Ben Selvin

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Benjamin B. Selvin (born March 5, 1898 in New York City , † July 15, 1980 in Manhasset / New York) was a band leader of the Tin Pan Alley period and is one of the most productive English-language record artists of all time.

Career

Selvin's Novelty Orchestra - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

Ben Selvin was the son of Russian-Jewish emigrants. At the age of seven he began playing the violin in Charles Strickland's orchestra, made his first appearance on Broadway in 1913, and led his own orchestra in September 1917. He signed his first recording contract with Victor Records in July 1919, where the first recording with Selvin's Novelty Orchestra was made on July 31, 1919 with the title I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles , which became a success after its release in August 1919 and lasted for four weeks took first place in the charts . In the same recording date, Mandy / Novelty One Step were created , which reached fifth place.

Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra - Dardanella

The third single Dardanella , recorded on November 20, 1919 and written by Fred Fisher / Felix Bernard / Johnny S. Black, is one of the success records of the still young record industry. After its publication in February 1920, it remained in first place for 13 weeks, had already sold three million singles after a short time and finally achieved total sales of 6.5 million records and 2 million sheets of music, arranged by Arthur Lange . It was Selvin's greatest record success in the style of syncopated dance music, as he will cultivate it in the future. Dardanella record sales remained unmatched in sales until Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock in 1955.

Lots of record labels

Selvin's records appeared from 1920 not only with Victor, but also with Vocalion Records , Okeh Records , Paramount Records or Brunswick Records ; there were no resounding successes. In June 1921 he signed a recording deal with Vocalion. His first record for the new label was not an instrumental title, but Yes! Sung by Irving Kaufman and recorded in May 1923. We Have No Bananas , published in June 1923. The song, which was copyrighted on March 23, 1923, lost a plagiarism case because it had taken over four notes from the Hallelujah Choir of the Messiah Oratorio of Georg Friedrich Handel . The cover version of Selvin was number one in the charts for two weeks, the original of the Great White Way Orchestra from April 26, 1923 only made it to number 3. In the period that followed, Selvin also arranged vocal recordings, with Ruth Etting and Annette Hanshaw in particular singing.

Columbia Records

On September 1, 1924, his record deal with Vocalion ended. Selvin moved to Columbia Records , who offered him a three-year contract in November 1927. At Columbia he again celebrated top hits such as Oh, How I Miss You Tonight (recorded on April 11, 1925; three weeks in first place), Manhattan (July 15, 1925; four weeks) and Blue Skies (January 15, 1927; two weeks) . Only on February 3, 1930, a new top hit was recorded with Happy Days Are Here Again , which stayed on the first hit parade for two weeks, followed by When It's Springtime in the Rockies (May 15, 1930), which was at the top for three weeks can hold. By November 1927, Selvin's orchestra had already recorded over 3,000 tracks for the various record labels, some under different names. Columbia published records with Selvin until August 1934, but could no longer book a top hit with the orchestra.

His orchestra was subject to high staff turnover; in 1929 it consisted of Manny Klein and Leo McConville (trumpet), Tommy Dorsey (trombone), Larry Abbott and Louis Martin (clarinet or alto saxophone), Joe Dubin (tenor saxophone), Larry Murphy or Rube Bloom (piano), John Cali ( Banjo), Hank Stern (tuba) and Stan King (drums). Jack Teagarden (trombone) and Jimmy Dorsey played from 1930, and later jazz greats such as Benny Goodman (1931), Red Nichols or Bunny Berigan played alternately in Selvin's orchestra.

End of the record career

From 1927 Selvin worked as an orchestra conductor and arranger as well as A&R director for Columbia Records until 1934. As early as 1935, he directed the first music programs of the Muzak company (which produced background music for department stores) and stayed there for ten years. In June 1945 he switched to the newly founded Majestic Records as A&R co-manager, only to reappear as A&R director at Columbia Records in September 1945. Here he supervised the recording sessions of Frank Sinatra and Doris Day . At the music publisher Southern Music he worked as General Professional Manager in March 1951 and stayed until January 1952, after which he switched to RCA as A&R boss. In October 1955 he became program director there and remained there until his retirement in 1963. On March 14, 1963 he received a retrospective gold record for Dardanella to mark his departure from RCA , because this award had not yet existed in the year of success. The 3M Company , which is diversifying into the music industry, hired Selvin as a music consultant in 1963, according to Billboard magazine. After consulting with the 3M Company , he died of a heart attack at the age of 82.

statistics

It is estimated that Selvin has recorded a total of over 9,000 tracks, the Guinness Book of Records even assumes 13,000 to 20,000 songs. It is difficult to quantify because he has recorded for at least nine record companies and used at least 39 artist names. In addition to his main name Ben Selvin and His Orchestra , these included Selvin's Dance Orchestra , Selvin's Novelty Orchestra , Ariel Dance Orchestra , Frank Auburn and His Orchestra , Bar Harbor Society Orchestra , The Broadway Nitelites , Broadway Syncopators , The Knickerbockers or Buddy Campbell and His Orchestra for Harmony Records .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Talking Machine World, September 1927 issue, p. 34d
  2. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 , 1986, p. 379
  3. ^ A b Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 17
  4. ↑ Tim Graczyk / Frank W. Hoffmann, Popular American Recording Pioneers , 2000, p. 9 Benjamin L. Aldridge wrote a short story of Victor's early years and writes that Dardanella only sold 961,144 records
  5. ↑ Talking Machine World, June 1921 issue
  6. ↑ The German version was called Ironically Bananas
  7. ↑ a b Talking Machine World, November 1927 issue, p. 128
  8. ↑ The German version was called Weekend and Sunshine
  9. ↑ Variety Magazine, May 2, 1945, Ben Selvin Joins Majestic Records As Assistant to Jimmy Walker , p. 51
  10. ^ Billboard Magazine, September 6, 1947, Selvin Goes to Columbia Under Sacks
  11. ↑ Billboard Magazine, August 4, 1951, p. 9
  12. ↑ Billboard magazine of April 18, 1964, p. 48 f.
personal data
SURNAME Selvin, Ben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Selvin, Benjamin B.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1980
Place of death Manhasset