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 726-750 of 812 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zonophone | [Zo cat C 5830] | 9-in. | Before Apr. 1904 | Levee scene | Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat P 5839] | 7-in. | Before Apr. 1904 | Reuben Haskins' trip around the world in his airship "Luna" | Parke Hunter ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with ocarina | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Ox cat 5839] | 7-in. | ca. 1904-1905 | Reuben Haskins' trip around the world in his airship "Luna" | Parke Hunter ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with ocarina | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat P 5840] | 7-in. | Before Apr. 1904 | Rube Haskin's ride on a cyclone auto | Len Spencer | Monologue | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Ox cat 5840] | 7-in. | ca. 1904-1905 | Rube Haskin's ride on a cyclone auto | Len Spencer | Monologue | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat C 5840] | 9-in. | Before Apr. 1904 | Rube Haskin's ride on a cyclone auto | Len Spencer | Monologue | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat P 5909] | 7-in. | Before May 1904 | The whistling newsboy | Al S. Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with vocal effects | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Ox cat 5909] | 7-in. | ca. 1904-1905 | The whistling newsboy | Al S. Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with vocal effects | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Ox cat 5910] | 7-in. | ca. 1904-1905 | Jim Jackson's race track story | Al S. Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with vocal effects | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat C 5910] | 9-in. | Before May 1904 | Jim Jackson's rollhack story | Al S. Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with vocal effects | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat P 5910] | 7-in. | Before May 1904 | Jim Jackson's race track story | Al S. Holt ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with vocal effects | speaker | |
Zonophone | [Zo cat C 5999] | 9-in. | Before Oct. 1904 | Dat minstrel man of mine | Parke Hunter ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Leeds & Catlin | 6393 | 10-in. | before Sept. 1905 | Every little bit helps | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with female-male vocal duet | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 6399 | 10-in. | before Sept. 1905 | He's me pal | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Leeds & Catlin | 6971 | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Peaches and cream | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Leeds & Catlin | 7024 | 10-in. | Jan.-July 1906 | Travel on | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8266 | 10-in. | 1906 | The little old log cabin in the lane | Vess L. Ossman ; Len Spencer | Male vocal solo, with banjo | vocalist, baritone vocal | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8484 | 10-in. | 1906 | Down the pike at the Saint Louis Exposition | Len Spencer | Monologue, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8485 | 10-in. | approximately mid-1906 | The musical Yankee | Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8486 | 10-in. | 1906 | President Roosevelt's inaugural parade | Band (probably Leeds & Catlin house band) ; Len Spencer | Band and monologue | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8870 | 10-in. | approximately early 1907 | Meet me down at the corner | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8873 | 10-in. | approximately early 1907 | Herman and Minnie | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Descriptive scene, with orchestra | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 8874 | 10-in. | approximately early 1907 | Becky and Izzy | Ada Jones ; Len Spencer | Comic dialogue | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 5194 | 10-in. | between late 1903 and 1904 | The trolley car galop | Leeds Orchestra ; Len Spencer | Orchestra, with talk | speaker | |
Leeds & Catlin | 5197 | 10-in. | between late 1903 and 1904 | The Virginia skedaddle | Leeds Orchestra ; Len Spencer | Orchestra, with talk | speaker |
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
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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