Al Jolson

In addition to releasing a string of successful records between 1912 and 1949, Al Jolson achieved pre-eminent stardom on Broadway, hosted several radio series, and became the first important figure of the sound-era of motion pictures. His performing style was brash and extroverted; he billed himself as "the world's greatest entertainer," and he was known for his slogan, "You ain't heard nothin' yet!" He popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach, one which, especially when executed in front of live audiences, was considered by those who saw it to justify all his claims to greatness. In middle age, he came to be considered hammy and old-fashioned, but he mounted a major comeback late in life. A more serious impediment to his long-term legacy, however, is that he was the foremost blackface entertainer of his day, and his reputation has suffered as the racist implications of minstrelsy have become more apparent to later generations. Nevertheless, he was, at his peak in the 1920s, the most successful entertainer in the U.S..

Jolson's date of birth is uncertain. He was the son of a cantor who emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1890s, settling in Washington, D.C. and followed later by his family. Jolson arrived in the U.S. in April 1894, probably at about the age of eight. He displayed an interest in show business as a child. As early as the summer of 1896, he and his older brother Harry were street entertainers. In September 1899, he made his first stage appearance in the play Children of the Ghetto. He began working in vaudeville early in the 20th century, often appearing as part of an act with his brother. He was working in blackface as a single by June 1906. In 1908 and 1909, he was a member of the leading minstrel troupe of the time, led by Lew Dockstader. He crossed over to the legitimate stage by appearing in the Broadway show La Belle Paree, which opened at the Winter Garden on March 20, 1911. Continuing to perform in blackface, he became a star in the show, which ran 104 performances. He was given a more prominent role in the next Winter Garden production, Vera Violetta, which opened November 20, 1911, and ran 112 performances. By now, he had attained sufficient attention that Victor Records signed him to a contract, and he made his first issued recordings on December 22, 1911, a single combining two songs from Vera Violetta, "Rum Tum Tiddle" and "Ragging the Baby to Sleep." (Although there were no formal charts at the time, various researchers have made estimates of records' popularity, and they agree that the single was a commercial success.)

In The Whirl of Society, which opened on March 5, 1912, Jolson introduced the character of Gus, a wily African-American servant who would be his frequent on-stage persona from then on. The show ran 136 performances in New York, then it went on tour from September 1912 to January 1913, and he remained with it. From this time on, he would tour extensively around the country with his shows, becoming a national rather than just a Broadway star. His next record hit was "Ragging the Baby to Sleep" in the summer of 1912. He opened in his fourth Broadway musical, The Honeymoon Express, just after returning to New York; it opened February 6, 1913, running 156 performances, then toured from September 1913 to May 1914. In March, he recorded the comic song "The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" from the score and earned another hit. "You Made Me Love You," which he interpolated into the show; it became his first hit under a new contract with Columbia Records that had commenced in June 1913. It was notable as his first success with a romantic ballad and began his transition from being defined primarily as a comic to being thought of as a singer.

By now, the stage shows in which Jolson appeared were merely vehicles for him. He added and dropped songs as he liked, and it was not unusual for him to dismiss the cast and turn the performance into a solo concert, much to the audience's delight. Dancing Around, his fifth show, opened at the Winter Garden on October 10, 1914, and ran 145 performances, with a tour that lasted from February 1915 to December 1915. His biggest record hit during this period was "Back to the Carolina You Love" in January 1915. His sixth musical, Robinson Crusoe, Jr., opened in New York on February 17, 1916, for a run of 139 performances, followed by a tour that took up the entire 1916-17 season, not closing until November 17, 1917. The biggest hit to emerge from the show was "Yaaka Hula, Hickey Dula" in June 1916. Sinbad, his seventh show, opened on Broadway on February 14, 1918, and ran 164 performances. Demonstrating the singer's massive popularity, it toured for three years, not closing until June 25, 1921. Over the course of this long run, he interpolated many songs into the show that became record hits, and he also recorded hits not related to the show. The biggest included: "I'm All B