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 26-50 of 812 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berliner | 0118 | 7-in. | Before June 1899 | My dear old Dutch | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0120 | 7-in. | 4/28/1899 | No coon can come too black for me | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0121 | 7-in. | 4/29/1899 | No coons allowed | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0142 | 7-in. | 4/28/1899 | You don’t stop the world from going around | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0143 | 7-in. | Before June 1899 | He’s up against the real thing now | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0144 | 7-in. | 4/29/1899 | Mr. Johnson, don’t get gay | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0145 | 7-in. | Before June 1899 | You’ve been a good old wagon | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0305 | 7-in. | 6/30/1899 | Throw out the life line | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0306 | 7-in. | 6/30/1899 | Hold the fort | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0309 | 7-in. | 7/7/1899 | Only just a little yaller coon | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0310 | 7-in. | 7/7/1899 | The little Alabama coon | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0311 | 7-in. | 7/7/1899 | Who dat said chicken | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0353 | 7-in. | 7/14/1899 | Honey O | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0355 | 7-in. | 6/30/1899 | Johnny get your gun | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Berliner | 0410 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Scenes at a prize fight | Len Spencer | Monologue | speaker | |
Berliner | 0435 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Auction sale, midway plaisance | Len Spencer | Monologue | speaker | |
Berliner | 0441 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Mother goose rhymes | Len Spencer | Recitation | speaker | |
Berliner | 0442 | 7-in. | 8/3/1899 | Jack and the bean stalk | Len Spencer | Recitation | speaker | |
Berliner | 0788 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Circus side show shouter | Len Spencer | Comic monologue | speaker | |
Berliner | 0789 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Quack medicine man | Len Spencer | Comic monologue | speaker | |
Berliner | 0790 | 7-in. | 8/4/1899 | Prize package man | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]816 | 10-in. | 10/25/1902 | The colored major | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]816 | 7-in. | 5/17/1901 | The colored major | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]817 | 10-in. | 5/17/1901 | Coon, coon, coon | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]817 | 7-in. | 5/17/1901 | Coon, coon, coon | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Spencer, Len," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
Spencer, Len. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
"Spencer, Len." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 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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