Avalon (Al Jolson song)
Encyclopedia
"Avalon" is a 1920 popular song written by Al Jolson
, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose
. It was introduced by Jolson and interpolated in the musicals Sinbad
and Bombo
. Jolson's recording rose to number two on the charts in 1921. The song was possibly written by Rose, but Jolson's popularity as a performer allowed him to claim composer co-credit. Originally, only Rose and Jolson were credited, and DeSylva's name was added later.
A popular jazz standard
, the song has been recorded by many artists, including Cab Calloway
(1934), Coleman Hawkins
(1935) and Eddie Durham
(1936). The Benny Goodman
Quartet played the song in their famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. The song was included in the biographical films The Jolson Story
(1946) and The Benny Goodman Story
(1956), and is also being noodled by Sam (Dooley Wilson
) at the piano right before he plays As Time Goes By
in the movie Casablanca
(1942).
The tune's opening melody resembles a part of Giacomo Puccini
's aria E lucevan le stelle
, from the opera Tosca
, but in the major key. Puccini's publishers sued the song's composers in 1921 for use of the melody, and were awarded $25,000 and all subsequent royalties of the song by the court.
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose
Vincent Rose
Vincent Rose was a musician and band leader.Vincent Rose has one of the longest histories as a band leader. He achieved much popularity with his Montmartre Orchestra in the 1920s, and recorded with the group for RCA...
. It was introduced by Jolson and interpolated in the musicals Sinbad
Sinbad (musical)
Sinbad is a Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Harold R. Atteridge and music by Sigmund Romberg, Al Jolson and others.Produced by Lee Shubert and J. J. Shubert, the Broadway production, staged by J. C. Huffman and J. J. Shubert, opened on February 14, 1918 at the Winter Garden Theatre,...
and Bombo
Bombo (musical)
Bombo is a Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Harold R. Atteridge and music by Sigmund Romberg.Produced by Lee Shubert and J. J. Shubert, the Broadway production, staged by J. C. Huffman, opened on October 6, 1921 at the Jolson Theatre, where it ran for 219 performances...
. Jolson's recording rose to number two on the charts in 1921. The song was possibly written by Rose, but Jolson's popularity as a performer allowed him to claim composer co-credit. Originally, only Rose and Jolson were credited, and DeSylva's name was added later.
A popular jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
, the song has been recorded by many artists, including Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
(1934), Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(1935) and Eddie Durham
Eddie Durham
Eddie Durham was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer and musical arranger of the swing music medium born in San Marcos, Texas, probably best known for his work with musicians like Cab Calloway, Willie Bryant, Andy Kirk, Glenn Miller, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, among others...
(1936). The Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
Quartet played the song in their famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. The song was included in the biographical films The Jolson Story
The Jolson Story
The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" , William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson.The...
(1946) and The Benny Goodman Story
The Benny Goodman Story
The Benny Goodman Story is a biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, directed by Valentine Davies and released by Universal Studios in 1956. The film is based on the life of famed clarinetist Benny Goodman, who recorded most of the clarinet solos used in the film...
(1956), and is also being noodled by Sam (Dooley Wilson
Dooley Wilson
Arthur "Dooley" Wilson was an American actor and singer. He was born in Tyler, Texas, and is remembered as piano-player "Sam" who sings "As Time Goes By" at the request of Ilsa Lund in the 1942 film, Casablanca - the Sam in the famously misremembered line "Play it again, Sam" -- a phrase which...
) at the piano right before he plays As Time Goes By
As Time Goes By (song)
"As Time Goes By" is a song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. It became most famous in 1942 when it was sung by the character Sam in the movie Casablanca. The song was voted #2 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs special, commemorating the best songs in film. It was used as a fanfare for Warner...
in the movie Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(1942).
The tune's opening melody resembles a part of Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's aria E lucevan le stelle
E lucevan le stelle
"E lucevan le stelle" is the romanza of Mario Cavaradossi , a painter in love with Tosca, in the third act of Puccini's opera Tosca, composed in 1900 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa...
, from the opera Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, but in the major key. Puccini's publishers sued the song's composers in 1921 for use of the melody, and were awarded $25,000 and all subsequent royalties of the song by the court.
Renditions
- Red NicholsRed NicholsErnest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
and His Five Pennies (25 February 1928 [or 27 February 1928, according to some sources]) - George Monkhouse and his Cambridge University Quinquaginta Ramblers (12 March 1930)
- Spike HughesSpike HughesPatrick "Spike" Cairns Hughes was a British jazz musician, composer and music journalist. He was the son of Irish composer, writer and song collector Herbert Hughes...
and his Dance Orchestra (23 May 1930) - Joel Shaw and his Orchestra (August 1932)
- Billy CottonBilly CottonWilliam Edward Cotton , better known as Billy Cotton, was a British band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s...
and his Band (21 July 1933) - Casa Loma OrchestraCasa Loma OrchestraThe Casa Loma Orchestra was a popular American dance band active from 1927 to 1963. From 1929 until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands...
(16 August 1934) - Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
and his Orchestra (4 September 1934) - Scott Wood and his Six Swingers (18 December 1934; 1 September 1936)
- Joe Venuti and his Orchestra (26 December 1934)
- KXYZ Novelty Band (29 January 1935)
- Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(2 March 1935) - Quintette of the Hot Club of France (July 1935)
- Jimmie LuncefordJimmie LuncefordJames Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
and his Orchestra (30 September 1935) - Harry RoyHarry RoyHarry Roy was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s until the 1960s.-Life and career:...
and his Orchestra (8 November 1935) - Val RosingVal RosingVal Rosing was the British "Dance Hall" singer best known as the vocalist with the BBC Henry Hall Orchestra. Born as Valerian Rosing, he was the son of Russian tenor and opera director, Vladimir Rosing and English singer Marie Falle...
and his Swing Stars (18 November 1935) - Ballyhooligans (7 July 1936)
- Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
Quartet (29 June 1937; 28 September 1937; 16 January 1938) - Joe DanielsJoe Daniels (jazz drummer)Joe Daniels , born in Zeerust South Africa, was a British drummer and performer whose career began in the early 1920s. Daniels played with Sid Roy , and formed his own band with Max Goldberg...
and his Hotshots (28 September 1937) - Alix CombelleAlix CombelleAlix Combelle was a French swing jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader, born in and performing in Paris for most of his life. He was well known on the Continental Jazz scene of Europe, active mostly in the 1930s and 1940s...
et son Orchestre (4 October 1937) - Harry JamesHarry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
and his Orchestra (13 July 1939; 8 November 1939) - Willie LewisWillie LewisWillie Lewis is a rockabilly recording artist and founder of The Rock-A-Billy Record Company, a record label based in Denver, Colorado. He started the label in order to release rare and authentic rockabilly recordings, most of which were pressed on colored vinyl between 1982 and 1998...
and his Negro Band (27 June 1941)
External links
- The lyrics of the song on Wikisource
- Sheet Music for "Avalon", 1920