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.
Waiting for the Robert E. Lee
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's Daddy and Mammy
There's Ephraim and Sammy
On a moonlight night you can find them all
While they are waiting,
The banjos are syncopating
What's that they're saying?
What's that they're saying?
A, humming and swaying
It's the good ship Robert E. Lee
That's come to carry the cotton away!
Watch them shuffling along,
See them shuffling along!
Go take your best gal, real pal
Go down to the levy, I said to the levy,
And join that shuffling throng
Hear that music and song!
It's simply great, mate, waiting on the levy
Waiting for the Robert E. Lee!
The whistles are blowing, the smokestacks are showing
The ropes they are throwing, excuse me I'm going
To the place where all is harmonious
Even the preacher, he is the dancing teacher!
Have you been down there?
Were you around there?
If you ever go there you'll always be found there,
Why, dog-gone, here comes my baby
On the good old Robert E. Lee!
Watch them shuffling along,
See them shuffling along
Go take your best gal, real pal
Go down to the levy, I said to the levy,
And join that shuffling throng
Hear that music and song!
It's simply great, mate, waiting on the levy
Waiting for the Robert E. Lee!
The lyrics to Al Jolson's song "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" depict a scene of people gathering on the levy in old Alabamy under moonlight to await the arrival of a ship called the Robert E. Lee to carry cotton away. The scene is captured with vivid imagery as the banjos syncopate, and the people hum and sway to the music. The whistles are blowing, smokestacks are showing, ropes are being thrown, and even the preacher is the dancing teacher. It is a harmonious and joyous moment as people shuffle along to the music and await the arrival of the ship.
The song captures the essence of a bygone era, between the 1880s to the 1920s, when steamboats were a common sight on the Mississippi and other major rivers. The Robert E. Lee was an iconic steamboat in that era, used mainly for racing during the peak of the steamboat era. Notably, the song was written before the Civil War and became popular in the early 1900s when its lyrics were changed to reflect the times. The song's upbeat melody, fun lyrics, and lively chorus make it an enduring classic even to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
Way down on the levy in old Alabamy
Down on the riverbank in Alabama
There's Daddy and Mammy
Families and couples
There's Ephraim and Sammy
Two friends
On a moonlight night you can find them all
It's a lovely night for a gathering
While they are waiting,
As they wait
The banjos are syncopating
The banjos are playing rhythmically off-beat
What's that they're saying?
What are they singing?
What's that they're saying?
What are they singing?
While they keep playing
As they continue playing
A, humming and swaying
Humming and swaying to the music
It's the good ship Robert E. Lee
It's the boat called the Robert E. Lee
That's come to carry the cotton away!
Which is here to take away the cotton
Watch them shuffling along,
See them walking in a casual and rhythmic way
See them shuffling along!
See them walking in a casual and rhythmic way
Go take your best gal, real pal
Go with your significant other or friend
Go down to the levy, I said to the levy,
Go down to the riverbank
And join that shuffling throng
And join the crowd that's walking
Hear that music and song!
Listen to the music and singing
It's simply great, mate, waiting on the levy
It's wonderful to wait on the riverbank
Waiting for the Robert E. Lee!
Waiting for the boat called the Robert E. Lee
The whistles are blowing, the smokestacks are showing
The boat is arriving with its smokestacks and whistles
The ropes they are throwing, excuse me I'm going
They're throwing ropes to dock the boat, I have to go
To the place where all is harmonious
To the place where everything is working in sync
Even the preacher, he is the dancing teacher!
Even the preacher is dancing and teaching others
Have you been down there?
Have you gone down to the riverbank?
Were you around there?
Have you been in the area?
If you ever go there you'll always be found there,
If you go once, you'll always go back
Why, dog-gone, here comes my baby
Oh my, there comes my lover
On the good old Robert E. Lee!
On the beloved boat called Robert E. Lee
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: L WOLFE GILBERT, LEWIS F MUIR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
CarlDuke
This is indeed the 1947 version inspired by the success of The Jolson Story movie, but Al also sang it back near the time of its birth in 1912. Wolfey Gilbert also wrote, among other hits, Down Yonder (1921), which was revived in 1951 and became one of that year's biggest hits. There were numerous recordings made of the song, and the Del Wood version spent almost half the year on the charts.
maureen1938
It's always a pleasure to listen to Al Jolson one of the best entertainers ever. Thanks for posting this !
CatsPjamas1
You're welcome!
katakisLives
@CatsPjamas1 great post
Plmncvb
In 1958 I was 13, rode my bike home and a lady who worked with my mother was visiting---she was about to get married and had a trunk full of stuff she was going to trash or donate, or somesuch. I was in a single-parent home with Mom, we didn't even own a record player (or car, either), but I liked music and I begged my mom to let me keep some of the records that (Mary Jane) was going to dump. This album depicted above was one of the treasures I came away with, and I hadn't a clue who Al Jolson was; along with another Jolson album I have both of them to this day and I'm 74. I'm (finally) working on a will, and would give this stuff away if I found a young person who would value it as I have---and do. I played that stuff a lot and learned the songs by heart, giving my mom entertainment when I tried to sing sounding like Jolson.
Tyler Flom
I love that you love this music! I am twenty-six years old and I too came across this through someone who was getting rid of old records; I washed it, put it on my turntable and now I love this album. I have been collecting records for 10 years now.
Gunnar Anderson
I would LOVE these records if you're looking for someone young and interested- I'm 15, I'm a record collector and also an antique collector.
Kaylin K
“What’s that they’re saying” this is my favorite line from Al Jolson. I have a passion for the 1940s era. Please consider me for the position of receiving these records.
CarlDuke
Eddie Cantor has a great version of this song that can be found online, but not on youtube. Cantor includes a wonderful story about Jolson referring to him as the greatest minstrel of them all, and telling how Jolson was the undisputed king of show biz and including a tale of Jolson and his love of betting on the horses. Jolson was so determined to be the guy who bet on the winner, that at times he would bet on every horse in a race, just so he could flash his winning tickets to his pals.
Creole Perez
Being from my fair Louisiana..New Orleans to be exact.. I've seen the paddle wheel steamers used as cruise ships coming to heaven in Dixie.. from the North ..love that Old Man River..the Gulf of Mexico..and the mighty Lake Ponchartrain.Makes this old Creole want to shuffle along.Thanks Al I've always loved your songs ..our elementary school principal who was also a fan had us sing "A Quarter to Nine .. during assemblies .. lining up for class after lunch .. and dances... great days ..!!!