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.
Anniversary Song
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We vowed our true love, though a word wasn't said
The world was in bloom, there were stars in the skies
Except for the few that were there in your eyes
Dear, as I held you close in my arms
Angels were singing a hymn to your charms
Two hearts gently beating, murmuring low
The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
We'd find that our love is unaltered by time
Darling, I love you so
The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
We'd find that our love is unaltered by time
Al Jolson's "Anniversary Song" is a timeless classic that tells the story of a couple reflecting on their wedding night, where they vowed their love to each other. The song imbues a sense of nostalgia and romantic longing, as the couple wishes to relive those memories and rekindle the passion they shared on their special day.
The opening lines of the song set the stage for the rest of the lyrics. The couple reflects on their wedding night, where they danced and professed their love for one another. Despite not explicitly saying it with words, their commitment was evident, and they made a solemn vow to be together forever. The chorus reflects the sentiment of the night as the couple expresses their love for each other.
The following verses describe the night in more detail. The world seemed to bloom, and the stars shone in the sky, but the few stars in each other's eyes were all that mattered. The imagery evokes a sense of wonder and magic that the couple shared on their wedding night. They held each other close as angels sang hymns to their love, and their hearts beat gently, murmuring sweet nothings to each other.
The song's final lines speak to the universal desire for everlasting love. The night may have turned into dawn, and time may have passed, but the memories of that special night will always remain. If they could relive that moment, they would find that their love is still as strong and unaltered by time. The message is a hopeful one, reminding us that even in the midst of life's challenges and changes, love can endure and thrive.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed
We danced so joyfully on the night of our wedding.
We vowed our true love, though a word wasn't said
We didn't say it out loud but we both knew we loved each other and promised to love each other forever.
The world was in bloom, there were stars in the skies
The world was beautiful and full of life, with stars shining in the night sky.
Except for the few that were there in your eyes
The only stars that really mattered to me were the ones I saw in your eyes.
Dear, as I held you close in my arms
My love, as I held you close to my heart,
Angels were singing a hymn to your charms
It felt like the angels were singing a beautiful hymn to your amazing qualities and charms.
Two hearts gently beating, murmuring low
Our two hearts were beating gently together, murmuring softly to each other.
"Darling, I love you so"
We told each other, "My darling, I love you so much."
The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
The night slowly turned into a beautiful sunrise.
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Even though it was morning, we still felt like we were dancing the night away.
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
If only we could go back to that wonderful moment,
"We'd find that our love is unaltered by time"
"We would realize that our love has remained unchanged over the passage of time."
Darling, I love you so
My love, I still love you so much even after all these years.
The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
Once again, the night turned into morning.
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Despite the new day, we still felt like we were dancing together, lost in each other's love.
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
If only we could relive that beautiful moment again,
"We'd find that our love is unaltered by time"
"We would discover that our love for each other hasn't changed at all throughout the years."
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAUL CHAPLIN, AL JOLSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MainStreetRANDYLAND
I call this the scene of faces; when you watch the entire film, you understand that Al Jolson's whole life was about singing, and performance...
He had no other life, for what he did WAS his life...
As the story here goes, Al had given up singing and show business to make his wife happy and just be at home...
Here you see the faces of his wife, Manager, and parents, when dad finally gets Al to break his singing silence, and side a song for the anniversary...
What they witness, is the extreme joy and happiness that Al displays, as he is again doing what his whole life was about ; singing.
Like an intoxication, the magic of being who he was again surfaced, and he beamed with joy forgetting that he was no longer on stage singing just for a moment...
The faces tell the story as the others realize how unhappy Al really was NOT singing, and being at home...
Soon after, his wife left him so that Al was again free to go back to the stage, and live the life he was meant to as the Singer to live faces.
I relate much to this story, and this part, for I have no other life then what I do in the Amusement Entertainment Business....
It is who I am, and even though I work crazy endless hours, if I didn't do what I do, then I would die...
For I have no other life then what I do; nor would I want any other.
@annarodriguez9868
When my husband and I got married in 1968 he was in the Army and we didn't get to have a reception and have our first dance. Fast forward 20 years and we were at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. My husband and I were part of the entertainment so he and I were on stage behind the curtains. The dj played the Anniversary waltz and I was peeking out watching the sweet old couple dancing. My husband tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned to look at him, he took me in his arms and we waltzed behind the curtains. It's one of my most treasured memories of my dearest husband. We didn't get to celebrate our own 50th anniversary as he died from cancer not many years after this precious moment in our lives. I was blessed to have him for as long I had him in my life. ❤
@ColtDee
True love is rare enough but when it works its amazingly wonderful.
@TheeGhosst33
Thank you so much for this beautiful comment. It made me shed a tear. 🤍 thank you
@josephinerimmer6888
This never fails to bring tears. Such an innocent but deep love song.
@Jimadkins-d3q
hello, how are you doing?? it is nice meeting you here.
@garrybuckland196
A childhood all time favourite, not only the great movie but the biggest memory of my late father singing Al Jolson songs around the house...thanks to Al Jolson and to the memory of my father...🙏
@davidbull5757
Me too : inthe 40s,Dad, uncles, cousins all trying to sing way below their normal range..!
@geoffmcsloy9820
Ive lived with Al Jolson all my life buy my Dad. Bless him. I am 67 now.😂
@petepetersen106
I fell in love with Al Jolson when I was about 13 or 14 years old around 1959.
Kids today in 2020 will never appreciate what a great singer he was.
So sad kids today don't appreciate music of long ago. So many great artists.
@helengazer4911
The incomparable Jolson has a great memorial at Hillside memorial Park in Culver City. I You can your it on utube.I