"First of all, Ruby Keeler wasn't a bad looking girl, she was young, she had talent, she had talent enough to know that in order to be successful, you have to push and you have to have vitality the same as Jolson had, only Jolson had the talent. She was a girlfriend of the mobster, Johnny Costello. He took care of her. She was only a teenager when Jolson first met her."



Jolson Blog: Part IV Asa the Magnificent Minstrel Interview

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 IV 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.

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

Use www.feed.jolsonblog.com and click on:

Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast: Asa the Magnificent Minstrel Interview Part IV

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

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

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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 a.m. to 4:30 P.M at:

Elks Lodge #1

57 Hempstead Avenue

Lynbrook, NY 11563

This year held at a new location!

Just 35 minutes from NYC Penn Station via Long Island Railroad to Lynbrook Station, L.I.

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 www.jolson.org/ or email any questions or comments to Jan Hernstat at jolsonvp@optonline.net .

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Part IV: Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel Interview

"If you compare her to Cyd Charisse, Ginger Rogers and Ann Miller, she couldn't hold a candle, as far as dancing was concerned, but she appealed to the general public."

Brian Marcus Decker: You provide some background on each of Al Jolson's four marriages, but there's some really, really great commentary on his third wife, Ruby Keeler. This includes Ruby's accomplishments as a dancer and based on her performances in "Go Into Your Dance", as well as her connection with organized crime. Can you share with us some of these stories that are featured in your documentary about Ruby?

Dr. Larry I. Gaum: Well, I personally have looked at her performances, even the one that she gave on Broadway in "No, No Nanette".

Brian Marcus Decker: Yes it was!

Dr. Larry I. Gaum: I've watched excerpts from that production, she wasn't that good a dancer. She was very straight-legged, even in the movie "Go Into Your Dance" with Jolson, and she sort of clopped around the stage. I honestly think that she was selected for several reasons. First of all, Ruby Keeler wasn't a bad looking girl, she was young, she had talent, she had talent enough to know that in order to be successful. You have to push and you have to have vitality the same as Jolson had, only Jolson had the talent. She was a girlfriend of the mobster, Johnny Costello. He took care of her. She was only a teenager when Jolson first met her.

The story goes, and I'm sure there's some truth to it, that Costello took Jolson aside and he said, "Look boy, your intentions better be honorable because if you're not", he said, "then a certain individual's going to find himself in a garbage can." Or some such words with his throat cut or whatever it could be. Remember, they also did something very similar to Joe E. Lewis, the singer/performer, so this wasn't an idle threat. And Costello said, "Do you love the girl?" Costello said to Jolson. Jolson said, "I do and I want to marry her." That was the end of that.

But Costello had an awful lot of influence, a tremendous amount of influence in Hollywood, and I think it was through Costello's connection that Ruby Keeler stepped ahead of thousands and thousands of other young girls who probably had more talent. If you compare her to Cyd Charisse, Ginger Rogers and Ann Miller, she couldn't hold a candle, as far as dancing was concerned, but she appealed to the general public. By the way, Ruby Keeler, but as I said, I was born in Nova Scotia and Ruby Keeler was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I don't know if you know that, you probably do. But anyway, that's my story on Johnny Costello and Ruby Keeler and friends.

Brian Marcus Decker: That's a great story and I tend to agree with you in terms of her performance in "Go Into Your Dance", especially as you try to compare to a Ginger Rogers or an Ann Miller or a Cyd Charisse. But actually she really was a much, much better dancer in many of the Busby Berkeley films, including "42nd Street" and certainly The Gold Digger series of movies where there was a certain charm but she certainly did lack that, what we referred to earlier as "chutzpah and moxie", as they say.

Dr. Larry I. Gaum: I also think that she could dance, there's no doubt about that. But I watched some of the old clips of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and I mean my God almighty, their feet are magic. And in "Go Into Your Dance", she was sort of clopping around the stage, maybe as time went on and she took lessons and she learned and she became better. I won't argue that but despite the fact that in other productions, as she got older she became better, I don't think that she was in the same class as these other famous dancers. Again, Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charisse; my God, I saw Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly the other night and just magnificent, the two of them just float around the stage.

Brian Marcus Decker: "Singing in the Rain" (of course).

PART V August 19, 2007: Asa, the Magnificent Minstrel Interview with Dr. Larry I. Gaum

• What are some you're favorite early versus later Jolson recordings?

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 podcasts.

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 August 19, 2007.

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

" 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.

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