Al Jolson

From the research of Allen Debus comes Monarchs of Minstrelsy: Historic Recordings by the Stars of the Minstrel Stage, a collection of rare recordings by the stars who once performed them in minstrel shows. These are real veterans of the blackface minstrel stage, singing the songs they made famous on stage and performing the minstrel routines that have made them notorious today. Monarchs includes 28 tracks and a full-color 24-page booklet.  Read more
List price: $16.49

Featuring 56 tracks, Archeophone's The Great War: An American Musical Fantasy traces the history of American involvement in World War I by reviewing the kind of records that were released. What unfolds is a drama in which the U.S. transforms through a series of stages: from curious bystander and political neutral to naive dove, then from idealistic booster to jingoistic hawk, and finally from jubilant victors to street-wise questioners asking "What was it all for?" With a 76-page full-color booklet featuring historical graphics, original research on the recording industry and a personal reflection on the war, The Great War is an essential release for those who love the music of World War I. Read more
List price: $29.99

24 hits from 1912, the year that the unsinkable Titanic went down and Teddy Roosevelt launched his Bull Moose Party. Big songs by Billy Murray and the American Quartet, Heidelberg Quintet, Ada Jones, Bob Roberts doing "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," a very young Al Jolson singing "That Haunting Melody" and "Ragging the Baby to Sleep," Collins and Harlan, Harry Lauder, and more. Deluxe, full-color 24-page booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
List price: $17.49

24 hits from 1913, the year that Henry Ford rolled out his first fully operational assembly line. Big songs by Alan Turner, Ada Jones ("Row! Row! Row!"), Al Jolson's first sides for Columbia ("Pullman Porters Parade" and "You Made Me Love You"), the Peerless Quartet, Campbell and Burr doing "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine", Charles Harrison with "Peg O' My Heart," and spirited numbers by Prince's Band ("Too Much Mustard") and the American Quartet, plus many more. Deluxe, full-color 24-page booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
List price: $17.49

25 songs from 1915, the year submarine warfare and the sinking of the Lusitania hit the news. Popular songs included the American Quartet's "On the 5:15" and Billy Murray's "The Little Ford Rambled Right Along," Al Jolson's "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers," and one of the most famous war protest songs of all, "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier." 1915: "They'd Sooner Sleep on Thistles" includes a 24 page full color booklet featuring an essay on the Lusitania and the push to war, discographical information on the records, notes on the songs, and rare images and photographs. Read more
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25 hits from the year that Woodrow Wilson won re-election to the U.S. presidency on the campaign, "He kept us out of war." Behind the scenes, however, Wilson was preparing the nation for entry into the conflict, which came in April 1917. At the same time, child-labor laws were passed, and Emma Goldman found herself convicted for breaking the Comstock law.  Read more
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1918: "Like the Sunshine After Rain" features 24 selections from the year World War I came to a close and an influenza epidemic swept the nation. Selections include wartime and comic songs, songs that would become part of the Great American Songbook, and early jazz and dance numbers by Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The CD includes a full-color 24-page booklet featuring an interpretive historical essay, notes on the selections, full discographical information and a bounty of historic photos and illustrations. Read more
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25 selections from 1919, the year the White Sox threw the World Series and the nation experienced one of the largest labor strikes in history. Highlights include Marion Harris' "After You've Gone," John Steel's "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody," Billy Murray's "The Alcoholic Blues" and hits by some of the leading dance orchestras of the day. The set includes a 24-page full-color booklet with an interpretive historical essay on key events of the year and notes on all of the selections. Read more
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24 hits from 1920, the year that national Prohibition and women's suffrage took effect. Top artists include Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, Van and Schenck, John Steel, Selvin's Novelty Orchestra, Nora Bayes, and Art Hickman's Orchestra. 24-page color booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
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25 hits from 1921, the year that the Tulsa underwent the worst race riot in American history. Top songs by Paul Whiteman, Campbell and Burr, Al Jolson, Marion Harris, Eddie Cantor, Van and Schenck, Zez Confrey, the Paul Biese Trio and Frank Crumit, Isham Jones, and Vernon Dalhart. 24-page color booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
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24 hits from 1922, the year that sales of radios to American homes skyrocketed. The music was also getting jazzier, witnessed by hits such as "Lovin' Sam" by Miss Patricola and the Virginians, "On the Alamo" by Isham Jones, and "Hot Lips" by Paul Whiteman with Henry Busse. Other hits are by Fanny Brice ("My Man" and "Second Hand Rose"), Jones and Hare, Henry Burr, Al Jolson, and Lucy Isabelle Marsh and Royal Dadmun. Features the last hit by Jones and Murray, and the song of the year, the insanely popular "Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean" in two different versions. Deluxe, full-color 24-page booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics.  Read more
List price: $17.49

The newest volume in our Phonographic Yearbook series, 1923: “Gonna Play the Villain Part” features 25 selections from the year a popular president died amid growing public scandals, a new sign illuminated the Los Angeles skyline, and the country was swept up musically by the question of where one could find bananas. Read more
List price: $17.49