there was that black face but I wish modern generations could look past that . I really don’t think cancelling culture and “ presenting the past “ is the way to go about things in the Arts . Let us love one another and recognize great Art wherever it comes from .
LOL FYI he sang this song in blackface.
The song has been in old cartoons in black and white .
Please Ty, could u check out the "The Superbs" video of them doing " Baby, Baby, All The Time" on American Bandstand, back in '64???
Watch Al Jolson dance moves and you will understand more about James Brown.
a recommendation - - listen to Jolson singing "The Anniversary Song"
Judy Garland also did a great version of this song !!
when ''Black Face" was seen differently.
The song was written in 1920 by George Gershwin, who was famous for Rhapsody in Blue, really famous standards, and his first all black opera Porgy and Bess. It was supposed to be inspired by a selection of Stephen Foster songs from the civil war era when there was slavery and minstrel comedy made fun of African Americans for the way of speech, appearance, and behavior. Men in that entertainment back then did the technique of using burnt cork material to rub it against their face, wore oversized, worn out clothes, and mocked African vernacular speech to make it something that a clown could have done. That was long until Al Jolson, a very famous singer and someone who inspired many past and modern entertainers and artists, become the last of that kind to wear that makeup, but he was the only Jew to do that. Blackface, nowadays, has been and always ever the prime use of mockery, discrimination, and stereotype that leads to racism against blacks. But for Jolson, many people today do not know whether or not is he considered a racist because of his black face use. Like how slavery and segregation was imposed on blacks, anti-semitism was also used to target Jews in other countries which lead to their refuge. As for Jolson’s case, he was highly complex in the way that he had to do things that were impossible to happen. His blackface was never meant to diminish many African Americans back then because many of his friends, besides those of his own kind, were black as well. Cab Calloway, Bojangles Robinson, Ethel Waters, the Mills Brothers, Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, and Louis Armstrong. Once, he defended Sissle and Blake after a restaurant in Connecticut refused to serve them in. He then said to said to the press that he would “punch anyone in the nose” if that happened to his friends. So, it’s a double edged sword that nobody seems to understand. Yes, his blackface is considered racist. But, the man himself was not because he was a Jew who felt that he would have wanted to make the world a better place by getting together with a song and a smile.
You should definitely check out Avi Kaplan, “Change on the Rise”. It’s really awesome!!
lol Definitely that Vaudeville sound!
It DOES sound like Looney Tunes! It was arranged at Warner Brothers!
There's good reason it reminds you of Looney Tunes. Warner Bros created the Loony Tunes & Merrie Melodies series of cartoon shorts as a way to get their music catalog extra exposure (Cartoons are a "looney" way to present the "tunes"). Al Jolson was one of WB's big stars. In a way, he's a big part of the reason Bugs Bunny exists. :)
That Looney Tunes Song is called "The Merry-Go=Round Broke Down" in case you ever wondered.
Here's my favorite cover of that by Jimmy Lunceford--th-cam.com/video/JIMJ7d6gi3Y/w-d-xo.html
I was wondering if one of the pictures of him was going to be of him in black face. He was known for his minstrel shows done in black face.
Al Jolson(Russian born) is known to be the "King of blackface" & does this song in blackface, along with his other songs since 1909 in which he started doing minstrel shows. This also made his popularity rise. He was the highest paid performer in the 1920s. He was known to take traditionally black music & popularizing it for white audience who were otherwise not receptive to black music. They said he fought against black discrimination on Broadway as earliest as 1911. I need to know individually, why did he & others do blackface? Some people find it disrespectful based on this country treatment of black people, like u r making derogatory fun of them but the reasons "why" might not be 💯% negative like we all been lead to believe. The "reason" is important. Was it a positive or negative reason(s) they did black face?🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Most of them did it because it was just how certain songs were done. Vaudeville came out of the minstrel shows of the latter 1800's which were exclusively blackface. They were playing a character and the makeup was part of the character. Unfortunately, that character was Jim Crow who embodied all the negative stereotypes of the black man. I really think performers didn't think about it, they just did it. Kind of like when I was growing up in the early 60's we used terms like "Indian giver", "Mongoloid" and the slang for Brazil nuts because we never heard that we shouldn't. We never thought about the implications, it was just the term that was used. Ignorance rather than intentional.
In Jolson's case, it for positive reasons.Look up a few of his biographies.
Answer to the question 'why blackface?' In the old days, meaning the 1800s, there was no recorded music, no radio and no movies. So you had a lot of demand for live performers in music halls, vaudeville, theaters etc. If one performer had a hit song or a smash act you could be sure dozens of imitators would pop up right away. If the performer was black, then white performers would wear black makeup. There was a whole genre of blackface music and comedy copied from black performers. Before you get the wrong idea, black performers were just as quick to copy a popular white performer.
Blackface acts were popular starting with minstrel shows in the 1840s right up to the 1920s. Then ethnic humor and stereotypes in general were seen to be old fashioned, offensive and in bad taste. At one time there were all kinds of comedians and singers who took on greek, german, irish, scottish, jewish, black, italian etc personalities but not anymore.
@@mrdanforth3744 Excellent overview. The first known instances of Blackface Minstrelsy were among Irish performers in New York in the late 1830's. Blacks and Irish were the bottom rungs of society at the time so the Irish mocked the blacks in order to tell people "we aren't as bad as them". A similar resurgence of Blackface among Jewish performers in the 1910's-30's as antisemitism rose had a similar effect.
I just read about Bill Bojangles Robinson. In the same year he first worked with Shirley Temple, he signed up to do another movie where he would star and dance in. Bill chose a white woman as his dancing partner. They didn't show interracial dance teams back then and Bill of course knew that. He wanted the white woman to appear in black face. It wasn't necessarily seen as a bad thing by African Americans at that time.
Oops, I meant Menstral!!! Sorry.
Menstrual has to do with the/monthly bleeding. That's why Education is so important! U miswritten that word in 2 comments! Really? 🤔☹️
That's OK. If MRM can misspell Swanee then it's all good!
Good song about racism from the 70's Southern Man by Neil Young may be a little shocking if you've never heard the lyrics before!
Good you played the audio not the video of him in black face.
Why? It is historical.
He was very talented, but he was best known for " Mamie", which is a menstrual black face " performance. 😢
Minstrel*
He did songs about women's periods?!
@@thrummer1953 Yeah, the were kind of perverted.
Well somebody tricked u into listening to Jolsen. U may as well check out Amos and Andy too man. Lol...
Al jolson was known mostly for minstral’ black face back then unfortunately
Menstrual has to do with the/monthly bleeding. That's why Education is so important!
I could never rock with this cat. The black face is never gonna get a pass...
Al Jolson was not close to a RACIST he fought for the rights of blacks in the early 1900s well against common practice. Read better accounts of his life. He used blackface to highlight black culture not to degrade it. He wanted to show white audiences that great black performers existed who were not allowed to come to center stage back then. He was instrumental in getting many black writers and performers
their breaks. He paved the way for Armstrong, Ellington,Fitzgerald and Callaway.
@@clydeb7713 where are you getting your information from. He's was painting his face black and singing about his mammie... GTFOH
@@caseywalker1714
You are a dumb jerk. As I said, do research before offering your uneducated opinion. Read this if you're capable of reading.
his “blackface” persona which seems to (almost literally) fly in the face of his apparent true feelings on race, this persona was often used as a means to introduce white audiences to black culture, and also to make fun of the general idea of “white supremacy.” As such, when black audiences saw “The Jazz Singer,” rather than boycott it, a Harlem newspaper, Amsterdam News (today “the oldest Black newspaper in the country,” according to their website), stated that The Jazz Singerwas “one of the greatest pictures ever produced,” and that, “Every colored performer is proud of him (Jolson).”
Jolson also insisted on the hiring and fair treatment of black people at a time when this was an outlandish concept to many in America. (For example, at the time members of the KKK are estimated to have accounted for about 15% of the U.S.’s voting-age population.) He also crusaded for equal rights for African-American as early as 1911, when he was 25. Through his very controversial portrayals, and advocating for black performers, Jolson helped pave the way for the success of such legends as Louis Armstrong, Ethyl Waters, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. As the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture stated, “Almost single-handedly, Jolson helped to introduce African-American musical innovations like jazz, ragtime, and the blues to white audiences.”
Famed African-American jazz singer Clarence Henry noted of Jolson, “Jolson? I loved him. I think he did wonders for the blacks and glorified entertainment.”
Jolson did more for Black entertainers than you ever will.@@caseywalker1714
@@thrummer1953 Please feel free to anything documenting that fact... Let me know.
So sorry to say, I have never liked this song, even as a child.