Jolson Blog: Part II Asa the Magnificent Minstrel Interview "Chutzpah and "Moxie"
"Harry had a better voice but he didn't have the energy, the verve, the push, the vitality, the personality that his brother Al had that spelled success. Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Jack Benny, George Burns, Ed Wynn, just to name a few, all had that vitality, that intelligence that they knew they wanted to be successful, they were going to be successful, and they made it. They were all tough"
Part II: Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel
Yowza, Yowza, Yowza. This is Brian Marcus Decker, for the Jolson and Friends blog located on the web at www.JolsonBlog.com, which is the first tech-nostalgic blog dedicated to the musical influences of Al Jolson and Friends.
Well folk, next stop is Part II of "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel", a very informative six-part series on Al Jolson with another fellow Jolson auteur, Dr. Larry I. Gaum. He has produced a very informative and award-winning documentary in Canada entitled "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel."
Free Jolson and Friends Podcasts
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 six-part Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel interview with Dr. Larry I. Gaum and seven-part series on Vaudeville with authors Trav S.D. as well as Sybil Jason.
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Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast: Asa the Magnificent Minstrel Interview Part II
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Best Wishes to Joe Franklin for a Fast Recovery
Last month Joe Franklin, the King of Nostalgia, was hit by a taxi last month and is still recuperating. Joe Franklin is not just a personal friend, but a legend. His contribution to broadcasting is beyond legendary. Joe is credited with being one of the early pioneers of the modern TV talk show format and The Joe Franklin Show ran on television for 40 consecutive years and holds the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the most TV shows--31,015 in all. He also helped launch the careers of many important entertainers including Elvis Presley, Woody Allen, Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, Bill Cosby and Garth Brooks. Joe has still been doing his weekly radio program on Bloomberg radio in the New York metropolitan area and has strong associations with a Joe Franklin themed restaurant and comedy club in New York City and the International AL Jolson Society.
On behalf of the Jolson Blog and the IAJS, our best wishes to Joe Franklin for a fast recovery and look forward to seeing you at the, The Eleventh Annual Long Island Jolson Festival in September.
The Eleventh Annual Long Island Jolson Festival
A Tribute to Al Jolson on Saturday, September 8 featuring special guest of honor Herb Goldman author of "Jolson The Legend Comes To Life", Tony Babino "The Heart of Al Jolson", , Radio Personality Joe Franklin, Janet Cantor Gari - daughter of Eddie Cantor and Brian Gari - grandson of Eddie Cantor.
This fantastic event will take place 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM at:
Knights of Columbus
2985 Kenneth Place
Oceanside, NY
Tickets are $38.50 per person including meals and entertainment. If you cannot come for the whole day, you may attend just the show, with no food, for $20. PLEASE BOOK EARLY!
For more information go to http://www.jolson.org/ or email any questions or comments to Jan Hernstat at jolsonvp@optonline.net .
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Part II: Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel Interview
"He was the singing minstrel, comedian, recording film artist, radio performer and he was the greatest entertainer. In my mind, and in many others, he was a living dynamo. He was full of energy; he was full of vitality, ambition and successful"
Brian Marcus Decker: Jolson has been credited for revolutionizing popular culture. He's changed mass media, as well as just affecting the performing arts, even today. Can you share with us some of Jolson's biggest achievements and what made the singing minstrel, comedian, recording film artist, radio performer truly earn the reputation as the world's greatest entertainer?
Dr. Larry I. Gaum: He was all of the above. He was the singing minstrel, comedian, recording film artist, radio performer and he was the greatest entertainer. In my mind, and in many others, he was a living dynamo. He was full of energy; he was full of vitality, ambition and successful. He went from poverty to riches and fame.
Not that many years ago I was listening to the CBC, Canadian Broadcasting System, on a Sunday and they were interviewing William Demarest. Now Demarest appeared in the original The Jazz Singer. I think he had about a 30-second part, but he was there. And he was also in The Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again. And I listened to Demarest and Demarest said that his brother, Harry had a better voice but he didn't have the energy, the verve, the push, the vitality, the personality that his brother Al had that spelled success. You're listening to the words of Demarest who knew them well and personally. I guess what Demarest was saying is that you have to tough to be successful, and Jolson was just that. He was tough, he knew what he wanted. He knew that he was going to climb the ladder and he was prepared to do it. He saw success and he went after it, but Harry didn't.
I just want to add also that a lot of poor Jewish boys had similar personalities. This was not an unusual occurrence in that day and age. Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Jack Benny, George Burns, Ed Wynn, just to name a few, all had that vitality, that intelligence that they knew they wanted to be successful, they were going to be successful, and they made it. They were all tough, despite the fact that you see Jack Benny; he looks like he's not that tough an individual. But these guys were. They came from poor, Jewish backgrounds, the lower east side of New York, things of that nature and Jolson wasn't from the lower east side of New York, but that's what pushed them and made them the success that they eventually became.
Brian Marcus Decker: It's interesting, in the recent interview that I've done with Trav S.D. on vaudeville, it kind of summed up in a phrase that was kind of interesting, and that's "chutzpah" and "moxie".
Dr. Larry I. Gaum: Yeah, that's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is. And you know, because of that chutzpah, one thing that comes to my mind, Barbra Streisand. She's no Wilbur Milktoast. Here's a Jewish girl that had a beautiful voice, but there's a lot of Jewish girls that have beautiful voices, but nobody knows them, but they know Barbara Streisand. But as a result of Streisand and Jolson's chutzpah and thrust and energy, they made enemies as well
Brian Marcus Decker: Okay. There are many recurring themes in your documentary. One of the more interesting ones is Jolson's Jewish background and your reference to him as the "immortal Jewish minstrel" and "the first Jewish performer who was loved, worshiped and adored by millions of people all over the world." Jolson never really considered himself to be religious, and I find it really interesting in your opinion that Jolson would be the greatest Cantor or the greatest Rabbi the world had ever seen. Can you put into perspective your thoughts on how Judaism influenced and contributed to Jolson's success as an entertainer?
Dr. Larry I. Gaum: I'd be happy to. First of all, he wasn't religious. I'm Jewish and I don't think that people can consider me to be religious. But I am very proud of my Jewish heritage and Jolson was too. There's no question about it from the things that he did and his performances. Just let me tell you, he wasn't religious, he resented his manager, Eppy Epstein, every time when Epstein would remind him that it was his mother's yartzeit, which is the anniversary of her death, and that he should go the synagogue to say the Kaddish or the mourner's prayer for the departed. He knew that he had to go, but there was a certain resentment there against the messenger, Eppy Epstein.
But he once said to Eppy, after he was divorced from Ruby Keeler, and he was very depressed and he was very down, he was very blue, and he said, "Eppy, I'm all alone." And he said, "Who's going to say the Kaddish for me when I'm gone?" And Eppy said, "You've got a lot of friends. You've got Jessel, you've got Benny, and you've got your fans and everything else that will say Kaddish for you." He wasn't religious but he had a strong feeling of being Jewish. He spoke Yiddish fluently, but that's not unusual because a lot of the Jewish boys, Cantor, Benny, Burns, they all spoke Yiddish. They grew up in that era. Their parents spoke to them in Yiddish. Matter of fact, I'll tell you something interesting, Jimmy Cagney, who grew up in a predominantly Yiddish area in New York, he also spoke Yiddish fluently. A lot of people don't know that but I find that very interesting. Jolson always made reference to his Jewishness.
He would probably have been the greatest Cantor, the greatest Hazzan the world has ever seen, and I believe that. All you have to do is just listen intently to him chanting the Kol Nidre in The Jazz Singer and in my views, better than some of the best cantors that ever lived, including the great Yossele Rosenblatt. And, by the way, Rosenblatt was in The Jazz Singer. Individuals like Jan Pierce, Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, all Jewish boys, and they sang the liturgical, the Hebrew melodies, but not the way Jolson did. And I honestly think that if he had gone that route, he would be well-known today as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Hazzans or Cantors in the world. So there's my dissertation.
July 8, 2007: Part III Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel Interview with Dr. Larry I. Gaum
- One of the really, really important things to me, from watching Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel several times is that there really are a significant number of well-documented facts and stories related to Jolson that are included in the documentary. For example, as you mentioned before, William Demarest appearing in the original 1927 The Jazz Singer, outside of the supporting roles that he had in both The Jolson Story and The Jolson Sings Again many years later. And even a mention of one of the big Jolson fans of his era, being someone by the name of Al Capone. Larry, could you share with us a few of your favorite Jolson stories?
- In your "Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel" DVD, you cover a good retrospective of famous Jolson songs, including some fun, entertaining film footage that includes My Mammy, Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Sitting on Top of the World, About a Quarter to Nine, Let Me Sing I'm Happy, Dinah, Rock-A-Bye, California, Here I Come and, of course, April Showers. Of all the Jolie featured films, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927, what do you consider his best feature film and why?
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 friends. And please come visit us again at www.jolsonblog.com, and certainly feel free to listen to the audio pod casts.
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
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 July 8, 2007.
I am working 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.
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