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.
That Little German Band
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can hear a great big horn
Oom pah-pah, oom pah-pah
In the backyard playing they are
I give them money when they play
I give them more to go away
They all stand in a ring
They play the same old thing
And when the leader pulls a string
They drop their horns and sing
La, La, La, La, La
Such a pretty melody
La, La, La, La, La
Like the birdies in the tree
La, La, La, La, La
Everybody sing with me
Oh that music is so grand
From the little German Band
Toot Toot Toot, Toot Toot Toot
The bass horn fella is the best
Now he can almost drown the rest
They don't play something new
They blow until they're blue
And when you think there through
They'll sing a line or two
La, La, La, La, La
Such a pretty melody
La, La, La, La, La
Like the birdies in the tree
La, La, La, La, La
Everybody sing with us
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La La, La
The lyrics to Al Jolson's "That Little German Band" describe the singer's love for a group of musicians who play outside his window. The sound of the horns and the melody of their music is so enchanting that the singer gives them money to continue playing. However, when he becomes tired of hearing the same tune over and over again, he gives them even more to go away. The band is described as playing until they turn blue and when they think their performance is over, they surprise the audience with a final line or two of singing. Throughout the song, the band's music is compared to the beauty of nature, specifically the birdies in the tree.
The song is a celebration of live music and the joy it brings. Despite the repetition of the music, the singer cannot help but be charmed by the band's performance. The use of the word "oom-pah-pah" imitates the sound of the bass and other brass instruments commonly used in German brass bands. The song evokes feelings of nostalgia and a simpler time when music was a communal event shared by all.
Line by Line Meaning
Beneath my window every morn
Each morning, I hear a loud horn outside my window.
I can hear a great big horn
The horn that I hear is quite large and echoes through the streets.
Oom pah-pah, oom pah-pah
The sound of the horn is characterized by a distinctive oom pah-pah rhythm.
In the backyard playing they are
The players of the horn are in my backyard making music.
I give them money when they play
I reward the players with currency as they perform their music.
I give them more to go away
To cease the music, I offer them even more compensation.
They all stand in a ring
The musicians form a circle as they play their instruments.
They play the same old thing
Their repertoire consists of only a few selections, which they play regularly.
And when the leader pulls a string
The conductor of the band cues the other musicians by pulling a string.
They drop their horns and sing
When the conductor signals the end of the music, the band members put down their instruments and begin to sing.
La, La, La, La, La
The lyrics of the song are made up of the repeated phrase 'La, La, La, La, La'.
Such a pretty melody
Despite its simplicity, the melody is quite appealing.
Like the birdies in the tree
The tune is reminiscent of the chirping of birds in the trees.
Everybody sing with me
The song invites everyone to join in and sing along.
Oh that music is so grand
The singer regards the music with great enthusiasm and admiration.
From the little German Band
The musical group that is performing is small and comprised of German musicians.
Toot Toot Toot, Toot Toot Toot
The music is punctuated by the sound of the horn, which is tooted frequently.
The bass horn fella is the best
The singer particularly enjoys the sound of the bass horn, and regards the player as the most skilled musician in the group.
Now he can almost drown the rest
The sound of the bass horn is so powerful that it almost drowns out the other instruments in the band.
They don't play something new
The band does not change their music from performance to performance.
They blow until they're blue
The musicians play their horns until they are physically exhausted, and may even turn blue in the face as they do so.
And when you think they're through
The music may seem as though it has ended, but the band will often continue playing after a brief pause.
They'll sing a line or two
Following the end of the instrumental music, the band will often break into song and sing a few lines of a popular tune.
Everybody sing with us
As with the instrumental music, the singers invite the audience to join in and sing along.
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La La, La
The final lyrics of the song echo the earlier repeated phrase 'La, La, La, La, La'.
Writer(s): Fred Fisher, Joseph Mccarthy
Contributed by Evelyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sawyer Born
Do you have Google hangouts for discord that I can chat with
A Trip Down Memory Lane
No unfortunately I don't. I have a group on facebook if you are interested to join that group.