Early life and career
The son of the Rabbi of the Talmud Torah Synagogue (now Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah) in Washington, D.C., Jolson became a popular singer in New York City in 1898, and gradually developed the key elements of his performance: blackface makeup; exuberant gestures; operatic-style singing; whistling and directly addressing his audience.
By 1911, he had parlayed a supporting appearance in the Broadway musical La Belle Paree into a starring role. He began recording and was soon internationally famous for his extraordinary stage presence and personal rapport with audiences. His Broadway career is unmatched for length and popularity, having spanned close to 30 years (1911-1940). Audiences shouted, pleaded, and often would not allow the show to proceed, such was the power of Jolson's presence. At one performance in Boston, the usual staid and conservative audience stopped the show for 45 minutes. He was said to have had an "electric" personality, along with the ability to make each member of the audience believe that he was singing only to them. However, he is best known today for his appearance in one of the first "talkies" The Jazz Singer, the first feature film with sound to enjoy wide commercial success, in 1927. In The Jazz Singer Jolson performed the song "Mammy" in blackface. In truth, Jolson's singing was never jazz, indeed his style remained forever rooted in the vaudeville stage at the turn of 20th century.
Jolson is the first music artist to sell over 10 million records. While no official Billboard magazine chart existed during Jolson's career, their staff archivist Joel Whitburn used a variety of sources such as Talking Machine World's list of top-selling recordings, and Billboard's own sheet music and vaudeville charts to estimate the hits of 1890-1954. By his reckoning, Jolson had the equivalent of 23 No. 1 hits, the 4th-highest total ever, trailing only Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman, and Guy Lombardo. Whitburn calculates that Jolson topped one chart or another for 114 weeks.
Among the many songs popularized by Jolson were "You Made Me Love You," "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody," "Swanee" (songwriter George Gershwin's first success), "April Showers," "Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye," "California, Here I Come," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along," "Sonny Boy" and "Avalon."
Jolson was a political and economic conservative, supporting Calvin Coolidge for president of the United States in 1924 (with the ditty "Keep Cool with Coolidge") unlike most other Jews in the arts, who supported the losing Democratic candidate, John William Davis.
Jolson was married to actress/dancer Ruby Keeler from 1928 to 1940, when they divorced. The couple had adopted a son, Al Jolson Jr., during their marriage, but when he was 14 the boy changed his name to Peter Lowe after his mother's second husband, John Lowe.
After leaving the Broadway stage, Jolson starred on radio. The Al Jolson Show aired 1933-1939, 1942-1943, and 1947-1949, and these shows were typically rated in the top ten. Jolson continued performing until his death in 1950.
The Jolson story
After the success of Warner Bros. film Yankee Doodle Dandy about George M. Cohan, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky believed that a smiliar film could be made about Al Jolson -- and he knew just where to pitch the project. Harry Cohn may have seemed to a lot of people in Hollywood like a crude, loud vulgarian, but he had one soft spot: he loved the music of Al Jolson.
Skolsky pitched the idea of an Al Jolson biopic and Cohn agreed to it. Directed by Alfred E. Green (best known today for the pre-Code masterpiece Baby Face, The Jolson Story is one of the most entertaining of the musical biopics of that era -- an era that included Yankee Doodle Dandy, Till the Clouds Roll By, Words and Music and Three Little Words. With Jolson providing almost all the vocals, and actor Larry Parks playing Jolson, The Jolson Story was released in 1946, and became one of the biggest hits of the year. Parks received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and the film became one of the highest grossing films of the year.
"The Jolson Story," and its 1949 sequel "Jolson Sings Again," led to a whole new generation who became enthralled with Jolson's voice and charisma. Jolson, who had been a popular guest star on radio since its earliest days, now had his own show, hosting the "Kraft Music Hall" from 1947-1949, with Oscar Levant as a sardonic piano-playing sidekick. Despite such singers as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como being in their primes, Jolson was voted the "Most Popular Male Vocalist" in 1948 by a Variety poll. The next year, Jolson was named Personality of the Year by the Variety Clubs of America. When Jolson appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show, he attributed his receiving the award to his being the only singer not to make a record of Mule Train, which had been a widely covered hit of that year (four different versions, one of them by Crosby, had made the top ten on the charts).
Jolson joked that he'd tried to sing the hit song. "I got the clippetys all right, but I can't clop like I used to."
Jolson's legacy is considered by many to be severely neglected today because of his use of stage blackface, at the time a theatrical convention used by many performers (both white and black), but today viewed by many as racially insensitive. Jolson was billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," which is how many of the greatest stars (including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Jackie Wilson) referred to him. Charles Chaplin wrote in his Autobiography that he was one of the most electrifying entertainers he had ever seen. A life-long devotion to entertaining American servicemen (he first sang for servicemen of the Spanish-American War as a boy in Washington, D.C.) led Jolson, against the advice of his doctors, to entertain troops in Korea in 1950 when his heart began to fail.
Death
Jolson died on October 23, 1950, in San Francisco at a card game, at the age of 64, apparently of a heart attack, and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, where a statue of Jolson beckons visitors to his crypt. On the day he died, Broadway turned off its lights for 10 minutes in Jolson's honor.
Al Jolson has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:
1. For his contribution to the motion picture industry at 6622 Hollywood Blvd.;
2. For his contribution to the recording industry at 1716 Vine St.;
3. For his contribution to the radio industry at 6750 Hollywood Blvd.
Forty-four years after Jolson's death, the United States Postal Service acknowledged his contribution by issuing a postage stamp in his honor. The 29-cent stamp was unveiled by Erle Jolson Krasna, Jolson's fourth wife, at a ceremony in New York City's Lincoln Center on September 1, 1994. This stamp was one of a series honoring popular American singers, which included Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Ethel Merman, and Ethel Waters. Al Jolson is one of Mr. Burns' (from The Simpsons) favorite actors - he still believes that he is alive.
Jolson's song I'm Sitting on Top of the World was played during the opening montage of 1930's New York City in the 2005 remake of King Kong.
In August of 2006, Al Jolson had a street in New York named after him.
All My Love
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The skies may fall, my love
But I will still be true.
All my sighs will disappear at last,
Now that you're here at last,
My heart belongs to you.
Oh, don't you ever let me go,
You thrill me so.
I've waited all my life
To give you AL My Love.
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay,
The song “All My Love” by Al Jolson is a beautiful love song that speaks of giving all of one’s love to another person. The lyrics express the singer's unwavering devotion to their lover, promising to stay true to them even if the world falls apart. The phrase "All my sighs will disappear at last, Now that you're here at last" suggest that the singer has found the one they have been searching for and they feel complete now that they have them.
The singer pleads with their lover not to let them go and expresses how much they are thrilled by their presence. The line “I can see, as I recall my life, I’ve waited all my life To give you all my love” reveals that the singer has been waiting for this person for a long time, and feels that giving them all their love is the biggest blessing in their life. The song is sung with a lot of passion and emotion, making it a classic love song that still rings true today.
Line by Line Meaning
All My Love, I give you All My Love
I am giving you my complete and undivided love and devotion.
The skies may fall, my love
Even in the face of calamity and disaster, my love for you will remain steadfast.
But I will still be true
I will always remain loyal and honest in my relationship with you.
All my sighs will disappear at last
All the worries and burdens that I have held inside will disappear now that you are with me.
Now that you're here at last
You have brought a sense of completion and fulfillment to my life by being here with me.
My heart belongs to you
I have given you my heart completely and you are the only one who holds the key to it.
Oh, don't you ever let me go
I am afraid of losing you and want you to promise that you will never leave me.
You thrill me so
Your presence and love excite and inspire me in ways that are incomparable.
I can see, as I recall my life
Looking back on my past experiences, I can now clearly see that you were always meant to be a part of my life.
I've waited all my life
I have been waiting my entire life for someone like you to come into my life and fill it with joy and love.
To give you All My Love
I am now able to give you all the love and devotion that I have been saving for someone special.
Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay,
This line is not easily translatable and may simply indicate an expression of emotion, passion, or excitement.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RYAN LESLIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Perrigrin24
Al Jolson will always and forever remain the worlds greatest entertainer!
Whitt
I've always loved this, AND jolie! I used to have the original 78rpm album, 4 record set of this, as well as a few other 78rpm albums of jolie. {1 song on each side of a record for those not familiar with old 78's, not to be confused with 45rpm's, which also typically had one song on each side. 45's were later, & vinyl. 78's were highly breakable} :)
CarlDuke
Great post and wonderful background on the song. You mention The Anniversary Song and this being a sequel. Well it was in more ways than one. The Anniversary Song was also based on the work of a classical composer, the Romanian Iosif Ivanovici. And interesting, it was Waldteufel, whose orchestration of the Ivanovici work helped bring it to worldwide acclaim.
Just one small thing, that should read Emile Waldteufel, whose last name translates from the German as Forest Devil.
CatsPjamas1
Thanks for the clarification, I always enjoy your comments!
Mia Hess Music
Thank you! Needed to hear this.
dallaskenn
Beautiful.
james chatterton
This was our wedding vow....I'll always Love you, Gabi