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 901-925 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brunswick | 6417-6419 | 10-in. | approximately Sept. 1921 | One kiss | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | 6643-6645 | 10-in. | approximately Oct. 1921 | Sal-o-may | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | 6647-6649 | 10-in. | approximately Oct. 1921 | Canadian capers | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | 7213-7215 | 10-in. | approximately Jan. 1922 | Angel child | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | 7216-7218 | 10-in. | approximately Jan. 1922 | Lola Lo | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | 7898-7899 | 10-in. | approximately Apr. 1922 | Romany love | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E1609-E1611 | 10-in. | 11/9/1925 | Whoopee!! | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E1612-E1614 | 10-in. | 11/9/1925 | Sleepy time gal | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E1738-E1740 | 10-in. | 11/17/1925 | Keep on croonin' a tune | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E1741-E1743 | 10-in. | 11/17/1925 | Someone's stolen my sweet, sweet baby | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E1797-E1799 | 10-in. | 11/23/1925 | Sleepy time gal | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E1800-E1802 | 10-in. | 11/23/1925 | Whoopee!! | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E1979-E1981 | 10-in. | 12/24/1925 | Then I’ll be happy | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal duet | leader | |
Brunswick | E1982-E1984 | 10-in. | 12/24/1925 | I wonder where my baby is tonight | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E2016-E2018 | 10-in. | 12/31/1925 | Poor little rich girl | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E2019-E2021 | 10-in. | 12/31/1925 | A cup of coffee, a sandwich and you | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E2153-E2154 | 10-in. | 1/14/1926 | I wish’t I was in Peoria | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E2155-E2158 | 10-in. | 1/14/1926 | Sweet child | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E2303-E2305 | 10-in. | 1/30/1926 | Tentin’ down in Tennessee | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E2306-E2308 | 10-in. | 1/30/1926 | After I say I’m sorry | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E2489-E2491 | 10-in. | 2/18/1926 | Tamiami Trail | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E2492-E2494 | 10-in. | 2/18/1926 | Poor Papa | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E2515-E2517 | 10-in. | 2/19/1926 | Just a cottage small (By a waterfall) | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E2518-E2520 | 10-in. | 2/19/1926 | Drifting and dreaming | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with guitar duet (Hawaiian) | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E2932-E2934 | 10-in. | 4/28/1926 | Show that fellow the door | Kensington Serenaders | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 24, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 24, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 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.