"Trav, you refer to Al Jolson’s 1909 rendition of the song "Hello My Baby" as surely history’s first recorded phone sex. It’s a pretty provocative statement. Vaudeville was considered family entertainment, but who were some of the performers who really pushed the blue envelope?"

Jolson and Friends Blog

Yowza, Yowsa, yowza. This is Brian Marcus Decker, for the Jolson and Friends Blog located on the web at www.JolsonBlog.com, the first tech-nostalgia blog dedicated to the musical influences of Al Jolson and friends.

One Year Anniversary of the Jolson and Friends Blog

On May 14th, The Jolson and Friends Blog will be celebrating our first year anniversary. Thank you for all of the positive and supporting feedback. Excluding this blog posting, I have published four original interview totaling 27 blog postings and 13 audio podcasts. This consisting of over 79,000 words which have been viewed by almost 11,000 times and this includes over 500 subscribers.

Also special thanks to my family and friends for their support as well as Richard Grudens, Janet and Brian Gari, Sybil Jason, Trav S.D., Joe Franklin, Richard Halpern, Clive Baldwin, Dr. Marc Leavey, Michael Scaife, Bob Daniels, Jan Hernstat, George Hudson, Ed Greenbaum, Michelle Malik, the International Al Jolson Society, Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society, Stan Gerloff, Tracey Lawton, every customer who has purchased one of the featured special collector edition t-shirts and of course Jolie, "The Worlds Greatest Entertainer".

Next Stop, Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel

In case you have been wondering what is next for the Jolson and Friends Blog. I have just finished recording and transcribing a very informative multi-part series on Al Jolson with another fellow Jolson auteur, Dr. Larry I. Gaum who produced a very informative and award-winning documentary in Canada entitled "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel." This engaging new series will start on May 22nd.

Jolson and Friends: Goodbye Vaudeville, Next Stop, Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel

And now Ladies and gentleman, the conclusion of our spectacular seven-part series on Vaudeville with, Trav S.D., the infamous author the fascinating and entertaining book entitled "No Applause, Just Throw Money" which provides a provocative look at the history and the pivotal impact of the Vaudeville era on American culture.

The book also addresses a triage of topics including the performers, the Vaudeville circuit theaters as well as their owners. Highlighted in this book are the musical, comedic, and magical talents of, of course, our one and only Al Jolson, as well as Eddie Cantor, Bert Williams, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, Harry Houdini, Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Ellen, Jimmy Durante, Judy Garland, The Marx Brothers, Mae West, W.C. Fields, Bob Hope, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Milton Berle, Norah Bays, George M. Cohan, Weber and Fields and many, many more.

Free Vaudeville Part VII Interview Podcast

After collecting audio assets for five Jolson related interviews, in the last few months I launched the First Jolson Podcast and you can listen to the entire 7-part interviews on Vaudeville with authors Trav S.D. as well as Sybil Jason.

To listen to the free Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast published audio files

Use feed.jolsonblog.com and click on:

Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast: Vaudeville Interview Part VII

To subscribe to the free Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast published audio files

Use www.apple.com/itunes/download/ or www.podcastalley.com or bloglines.com/ to set-up account and then search on Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast.

If you are currently using a RSS or atom reader add feed.jolsonblog.com to you subscribed content list.

International Al Jolson Society 2007 Jolson Festival in Toronto

The annual International Al Jolson Society event is almost here. It is not too late to register.  It will take place on Friday, May 25, 2007 through Sunday, May 27, 2007 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Special entertainment will include Tony Babino (The heart of Jolson), Richard Halpern (Mr. Tin Pan Alley) and William Campbell (Scotland's Own Jolson).

For more information on this great event, go to www.Jolson.org and click on the Click for information on May, 2007, Jolson Festival near Toronto, Canada link.

Jolson and Friends Video Play List: All Future Performances Cancelled

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. YouTube.com has removed most of the movie clips that featured Jolson from their website, "due to terms of use violations".

Update on Janet Cantor Gari and Best for a Fast Recovery

Janet Cantor Gari, youngest daughter of Eddie Cantor, is finally home from the hospital and still recovering from her broken shoulder and hip.

Anyone who would still like to extend their personal wishes for a fast recovery can still send an email to Garisongs@aol.com or a letter or card to:

Janet Cantor Gari

c/o Brian Gari

650 West End Avenue

New York, NY 10025

New Series of Houdini and History of Baseball T-shirts and for a Limited Time, Save 20% on Special Edition T-shirts (Still Includes FREE Shipping)

You will be "Sitting on Top of the World" with these limited edition T-shirts. These are perfect holiday gifts for collectors of nostalgia and a must have for anyone interested in the legendary Al Jolson, Houdini, Baseball and Eddie Cantor. Each t-shirt comes with a FREE matching gift card.

AffiniTee LLC only uses brand new Hanes Beefy-Ts premium 6.1 oz. heavyweight pre-shrunk 100% cotton . These unique vintage images are applied using a high pressure industrial heat press and professional grade hot transfers and a proprietary process for extended wear.

This unique T-shirts is available in white or black in adult sizes including small (34-36), medium (38-40), adult large (42-44) and XL (46-48) sizes. Additional sizes including children, adult XXL and XXXL are available on a special order basis and are subject to a $3.00 surcharge to prices listed below

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There is no escaping from this vintage reproduction of Houdini’s personal stationary.
 

Al Jolson Limited Edition T-shirt: The Singing Fool

This is a vintage color reproduction of a 1928 theatrical program.

Eddie Cantor Limited Edition T-shirt: Tell it to the Judge

This is a vintage two-color reproduction of 1930s board game.

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This is a vintage color reproduction of a hand painted tin carnival sign.

Jolie NEW Black & White Limited Edition T-shirt

This is a vintage B/W illustration of Jolie from the 1920s.

NEW History of Time Baseball Limited Edition T-shirt

This is real deal for real baseball fans, an authentic turn of the century History of Baseball T-shirt featuring Boston, New York, Chicago and Detroit.

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This clown no longer graces Asbury Park Boardwalk, but this vintage color reproduction lives on.

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Looking left and right "the game is afoot" with this vintage, black and white illustrated, Sherlock t-shirt, with no clues overlooked.

Sherlock Improbable Limited Edition T-shirt

Vintage Sherlock, black and white illustrated profile, on t-shirt with famous quote, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

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Sudoku aficionados can proudly challenge the world with this puzzling T-shirt.

Here’s the Deal: Save up to 15%

White or Natural T-Shirt: $17.00 with FREE U.S Shipping and Matching Gift Card (Regular price $20.00)

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For additional information, special orders, discounted shipping outside the U.S., payments through Pay Pal, please contact: brian@affinitee.com .

To order please specify style (Jolson, Cantor, Moon, Jolie, Houdini King of Cards, World's Greatest Mystery Man, History of Old Time Baseball, Asbury Park Clown, Sherlock Double Profile, Sherlock Improbable, Sudoku), quantity, size, t-shirt color (white/natural or black), type (t-shirts or matching gift cards) and your shipping address. Please send checks to:

AffiniTee LLC c/o:

Brian Marcus Decker

24 Arverne Road

West Orange, NJ

07052

Conclusion Part VII: Vaudeville Interview with Trav S.D.

"Eva Tanguay especially mostly because she would sort of gyrate and do crazy dances and sings suggestive songs. Somehow she managed to pull that off because she seemed really insane, wasn’t particularly beautiful and even though she was kind of half-clad they let her do it. She seemed like some kind of strange phenomenon. Mae West, believe it or not, she kind of followed in Eva Tanguay’s footsteps but she was not successful, believe it or not, she was struggling in vaudeville for like a decade or so or 15 years because she was attractive and really pushed the envelope in a kind of burlesque direction."

Brian Marcus Decker: Trav, you refer to Al Jolson’s 1909 rendition of the song Hello My Baby as surely history’s first recorded phone sex. It’s a pretty provocative statement. Vaudeville was considered family entertainment, but who were some of the performers who really pushed the blue envelope?

Trav S.D.: Eva Tanguay especially, mostly because she would sort of gyrate and do crazy dances and sings suggestive songs. Somehow she managed to pull that off because she seemed really insane, wasn’t particularly beautiful and even though she was kind of half-clad they let her do it. She seemed like some kind of strange phenomenon. Mae West, believe it or not, she kind of followed in Eva Tanguay’s footsteps but she was not successful, believe it or not, she was struggling in vaudeville for like a decade or so or 15 years because she was attractive and really pushed the envelope in a kind of burlesque direction. We know her as that funny woman who says all of the quips and epigrams and stuff, that wasn’t really an aspect of what she did then. She sang sort of low-down blues songs and you know people describe her shaking so hard that the powder flying off her body and once even a shoulder strap fell kind of like Janet Jackson and her breast fell out, that sort of thing. In comedy things were equally strict. Very late in vaudeville they started to relax that a little bit.

There’s one comedian named Ken Murray, I would actually add him to that list of unsung people who have been forgotten. He was very well known. He had his own TV variety show. He was the youngest of The Palace comedy headliners and so in order to seem older he would tell risqué jokes. He was like 23 or something.

Brian Marcus Decker: As comprehensive as the book is, you’ve clearly stated in your interviews that neither you nor the book is academic. Could you explain that to us?

Trav S.D.: Well I guess my reason for pointing that out is that my own perspective is much closer to the actual performers than most academics seems to be. I’m a working class kid who went into show business. I never finished college and though I’m extremely well read, I pride myself on being an autodidact like my hero is Groucho Marx or W.C. Fields or Fred Allen. Most of the academic books I’ve read on the subject tend to be kind of Pollyannaish, rather patronizing of the performers, sort of weak, helpless tools of social forces. They don’t buy into and they can’t control, which is nonsense. George M. Cohen once wrote a play about a guy called Get Rich Quick Wallingford and I think that ‘get rich quick’ would be a suitable nickname for nearly all vaudevillians that I can think of. And since they were poor when they started I think they can be forgiven for that. The academic perspectives tended to look at the subjects through a kind of Marxist or deconstructionist lens which is fine, but I don’t think necessarily helps you understand the subject any better. And also I’m a playwright so I’m just kind of interested in what makes people tick.

Brian Marcus Decker: R. Crumb who I consider to be one of the truly brilliant underground artists of the twentieth century recently published Heroes of Blues Jazz and Country with fantastic art, a bonus music CD collection of some really obscure classic recordings from his own personal music collection. With vaudeville being such a visual and sound focused medium, have you considered creating an audio or video extension to your book?

Trav S.D.: I am now.

Brian Marcus Decker: Good answer. If you need help, let me know. Trav, in addition to your talent as an author and a journalist you’re also a performer who’s dedicated to keeping this tradition of vaudeville alive. Can you talk to us about some of your recent theatrical projects?

Trav S.D.: Well actually most of the recent stuff I’ve been doing has been radio, believe it or not, or radio-inspired projects. I had this comedy noir show that I did at the Joe’s Pub which is the cabaret at the public theater recently and I was in radio, although this is high brow stuff, I was in a radio play in the Havel Festival and then I’m just about to perform in an adaptation of A Christmas Story which is a famous movie but it also happens to be based on radio monologues by Jean Shepherd.

Brian Marcus Decker: How can members of the Jolson and Friends online community purchase your book No Applause, Just Throw Money?

Trav S.D.: Well it’s in all major bookstores and you can get it at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com and wherever you buy fine books.

Brian Marcus Decker: Well on behalf of the Jolson and Friends Blog community I’d like once again to personally thank my very, very special guest star Trav S.D. for his focused contribution to keeping vaudeville and the memory of Al Jolson alive. This is Brian Marcus Decker and thank you for joining us on the Jolson and Friends Blog. This is the first and most important blog dedicated to the life and musical influences of the legendary Al Jolson, the world’s greatest entertainer. And please visit us again at www.JolsonBlog.com

May 22, 2007: Part I Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel Interview with Dr. Larry I. Gaum

• What was the genesis of "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel" and how did it go from just an idea into really a produced reality?
• You have received some public recognition and awards for your documentary, "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel." Can you tell us about these awards?
• What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in making "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel"?

Jolson and Friends Blog Required Reading List

No Applause--Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (Paperback) by Trav S.D.

Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon

My Fifteen Minutes: An Autobiography of a Child Star of the Golden Era of Hollywood (Paperback) by Sybil Jason.

Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon

When Jolson Was King: (Paperback) by Richard Grudens.

Richard Grudens has written an entertaining and informative (must read) book for anyone interested in the legendary, Al Jolson "The World's Greatest Entertainer".

"The book contains many facets of Jolson' career including those around him, his competition, employers, and comments from those he inspired enough to form their own careers, the issue of minstrel, blackface performers, fabled stories of the famed Friar's Club, a chapter of the infamous Shubert Brothers, and chapters covering Jolson's experiences in film, radio and his extensive USO travels. Covered too are vignettes of the theatres in which Jolson performed, and of those great theatrical competitors like the Barrymore's and where they were voicing their talents while Jolson was pulling them in at the Winter Garden, and a full feature on Jolson's films from the first talkie, The Jazz Singer to his famed bio-pics The Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again." – Richard Grudens

Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon

For a Limited Time, Save 20% on VHS Video tape to DVD Transfers

My overall mission for this blog is to preserve and archive an important part of our cultural history as it relates to Jolson, as well as related music and the performing arts. Too often, many of these historical treasures, including people, films, recordings, artwork and theatres have disappeared and have been long forgotten.

In our personal lives, many of us have kept copies of videotapes of important friends and family events including vacations, birthdays, weddings and holiday celebrations. After 10 years of lying on the shelf in a closet, you may find out that some of your video tapes are no longer playable and these precious moments are lost forever.

As a special service to the Jolson and Friends community, Affinitee LLC is offering an affordable way to preserve these priceless memories digitally for generations by transferring your VHS tapes to DVDs.

For a limited time, save 20% on VHS (unedited) videotape transfers to DVD. Now $11.99 plus shipping (regularly $14.99). Additional DVD copies of the same VHS tape are now $7.99 (regularly $9.99).

• Return U.S. shipping costs for up to three original videotapes and DVD copies is $9.95 via FedEx Ground or UPS with no signature required.
• These DVD-videos are 100% compliant to the DVD standards and will play on DVD players that read DVD-R media. Almost all DVD players made in the past 3 years play DVD-R media.
• Your tape transfer to DVD will include chapter markers every 10 minutes. Just use the fast forward function on your DVD remote to jump forward or backwards.
• These prices are based on up to two-hours of continuous tape conversions without any editing for VHS format tapes only.
• This service can not duplicate materials that are copy protected including commercial films.

To place a videotape transfer to DVD order or request additional information, payments through Pay Pal, please contact: brian@affinitee.com .

Changes to Jolson and Friends Blog

In the upcoming months I am looking to continue to evolve the Jolson and Friends Blog and wanted preview some upcoming changes. As of this post, I am promoting the sale of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Houdini, History of Baseball and several other unique Limited Edition T-shirt designs (featured above) and matching gift cards (with free shipping). The sales from these items help offset the cost of maintaining this blog.

Due to the time intensive nature of ongoing research, content development, production and maintaining and the Blog, the next blog update will happen on May 22, 2007.

I am starting to work on several future Jolson and Friends projects including:

• Video tapes to DVD transfer service.
• Jolson and Friends Recommended Reading and Viewer Lists including cost-saving shopping links to find out-of-print books, videos and more.
• Expanded global coverage of local events.
• Future podcasts of upcoming interviews and special performance-based content.

To ensure that you are automatically informed about new postings, please enter your email address at the sidebar on the left of this blog page or send an email to my attention, with the subject line "Subscribe", to: brian@JolsonBlog.com .

Watch for the Mail, I'll Never Fail

Your feedback is greatly appreciated and truly helps shape future content of www.JolsonBlog.com.

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