Len Spencer
Leonard Garfield Spencer (February 12, 1867 – December 15, 1914) was an early American recording artist. He began recording for the Columbia Phonograph Company, in 1889 or 1890. Between 1892 and 1897 he recorded extensively for the New Jersey Phonograph Company and its successor the United States Phonograph Company. He specialized in vaudeville sketches and comic songs, but also sang sentimental ballads popular at the time. He returned to Columbia in 1898 for an exclusive contract then began recording for Berliner Gramophone (disc) records in 1899 and continued with Victor and Columbia as discs became the dominant format in the early 1900s. He began performing with banjoist Vess L. Ossman in 1901 and with Ada Jones in 1905. He is best remembered today for his vaudeville-style comic sketches, such as "The Arkansaw Traveler" (1902), combining clever turns of phrase, ironic elocutionary delivery, sound effects and music to create colorful dialogues featuring itinerant Southerners, auctioneers, circus barkers, and Irish, Jewish or Black Americans. Many of his roles were performed in either blackface or brownface. Spencer's output was eclectic. He imitated animal sounds in "A Barnyard Serenade" (1906) and released another record titled "The Transformation Scene from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'," but also popularized songs still known today such as "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom De-ay" and "A Hot Time in the Old Town." Music historian Bob Stanley deems it "probable" that Spencer's comedic "Arkansaw Traveler" routine was the first record to sell one million copies, though official documentation is lacking. As the popularity of Len's style of humor waned in the latter part of the decade, he opened a booking agency called "Len Spencer's Lyceum" in New York. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage while working at the Lyceum on December 15, 1914. |
Birth and Death Data: Born February 12, 1867 (Washington, D.C.), Died December 15, 1914 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1896 - 1925
Roles Represented in DAHR: speaker, author, baritone vocal, performer, composer, adapter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 426-450 of 812 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | 804 | 7-in. | ca. Jan.-Sept. 1902 | The old folks at home | Artists vary | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 805 | 10-in. | between January and September 1902 | My old Kentucky home | Henry Burr | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 805 | 7-in. | ca. Jan.-Sept. 1902 | My old Kentucky home | Artists vary | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 883 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | Old Mother Hubbard | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Dialogue, with animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 883 | 7-in. | ca. 1902-1904 | Old Mother Hubbard | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Dialogue, with animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 884 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | The Blazing Rag Concert Hall | Harry Spencer ; Len Spencer | Dialogue | speaker | |
Columbia | 884 | 7-in. | approximately 1902 | The Blazing Rag Concert Hall | Artists vary | Monologue | speaker | |
Columbia | 885 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | Sale of household furniture | Artists vary | Descriptive scene, with effects | speaker | |
Columbia | 885 | 7-in. | ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 | Sale of household furniture | Artists vary | Descriptive scene, with effects | speaker | |
Columbia | 886 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Daybreak at Calamity Farm | Alf Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with animal imitations | author, speaker | |
Columbia | 886 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | Daybreak at Calamity Farm | Alf Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with animal imitations | author, speaker | |
Columbia | 887 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | The dog fight | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 887 | 7-in. | approximately 1902 | The dog fight | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 889 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | Auction sale of a bird and animal store | Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with bird and animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 889 | 7-in. | ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 | Auction sale of a bird and animal store | Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with bird and animal imitations | speaker | |
Columbia | 922 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | Imitation Chinese song | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Male vocal duet | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 922 | 7-in. | ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 | Imitation Chinese song | Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer | Male vocal duet | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 1028 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | On Emancipation Day | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with piano | speaker | |
Columbia | 1028 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | On Emancipation Day | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with piano | speaker | |
Columbia | 1065 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Making the fiddle talk | Len Spencer | Monologue, with violin | author, speaker | |
Columbia | 1065 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | Making the fiddle talk | Len Spencer | Monologue, with violin | author, speaker | |
Columbia | 1109H | 7-in. | approximately 1903 | An evening with the minstrels | Minstrels [Columbia Records group] | Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 1109H | 10-in. | approximately 1903 | An evening with the minstrels | Minstrels [Columbia Records group] | Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 1109D | 10-in. | approximately 1903 | An evening with the minstrels | Minstrels [Columbia Records group] | Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 1109G | 10-in. | approximately 1903 | An evening with the minstrels | Minstrels [Columbia Records group] | Minstrels : Comic dialogue | speaker |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Spencer, Len," accessed November 12, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
Spencer, Len. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 12, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
"Spencer, Len." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 12 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Spencer, Len, 1867-1914 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n90608750
Wikidata: Len G. Spencer - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6521966
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/75467103
MusicBrainz: Len G. Spencer - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4e41dee2-f22a-41a1-89da-4aee63b84393
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