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 801-812 of 812 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 44779] | 10-in. | early 1906 | The original Cohens | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 44816] | 10-in. | early 1906 | The banjo evangelist | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Monologue, with banjo | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 44817] | 10-in. | early 1906 | Barnyard serenade | Dunn ; Len Spencer | Comic monologue, with animal imitations | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 44818] | 10-in. | early 1906 | Daybreak at Calamity Farm | Dunn ; Len Spencer | Monologue, with imitations | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45188] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Chimmy and Maggie at the ball game | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45196] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Travel on | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45203] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Let me see you smile | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue and male-male vocal duet, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45206] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | I've said my last farewell | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue and female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45207] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Coming home from Coney Island | Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45209] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Flannagan's St. Patrick's Day | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45219] | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | The morning after Flannagan's night off | Ada Jones ; Leeds Orchestra ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | [L & C cat 45343] | 10-in. | approximately mid-1906 | I'm crazy 'bout a big brass band | Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | 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
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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