Ben Selvin
Benjamin Bernard Selvin (March 5, 1898 – July 15, 1980) was an American musician, bandleader, and record producer. He was known as the Dean of Recorded Music. Selvin was born in New York City, United States, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants. He started his professional life at age 15 as a fiddle player in New York City night clubs. Six years later, as leader of his own dance band, the Novelty Orchestra, he released what was later alleged to be the biggest-selling popular song in the first quarter-century of recorded music. "Dardanella" allegedly sold more than six million copies and an additional million pieces of sheet music—although in a joint interview with Gustave Haenschen, founding director of popular-music releases at Brunswick Records, Selvin described the alleged record-sales total as “nonsensical” and said the actual sales of “Dardanella” and other purported “million-sellers” in the 1920s was 150,000 discs. He was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that was presented to Selvin on his retirement on March 14, 1963. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Selvin recorded more musical sides (on 78-rpm discs) than any other person. One reason for this prolific output is that he recorded for dozens of different record labels during this productive time in the industry, using a different name for each label. His output has been estimated at 13,000 to 20,000 song titles. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 5, 1898 (New York City), Died July 15, 1980 (Manhasset)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1919 - 1942
Roles Represented in DAHR: leader, violin, vocalist, songwriter, composer, lyricist, arranger
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 576-600 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W150661 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | Good evenin' | Art Gillham | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150662 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | Confessin' (That I love you) | Art Gillham | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150665 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | My heart belongs to the girl who belongs to somebody else | Art Gillham | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150666 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | I'm drifting back to dreamland | Art Gillham | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150673 | 10-in. | 7/25/1930 | Moonlight on the Colorado | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W150674 | 10-in. | 7/25/1930 | Somewhere in old Wyoming | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble | leader | |
Columbia | W150675 | 10-in. | 7/25/1930 | I still get a thrill (Thinking of you) | Blue Grass Boys ; Lee Morse | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150676 | 10-in. | 7/25/1930 | So beats my heart for you | Blue Grass Boys ; Lee Morse | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | [W]150717 | 10-in. | 8/19/1930 | Don't tell her what's happened to me | Sammy Fain | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150718 | 10-in. | 8/19/1930 | I'd rather mean a little to you | Sammy Fain | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150719 | 10-in. | 8/19/1930 | I'm in love with all the world | Sammy Fain | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150720 | 10-in. | 8/20/1930 | When I look to the west (I think of you) | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150721 | 10-in. | 8/20/1930 | When the organ played at twilight | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150723 | 10-in. | 8/22/1930 | I'm yours | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150724 | 10-in. | 8/22/1930 | Dixiana | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150740 | 10-in. | 8/27/1930 | Don't tell her what's happened to me | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150741 | 10-in. | 8/27/1930 | The kiss waltz | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150742 | 10-in. | 8/27/1930 | I'm yours | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150743 | 10-in. | 8/28/1930 | Just a little closer | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150744 | 10-in. | 8/28/1930 | I'll be blue, just thinking of you | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150745 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | Tomorrow is another day | Irving Kaufman | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150746 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | This side of paradise | Irving Kaufman | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150747 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | You're lucky to me | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150748 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | Memories of you | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W150749 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | I'm learning a lot from you | The Columbia Photo Players | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed October 28, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 October 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Selvin, Ben, 1898-1980 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no98080176
Wikidata: Ben Selvin - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q304517
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/54338200
MusicBrainz: Ben Selvin - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/84733717-7fa8-43da-a6aa-259fa1f36eb0
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