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.
Ma Blushin' Rose
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I long to call my bride.
And believe me I'm not happy,
Lest my baby's by my side.
Her baptismal name was Rosie,
But she put's the rose to shame.
And almost every night,
[Chorus]
Rosie, you are my posie,
you are my hearts bouquet,
Come out here in the moonlight,
There's something sweet love,
I want to say.
Your honey boy I'm waiting,
Those ruby lips to greet
Don't be so captivating
My blushing Rosie
My Posie sweet.
Rosie, you are my Posie,
You are, my hearts bouquet
Come out, here in the moonlight
There's something sweet love.
I'm gonna sing about my baby,
Your honey, your boy I'm waiting
Those rubies, those lips to greet
Don't be so captivating,
My blushin rosie,
My posie sweet.
The lyrics to Al Jolson’s song “Ma Blushin’ Rosie” convey a sense of longing and affection for a woman named Rosie. The first verse sets the scene for the song, with the singer expressing a desire to have his “little bunch of sweetness” by his side. He goes on to say that he calls her name almost every night, which indicates that she is often on his mind. The chorus of the song has a more upbeat feel to it, with the singer addressing Rosie directly and referring to her as his “posie” and his “heart’s bouquet”. He implores her to come out into the moonlight so that he can express his love for her, singing “there’s something sweet love, I want to say”. The chorus is repeated twice, emphasizing the singer’s affection for Rosie.
The song’s lyrics also make use of vivid imagery to describe Rosie. She is described as being captivating, with “ruby lips” that the singer is eager to greet. Her beauty is so striking that she puts the rose to shame, a testament to her allure. The song’s lyrics also indicate that Rosie is someone who is very dear to the singer’s heart, with her being referred to as “My Blushin’ Rosie” and “My Posie Sweet”. These terms of endearment communicate the singer’s feelings of affection and tenderness.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a little bunch of sweetness,
There's a woman that I love and want to marry.
That I long to call my bride.
I want to make her my wife.
And believe me I'm not happy,
I'm not truly happy unless she's with me.
Lest my baby's by my side.
I need my baby to be with me to be happy.
Her baptismal name was Rosie,
Her name at birth was Rosie.
But she put's the rose to shame.
She is more beautiful than any rose.
And almost every night, you'll here me call her name.
I think of her often and call her name a lot.
[Chorus]
Refrain of the song.
I'm gonna sing about my baby,
I'm going to sing about my girl.
Rosie, you are my posie,
Rosie, you are my sweetheart.
you are my hearts bouquet,
You are the most beautiful thing to me.
Come out here in the moonlight,
Come outside with me and bask in the moonlight.
There's something sweet love,
I have something sweet I want to share with you.
Your honey boy I'm waiting,
I'm waiting for you, my love.
Those rubies, those lips to greet,
I can't wait to see your ruby lips and kiss them.
Don't be so captivating,
Don't be too alluring and make me fall too hard.
My blushin rosie,
My sweet and shy Rosie.
My posie sweet.
My darling, my love.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDGAR SMITH, JOHN STROMBERG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Greatvocalmajority4America
Al Jolson was really America’s first nationally acclaimed entertainer. Tremendous voice and emotion in his style. Gives me chills even now. I grew up listening to him as my parents were big fans.
@davideames8380
When I was a young boy growing up in a small town in New South Wales Australia in 1948 it was a treat to be able to go to the "pictures" as going to the movies was called at the time. The Jolson Story came to our little theater, where we sat in the open on deck chairs on hot summer nights. That movie had a profound and ever lasting affect on me, the songs that told stories of love, of happiness, I loved them all. After watching that wonderful movie it became my obsession to sing those songs so much so that I would pretend to be my hero singing to my faithful old grey horse, Snowy, as we went around checking the rabbit traps. Wonderful memories.
@ghill4947
My dad grew up listening to Al Jolson. He would often sing this song to my mom. Yes, her name was Rose.
@sonnydugganphotography
Grew Up Listening To Al Cracking Singer
@markdaniele4539
Grew up listening to Al Jolson and love him. Thanks for posting this.
@frankpaterson9786
Brilliant, job done. I live 50 years after his pomp. There is no excuse for talent/ability,,,,,There will only ever be one Al Jolson.
@margaretmichel9194
Lifts my spirit just to hear this cute song...❤
@54musiclover
My late father simply adored Al Jolson. I can now see why. Legend.
@ichoosejoy2712
Mine too. He used to impersonate him in clubs, because when sang he sounded just like him!
@ColtDee
Magic only Jolly could bring to our hears.