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.
When You Were Sweet Sixteen
Al Jolson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I dreamt the world had not but joy for me
And even though we drifted far apart
I never dream, but when I dream of thee
I love you as I never loved before
Since first I met you on the village green
Come to me or my dream of love is over
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
Come to me or my dream of love is over
I love you as I loved you
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
The first two lines suggest an intense romantic connection between the singer and a person they met when they were young. The love light in the person's eyes brought joy to the singer's world, indicating that they felt a sense of completeness when they met this person. They suggest that, even after the two of them drifted apart, the singer still holds strong feelings of love for this person, as they can't help but dream of them. This indicates that their feelings have not faded away with time, indicating a deep, long-lasting love.
The chorus reveals the singer's intense love for the person, as they mention that they love them more than they have ever loved anyone else. They speak of the moment of their first meeting, on a village green, which is a symbol of simplicity and purity. The singer is asking this person to come back to them, indicating that they wish to rekindle their relationship. The repetition of the phrase "I love you as I loved you when you were sweet sixteen" reinforces the idea that the singer's love will never change or diminish, even though many years have passed. They continue to feel the same intensity of love as they did when they were both young and carefree.
In conclusion, Al Jolson's song "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" is a romantic ballad about a love that has stood the test of time. The lyrics convey the longevity and depth of the singer's love and their unwavering intensity of feelings for the person they met when they were young.
Line by Line Meaning
When first I saw the love light in your eye
The moment I observed fondness in your eyes, I imagined that my life would be full of happiness and joy.
I dreamt the world had not but joy for me
I envisioned a life where everything surrounding me would bring only joy and contentment.
And even though we drifted far apart
Although we've grown distant over time,
I never dream, but when I dream of thee
Every time I dream, it's always about you and no one else.
I love you as I never loved before
My love for you continues to grow, and it's deeper than any love I've ever felt before.
Since first I met you on the village green
I've loved you just as much since the day we first met on the grassy town square.
Come to me or my dream of love is over
Please come to me, or else my wish for a life filled with love will vanish.
I love you as I loved you
My adoration for you remains unchanged,
When you were sweet
During the time that you were charming
When you were sweet sixteen
At the time when you turned sixteen years of age.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James Thornton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rickyrodriguez3244
When first I saw the love light in your eye
I dreamt the world had not but joy for me
And even though we drifted far apart
I never dream, but when I dream of thee
I love you as I never loved before
Since first I met you on the village green
Come to me or my dream of love is over
I love you as I loved you
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
Come to me or my dream of love is over
I love you as I loved you
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
@Sillylittlebug
When first I saw the love light in your eye
I dreamt the world had not but joy for me
And even though we drifted far apart
I never dream, but when I dream of thee
I love you as I never loved before
Since first I met you on the village green
Come to me or my dream of love is over
I love you as I loved you
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
Come to me or my dream of love is over
I love you as I loved you
When you were sweet
When you were sweet sixteen
@inya1lake
It's 2020 and I can still shed a tear at an Al Jolson song. Magic.
@thequietestengine
This was the last song I sang with my grandmother before she past last April. She was in perfect tune, as always. Had to come here to listen to it again, just to remember without choking up trying to sing it myself
@patnevin4478
May she rest in peace
@allangilchrist5938
Thank you Klar for making this available. It is beautiful and the photograph of Mr Jolson is just perfect.
@alifi5475
From the age of 8 , my father had me watching’ the Al Jolson’ story.
You would think a kid would be bored but I was taken aback and saw romance in my father’s years for the Great Depression era. I felt his life as when he was young to.
Al Jolson is immortal and an icon for generations
@wadeaminute
A voice of velvet and glowing embers , just beautifully sung with such feeling Al was indeed a true artist x
@alistairborland4680
That man had such a lovely voice , real heart in his singing
@l.russellbrown9732
Al had golden pipes
And a delivery system like nobody's business!
God I wished I was writing songs when he was around
L.Russell Brown
@BigBingFan
Bing, my man, gave him inspiration as the "father of his career," as Sinatra gave Bing the same moniker. This is a stupendous version. I love it. I wish Bing had recorded it commercially. Great job, Al!
@rubewaddell1704
Must have been about the only song that was a hit in the '30's and '49's he didn't record!