Ben Selvin
Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music. Selvin was born in New York City, United States, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants. He started his professional life at age 15 as a fiddle player in New York City night clubs. Six years later, as leader of his own dance band, the Novelty Orchestra, he released what was later alleged to be the biggest-selling popular song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. "Dardanella" allegedly sold more than six million copies and an additional million pieces of sheet music—although in a joint interview with Gustave Haenschen, founding director of popular-music releases at Brunswick Records, Selvin described the alleged record-sales total as “nonsensical” and said the actual sales of “Dardanella” and other purported “million-sellers” in the 1920s was 150,000 discs. He was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that was presented to Selvin on his retirement on March 14, 1963. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Selvin recorded more musical sides (on 78-rpm discs) than any other person. One reason for this prolific output is that he recorded for dozens of different record labels during this productive time in the industry, using a different name for each label. His output has been estimated at 13,000 to 20,000 song titles. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 5, 1898 (New York City), Died July 15, 1980 (Manhasset)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1919 - 1942
Roles Represented in DAHR: leader, violin, vocalist, songwriter, composer, lyricist, arranger
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 426-450 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W148196 | 10-in. | 4/9/1929 | My sin | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148197 | 10-in. | 4/9/1929 | Honey | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148398 | 10-in. | 5/2/1929 | Heigh-ho! Ev'rybody, heigh-ho! | Frank Curren ; The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader | |
Columbia | 148399 | 10-in. | 5/2/1929 | Celia | Bar Harbor Society Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Lester Cortes | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148400 | 10-in. | 5/2/1929 | Little pal | Arthur Fields ; The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148415 | 10-in. | 5/3/1929 | I'm just a vagabond lover | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148416 | 10-in. | 5/3/1929 | The one in the world | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148424 | 10-in. | 5/7/1929 | I'll always be in love with you | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W148425 | 10-in. | 5/7/1929 | My dear | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | 148649 | 10-in. | 6/3/1929 | 'Neath the palms | The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148650 | 10-in. | 6/3/1929 | Then we canoe-dle-oodle along | The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148651 | 10-in. | 6/3/1929 | Let me have my dreams | Bar Harbor Society Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Arthur Seelig | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148657 | 10-in. | 6/5/1929 | Some day you'll realize you're wrong | The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Irving Kaufman | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148658 | 10-in. | 6/5/1929 | I'm feathering a nest (For a little bluebird) | Barney Trimble and his Oklahomans [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148659 | 10-in. | 6/5/1929 | Baby—oh where can you be? | The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Irving Kaufman | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148691 | 10-in. | 6/13/1929 | Miss you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148694 | 10-in. | 6/13/1929 | Junior | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148756 | 10-in. | 6/26/1929 | Where the sweet forget-me-nots remember | Barney Trimble and his Oklahomans [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Tommy Weir | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148773 | 10-in. | 7/2/1929 | Where are you dream girl? | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148774 | 10-in. | 7/2/1929 | (If I were you) I'd fall in love with me | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader | |
Columbia | W148786 | 10-in. | 7/5/1929 | If we never should meet again | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148787 | 10-in. | 7/5/1929 | When you come to the end of the day | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148788 | 10-in. | 7/5/1929 | Am I blue? | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W148789 | 10-in. | 7/5/1929 | My song of the Nile | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | 148790 | 10-in. | 7/6/1929 | Liza | Jerry Mason and his Californians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 25, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Selvin, Ben, 1898-1980 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no98080176
Wikidata: Ben Selvin - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q304517
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/54338200
MusicBrainz: Ben Selvin - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/84733717-7fa8-43da-a6aa-259fa1f36eb0
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.