Interview Part III: “When Jolson Was King”

Brian Marcus Decker: I recently saw the Peter Jackson version of King Kong on DVD and although for many reasons I did not think it was a very good movie for numerous reasons, I was delighted to hear Jolson singing, “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” at the beginning of the film. Personally, it was kind of an interesting way to demonstrate the critical role of entertainment in America during the great depression.  From your perspective, what did Jolson represent to the American people during that specific period of time?

Richard Grudens: Well, I think Jolson came along much earlier than the Depression and he made his mark as most of us know by singing in New York City, getting into minstrel singing with Dockstader’s Group and others and then probably being handled better and getting into the legitimate Broadway performances at the famed Winter Garden thanks to the Shubert Brothers with the possibility of great fame that could make a lot of money on him.  I think that he evolved into the Depression Era.  He was famous much before that but during the Depression people needed something to cheer them up and Jolson was a voice that was so strong that you could hear it in movies, hear it on the stage, he took his shows on the road which no one had ever done before which is how Bing Crosby first saw him when he got to see him in Tacoma, Washington.  So Jolson was the big star.  He was the first Superstar; in fact, he was the only superstar at the time.  No one else could carry a show like he did.  No one else could carry a song like he did, no one else made recordings and movies.  He took his chances when Georgie Jessel turned down the Jazz Singer, Jolson said I’ll do and he did it and made arrangements.  There are many stories of how it evolved but he till did it, he stepped out there, he sang, he was obnoxious, he was upfront in your face, he would sing for anyone anywhere, anytime and record with anyone anytime and sing any song that he could.  He sang hundreds and hundreds of songs and he was prolific and he was all over the place and much more than anyone else and that accounts a lot for his fame.

Brian Marcus Decker: With Celebrity Profiles Publishing you covered an interesting range of musical and comic performers whose careers were launched during big band era. This includes Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Bob Hope, and Connie Haines.  Richard, “When Jolson Was King”, is now your 12th book is a series of books published by Celebrity Profiles Publishing. Can you share with us some background information on how Celebrity Profiles Publishing started?

Richard Grudens: Ah, yes.  I was a magazine writer.  First, I was a writer at NBC writing news and special events and got interested in these subjects I write about and began writing for a Long Island celebrity entertainment newspaper and I was able to interview people like Woody Herman and Harry James and Count Basie and Benny Goodman and all of the great bandleaders before their demise.  And, one thing led to another and when I put all of these magazine articles together I formed my first book and I tried to get it published and nobody was interested so I self-published.  I created Celebrity Profiles and followed that way. Then I got a call from Connie Haines one day saying Richard why didn’t you include me in this book?  I said, “Well, I didn’t know you were interested, Connie.  I didn’t know where you were.”  And that led to her telling me where her friends were – the singers – where Kitty Kallen lived, maybe where Rhonda Fleming lived, where Jane Russell lived and other singers that she knew where to contact.  In graciousness to her, I decided to write a book about the girl singers.  I started with her, got a hold of Jo Stafford and Teresa Brewer and so on and so forth and put the book together which invariably led to the third book, The Men Singers and I spoke to Johnny Mathis, Tony Martin, even Harold Arlen’s son because Harold Arlen was a singer and Fred Astaire was a singer and there were non singers but they were singers so I grouped them all together to make a total book out of it and then one book led to another and I tried to fill in all the spaces, then decided to fill in the entire spectrum of all of these singers from the early 20’s and 30’s right up to the present and it just evolved it was not a plan.

 For more information about, “When Jolson was King”, please visit www.RichardGrudens.com.

NEXT Week Interview Part IV: “When Jolson Was King”

• What would you contribute this general interest and an ongoing enduring passion for Al Jolson 56 years after his death?

• Is there anyone who you think should be a real contender for this heavyweight title of The Worlds Greatest Entertainer today?

• Jolson Trivia Challenge: This will be the first of a series of monthly trivia challenges.  For this first challenge, I will give away two FREE Jolson Singing Fool color T-shirts to the first TWO people who answer the correct answer via email. This limited edition T-Shirt is a vintage color reproduction of a 1928 theatrical program promoting the “Singing Fool” feature film starring the legendary, Al Jolson.

This is Brian Marcus Decker and thank you for joining us on the Jolson Blog.  This is the first blog dedicated to the life and musical influences of Al Jolson, the Worlds Greatest Entertainer and Friends and please visits again at www.JolsonBlog.com.

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Also I encourage all of you to also visit other relevant websites and become members of the International Al Jolson Society http://www.jolson.org/ and the Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society http://www.eddiecantor.com/ and the Scottish Area of International Al Jolson Society related websites:

• Mike's Jolson Site     http://www.mikescaife.btinternet.co.uk
• The Great Song Stylists Site    http://great-song-stylists-uk.com