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 676-700 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W151578 | 10-in. | 6/1/1931 | Dancing in the dark | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151610 | 10-in. | 6/15/1931 | When Yuba plays the rumba on the tuba | The Knickerbockers ; The Rondoliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151611 | 10-in. | 6/15/1931 | Sing a little jingle | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader | |
Columbia | W151612 | 10-in. | 6/15/1931 | Wrap your troubles in dreams (And dream your troubles away) | Teddy Raph and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151626 | 10-in. | 6/22/1931 | Sing another chorus, please | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151627 | 10-in. | 6/22/1931 | Let's drink a drink to the future! | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151628 | 10-in. | 6/22/1931 | Just one more chance | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151680 | 10-in. | 7/14/1931 | Do the New York | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal trio and male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151681 | 10-in. | 7/14/1931 | Hikin' down the highway | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151682 | 10-in. | 7/14/1931 | My sweet tooth says I wanna (But my wisdom tooth says no) | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W151683 | 10-in. | 7/14/1931 | Nobody loves no baby (Like my baby loves me) | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W151694 | 10-in. | 7/21/1931 | Slow but sure | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151695 | 10-in. | 7/21/1931 | Me! | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151723 | 10-in. | 8/31/1931 | My song | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151724 | 10-in. | 8/13/1931 | This is the missus | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151737 | 10-in. | 8/18/1931 | (If this is love) I don't want love | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151738 | 10-in. | 8/18/1931 | To-night or never | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151748 | 10-in. | 8/24/1931 | It's great to be in love | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151749 | 10-in. | 8/24/1931 | Trees | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151750 | 10-in. | 8/24/1931 | Yours is my heart alone | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151837 | 10-in. | 10/13/1931 | A faded summer love | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151838 | 10-in. | 10/13/1931 | Charlie cadet | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151849 | 10-in. | 10/16/1931 | Call me darling (Call me sweetheart, call me dear) | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W151850 | 10-in. | 10/16/1931 | Little Mary Brown | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W151870 | 10-in. | 10/30/1931 | Try to forget | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 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
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