Len Spencer
Leonard Garfield Spencer (February 12, 1867 – December 15, 1914) was an early American recording artist. He began recording for the Columbia Phonograph Company, in 1889 or 1890. Between 1892 and 1897 he recorded extensively for the New Jersey Phonograph Company and its successor the United States Phonograph Company. He specialized in vaudeville sketches and comic songs, but also sang sentimental ballads popular at the time. He returned to Columbia in 1898 for an exclusive contract then began recording for Berliner Gramophone (disc) records in 1899 and continued with Victor and Columbia as discs became the dominant format in the early 1900s. He began performing with banjoist Vess L. Ossman in 1901 and with Ada Jones in 1905. He is best remembered today for his vaudeville-style comic sketches, such as "The Arkansaw Traveler" (1902), combining clever turns of phrase, ironic elocutionary delivery, sound effects and music to create colorful dialogues featuring itinerant Southerners, auctioneers, circus barkers, and Irish, Jewish or Black Americans. Many of his roles were performed in either blackface or brownface. Spencer's output was eclectic. He imitated animal sounds in "A Barnyard Serenade" (1906) and released another record titled "The Transformation Scene from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'," but also popularized songs still known today such as "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom De-ay" and "A Hot Time in the Old Town." Music historian Bob Stanley deems it "probable" that Spencer's comedic "Arkansaw Traveler" routine was the first record to sell one million copies, though official documentation is lacking. As the popularity of Len's style of humor waned in the latter part of the decade, he opened a booking agency called "Len Spencer's Lyceum" in New York. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage while working at the Lyceum on December 15, 1914. |
Birth and Death Data: Born February 12, 1867 (Washington, D.C.), Died December 15, 1914 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1896 - 1925
Roles Represented in DAHR: speaker, author, baritone vocal, performer, composer, adapter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 376-400 of 812 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-6858 | 10-in. | 3/4/1909 | Sweet Peggy Magee | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, unaccompanied | speaker | |
Victor | B-8088 | 10-in. | 7/2/1909 | Mammy Chloe and her Joe | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker, author | |
Victor | B-8089 | 10-in. | 7/2/1909 | How Kathleen proposed | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker, author | |
Victor | B-8090 | 10-in. | 7/2/1909 | Zeb Green's airship | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker, author | |
Victor | B-8404 | 10-in. | 11/29/1909 | Hedwig's air castle | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Victor | C-8405 | 12-in. | 11/29/1909 | A race for a wife | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker, author | |
Columbia | 33 | 10-in. | ca. 1901-1908 | Dese bones shall rise again | Harry Spencer ; Len Spencer | Minstrels, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 33 | 7-in. | ca. 1901 | Dese bones shall rise again | Harry Spencer ; Len Spencer | Minstrels, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 398 | 10-in. | approximately 1901 | Backyard conversation between two jealous Irish washerwomen | Steve Porter ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue | speaker | |
Columbia | 398 | 7-in. | approximately 1901 | Backyard conversation between two Irish washerwomen | Artists vary | Comic dialogue | speaker | |
Columbia | 449 | 10-in. | approximately 1901 | Church scene | Artists vary | Male vocal quartet, with piano | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 641 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Coon, coon, coon | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 641 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | Coon, coon, coon | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 642 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | Hear dem bells | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 642 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Hear dem bells | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 643 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | A high old time | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 643 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | A high old time | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 644 | 7-in. | ca. 1902-1904 | The laughing song | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | speaker | |
Columbia | 644 | 10-in. | between 1902 and 1904 | The laughing song | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 645 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | The old log cabin in the dell | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 645 | 10-in. | ca. 1902 | The old log cabin | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 646 | 10-in. | ca. 1902-1904 | Sadie Ray | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 646 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Sadie Ray | Imperial Minstrels | Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra | performer | |
Columbia | 648 | 10-in. | approximately 1902 | Alpine specialty | Spencer Trio | Male vocal trio, with yodeling and piano | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Columbia | 648 | 7-in. | ca. 1902 | Alpine specialty | Spencer Trio | Male vocal trio, with yodeling piano | vocalist, baritone vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Spencer, Len," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
Spencer, Len. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.
"Spencer, Len." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Spencer, Len, 1867-1914 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n90608750
Wikidata: Len G. Spencer - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6521966
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/75467103
MusicBrainz: Len G. Spencer - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4e41dee2-f22a-41a1-89da-4aee63b84393
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