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.
People Will Say We're In Love
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why do the neighbors chatter all day, behind their doors?
I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue.
Here is the gist, a practical list of "donts" for you.
Don't throw bouquets at me
Don't please my folks too much
Don't laugh at my jokes too much
Don't sigh and gaze at me
Your sighs are so like mine
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't start collecting things
Give me my rose and my glove.
Sweetheart they're suspecting things
People will say we're in love.
Don't praise my charm too much
Don't look so vain with me
Don't stand in the rain with me
People will say we're in love!
Don't take my arm too much
Don't keep your hand in mine
Your hand feels so grand in mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't dance all night with me
Till the stars fade from above.
They'll see it's alright with me
People will say we're in love.
In Al Jolson's iconic song People Will Say We're In Love, the lyrics depict a couple who are worried about society's perception of their relationship. The opening lines allude to gossip and rumors that surround the couple's romance, with the singer questioning why people think up stories that link their names together. The song then goes on to provide a list of "don'ts" for the couple, offering advice on how to avoid appearing too infatuated with one another and fueling the suspicions of those around them. These "don'ts" include not throwing bouquets, laughing at each other's jokes too much, or sighing and gazing into each other's eyes too long. The final verse suggests that the couple should avoid dancing all night together, as this would only serve to confirm to others that they are indeed in love.
The song was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their musical Oklahoma! It was sung as a duet between the characters of Curly and Laurey. However, it was not Al Jolson, but rather Perry Como who first popularized the song in 1943. Jolson later covered the song in 1946. This timeless classic has since been covered by countless artists over the years, including Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark, and Barbra Streisand.
Interestingly, People Will Say We're In Love sparked some controversy when it was first released due to its perceived racial undertones. At the time, many believed that black and white actors should not appear together in romantic roles, and the song was initially slated to be cut from the show. However, Rodgers and Hammerstein insisted that the song remain, arguing that it was crucial to the plot and the character development of Curly and Laurey.
The song has been featured in numerous films, including The Shop Around the Corner, The Seven Year Itch, and Sleepless in Seattle. It has also been referenced in popular TV shows, such as Friends, The Simpsons, and Parks and Recreation.
Line by Line Meaning
Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?
Why do people make up rumors that connect us together?
Why do the neighbors chatter all day, behind their doors?
Why are our neighbors always gossiping about us?
I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue.
I have a solution to show that their rumors are false.
Here is the gist, a practical list of "donts" for you.
Here are some rules to follow to avoid giving the wrong impression.
Don't throw bouquets at me
Don't act too lovey-dovey in public.
Don't please my folks too much
Don't try too hard to impress my family.
Don't laugh at my jokes too much
Don't laugh at everything I say, it looks suspicious.
People will say we're in love!
If we act too affectionate, others will think we're romantically involved.
Don't sigh and gaze at me
Don't stare at me adoringly and sigh, it's too obvious.
Your sighs are so like mine
Your sighs reveal your true feelings and mirror mine.
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine
Your eyes should not reveal the love you hold for me.
Don't start collecting things
Don't act like a couple by exchanging gifts, it raises suspicion.
Give me my rose and my glove.
Only give me appropriate gifts, like a rose or glove.
Sweetheart they're suspecting things
People are beginning to suspect that we're in love.
People will say we're in love.
If we're not careful, everyone will know we're in love just by how we act around each other.
Don't praise my charm too much
Don't flatter me too much or others will wonder why.
Don't look so vain with me
Don't act too smitten with me, it's too obvious.
Don't stand in the rain with me
Don't act like a movie romance in public, people will talk.
Don't take my arm too much
Don't hold hands or walk arm-in-arm with me too often, it draws attention.
Don't keep your hand in mine
Don't hold my hand for too long, it's too intimate for others to see.
Your hand feels so grand in mine
Holding hands is such a wonderful feeling and makes it hard to resist.
Don't dance all night with me
Don't dance too much or too closely, it's too intimate for others to see.
Till the stars fade from above.
Avoid dancing with me until the end of the night to show that our dancing was not fueled by love.
They'll see it's alright with me
If we follow these rules, people will see that we're just friends and there's nothing going on between us.
People will say we're in love.
If we follow these rules, others will think we're just friends and not romantically involved.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind