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 601-625 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W150750 | 10-in. | 8/29/1930 | One more waltz | The Columbia Photo Players | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150798 | 10-in. | 9/12/1930 | Sea rapture | The Rollickers | Male vocal quartet, with violin and piano | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150799 | 10-in. | 9/12/1930 | The dawn brought me love and you | The Rollickers | Male vocal quartet, with violin and piano (takes 1-3); with piano (takes 4-6) | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150802 | 10-in. | 9/15/1930 | I am the words | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150803 | 10-in. | 9/15/1930 | (There's something about an) Old fashioned girl | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150844 | 10-in. | 9/29/1930 | Body and soul | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150845 | 10-in. | 9/29/1930 | Laughing at life | Ruth Etting | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150859 | 10-in. | 10/4/1930 | Loving you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150860 | 10-in. | 10/4/1930 | Just a little while | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | [W]150863 | 10-in. | 10/7/1930 | Body and soul | Annette Hanshaw | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | [W]150864 | 10-in. | 10/7/1930 | Wasting my love on you | Annette Hanshaw | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150900 | 10-in. | 10/24/1930 | My man from Caroline | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150901 | 10-in. | 10/24/1930 | Wedding bells are ringing for Sally (But not for Sally and me) | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150902 | 10-in. | 10/24/1930 | Still I love her | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150949 | 10-in. | 11/12/1930 | Waiting by the silv'ry Rio Grande | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble | leader | |
Columbia | W150950 | 10-in. | 11/12/1930 | I'm alone because I love you | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble | leader | |
Columbia | W150952 | 10-in. | 11/14/1930 | The song of the fool | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal ensemble | leader | |
Columbia | W150953 | 10-in. | 11/14/1930 | Crying myself to sleep! | The Knickerbockers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150954 | 10-in. | 11/14/1930 | Who's calling you sweetheart tonight? | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble | leader | |
Columbia | W150958 | 10-in. | 11/17/1930 | Morning, noon and night | Kate Smith | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150959 | 10-in. | 11/17/1930 | Held by the spell of the moon | Kate Smith | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150966 | 10-in. | 11/18/1930 | I got rhythm | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150967 | 10-in. | 11/18/1930 | Three little words | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | W150970 | 10-in. | 11/24/1930 | We're friends again | Mickie Alpert and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W150971 | 10-in. | 11/24/1930 | You're the one I care for | Mickie Alpert and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 November 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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