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 751-775 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W152331 | 10-in. | 12/16/1932 | You're getting to be a habit with me | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | leader | |
Columbia | W152332 | 10-in. | 12/16/1932 | Young and healthy | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152333 | 10-in. | 12/16/1932 | A white house of our own | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Elmer Feldkamp | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152334 | 10-in. | 12/16/1932 | Street of dreams | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Larry Murphy | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152430 | 10-in. | 7/5/1933 | Moonstruck | Irene Collins ; Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | leader | |
Columbia | W152431 | 10-in. | 7/5/1933 | Reflections in the water | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152432 | 10-in. | 7/5/1933 | Morning, noon and night | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Jack Miller | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152433 | 10-in. | 7/5/1933 | Learn to croon | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152473 | 10-in. | 8/24/1933 | Sweetheart of sweet sixteen | Joe Morrison | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152474 | 10-in. | 8/24/1933 | Love is the sweetest thing | Joe Morrison | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152491 | 10-in. | 9/8/1933 | Be careful | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Columbia | W152492 | 10-in. | 9/8/1933 | Gather lip rouge while you may | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader | |
Columbia | W152498 | 10-in. | 9/15/1933 | The waltz is on | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152499 | 10-in. | 9/15/1933 | Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? | Ethel Shutta | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152500 | 10-in. | 9/15/1933 | Snowball | Ethel Shutta | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152501 | 10-in. | 9/15/1933 | If I had somebody to love | The Cavaliers | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152521 | 10-in. | 10/10/1933 | Heat wave | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152522 | 10-in. | 10/10/1933 | Harlem on my mind | Ethel Waters | Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | W152539 | 10-in. | 10/27/1933 | Puddin' Head Jones | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152540 | 10-in. | 10/27/1933 | Build a little home | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Irene Collins ; Fran Frey | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | leader | |
Columbia | W152541 | 10-in. | 10/27/1933 | My dancing lady | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152542 | 10-in. | 10/27/1933 | Sittin' on a log (Pettin' my dog) | Fran Frey and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152765 | 10-in. | 6/28/1934 | Rollin' home | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Howard Phillips | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152766 | 10-in. | 6/28/1934 | I only have eyes for you | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Howard Phillips | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W152767 | 10-in. | 6/28/1934 | The prize waltz | Ben Selvin and his Orchestra ; Howard Phillips | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed October 5, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 5, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 5 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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