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 826-850 of 1016 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | W351101 | 10-in. | 9/9/1931 | Blue Kentucky moon | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351102 | 10-in. | 9/17/1931 | Can't you see (How I love you?) | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351103 | 10-in. | 9/17/1931 | Kiss me goodnight, not goodbye | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351104 | 10-in. | 9/22/1931 | Was it wrong? | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351105 | 10-in. | 9/22/1931 | When it's sleepy time down South | Phil Hughes and his High Hatters [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351106 | 10-in. | 10/2/1931 | Goodnight sweetheart | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351107 | 10-in. | 10/2/1931 | Waitin' for a call from you | Roy Carroll and his Sands Point Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351108 | 10-in. | 10/8/1931 | It's the darndest thing | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W351109 | 10-in. | 10/8/1931 | Who am I? | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W351110 | 10-in. | 10/8/1931 | Call me darling | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W351111 | 10-in. | 10/8/1931 | Little Mary Brown | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio | leader | |
Columbia | W351112 | 10-in. | 10/13/1931 | Time on my hands (You in my arms) | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351113 | 10-in. | 10/13/1931 | Charlie cadet | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | leader | |
Columbia | W351114 | 10-in. | 10/16/1931 | A faded summer love | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351115 | 10-in. | 10/21/1931 | Lucille | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351116 | 10-in. | 10/22/1931 | It's love | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351118 | 10-in. | 10/22/1931 | I'm for you a hundred per cent | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351119 | 10-in. | 10/22/1931 | Lies | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351121 | 10-in. | 11/2/1931 | You try somebody else | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal chorus | leader | |
Columbia | W351122 | 10-in. | 11/2/1931 | Tell me with a love song | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351127 | 10-in. | 11/10/1931 | In a dream | D'Orsay Dance Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351128 | 10-in. | 11/10/1931 | Where the blue of the night meets the gold of the day | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351131 | 10-in. | 11/16/1931 | When I wore my daddy's brown derby | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351132 | 10-in. | 11/16/1931 | You were my salvation | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | W351133 | 10-in. | 11/16/1931 | Home | Selvin’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed November 24, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 24, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.
"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 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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