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 951-975 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brunswick | E19825-E19827 | 10-in. | 7/20/1926 | Kentucky lullaby | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E19828-E19830 | 10-in. | 7/20/1926 | Trail of dreams | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E19837-E19840 | 10-in. | 7/21/1926 | Oh! If I only had you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E19841-E19843 | 10-in. | 7/21/1926 | That’s Annabelle | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E19933-E19936 | 10-in. | 7/26/1926 | Barcelona | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |
Brunswick | E19937-E19940 | 10-in. | 7/26/1926 | On the Riviera | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E19992-E19993 | 10-in. | 8/27/1926 | Any ice today, lady? | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E19994-E19995 | 10-in. | 8/27/1926 | She knows her onions | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E20263-E20264 | 10-in. | 9/25/1926 | That’s a good girl! | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E20265-E20266 | 10-in. | 9/25/1926 | Pretty Cinderella | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E20328-E20329 | 10-in. | 10/5/1926 | That’s a good girl! | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E20330-E20331 | 10-in. | 10/5/1926 | Pretty Cinderella | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E20412-E20418 | 10-in. | 10/14/1926 | Stars are the windows of heaven | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E20413-E20414 | 10-in. | 10/14/1926 | When you waltz with the one you love | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E20415-E20416 | 10-in. | 10/14/1926 | Cherie, I love you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |
Brunswick | E20758-E20760 | 10-in. | 11/19/1926 | I’m tellin’ the birds—tellin’ the bees, how I love you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E20761-E20763 | 10-in. | 11/19/1926 | My baby knows how | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E21142-E21144 | 10-in. | 1/7/1927 | Sam, the old accordion man | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E21145-E21147 | 10-in. | 1/7/1927 | Here or there (As long as I'm with you) | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E21401-E21403 | 10-in. | 2/1/1927 | Never without you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E21404-E21406 | 10-in. | 2/1/1927 | Ev'ry little while | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E21612-E21614 | 10-in. | 2/25/1927 | My Sunday girl | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take E21614) | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E21615-E21617 | 10-in. | 2/25/1927 | My regular gal | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take E21617) | leader, vocalist, instrumentalist, violin | |
Brunswick | E21991-E21993 | 10-in. | 3/17/1927 | Hoosier sweetheart | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take E21993) | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Brunswick | E21994-E21996 | 10-in. | 3/17/1927 | Close to your heart | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take E21996) | leader, instrumentalist, violin |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 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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