LEN SPENCER
Photo: Len Spencer.
Len Spencer (February 12, 1867-December 15, 1914) was one of the earliest American recording artists. He recorded a great number of popular songs in the pre-1920s. His biggest hit was “Arkansas Traveler”. Some of his most popular recordings include: “The Old Folks at Home”, 1892, “Little Alabama Coon” 1895, and “A Hot Time in the Old Town”, 1897.
Other great female Jazz singers of the era, and America’s earliest recording artists…
Photos
from L to R: 1-Annette Hanshaw (Oct.18, 1901-Mar.13, 1985). She
recorded under various pseudonyms such
as Patsy Young, Dot Dare, and Gay Ellis. In 1929, she married
Herman "Wally" Rose, Pathe Records executive.
In 1932, she starred in “Captain
Henry’s Maxwell House Show Boat” on NBC radio, considered by many
entertainment historians as the biggest radio production of the era.
She was the main rival of the legendary
Ruth Etting
in the late 1920's until mid-1930's.
2-Ethel Waters
(Oct. 13, 1896–Sept. 2, 1977), billed
as “Sweet Mama Stringbean” was de facto the first black superstar. In 1933,
when Irving Berlin heard her sing “Stormy Weather” at the Cotton
Club, he signed her on the spot for his “As Thousands Cheer”,
starring Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller. She opened all
the theatrical doors then closed to black performers of the era. She
strongly influenced Ella Fitzgerald, Mildred Bailey, Ivie Anderson, Bing
Crosby, Lee Wiley, and Connie Boswell. She sang from a low E
to high F. In her big hit"Memories of You" she reached a high F sharp. In
1929, Waters made her film debut in the new talking films, singing
“Birmingham Bertha” and “Am I Blue?” 3-Bessie Smith (1895-1937).
4-The Brox Sisters, America’s first singing sisters group, circa
1923.
Photo:
Marion Harris in 1917.
Before the Boswell Sisters and the Andrews Sisters, were the Brox Sisters, one of the first sister recording acts in America. Stars of Broadway’s Ziegfeld Follies, the Brox Sisters are completely forgotten and totally unknown today. Unquestionably, they were America’s premiere sister singing group of the 1920s.
Marion Harris. (1896-April 23, 1944). She began her recording career in 1916 with a hit “I Ain’t Got Nobody Much” on Victor Records. Harris became popular when she recorded “It Had To Be You” (1924), “Tea For Two” (1924), “I'll See You In My Dreams” (1925) and “The Man I Love” (1927). She has to her credits 130 recorded songs. She was discovered by Vernon Castle, the mentor and original dance teacher of Fred Astaire. Marion Harris married actor Robert Williams (1897-1931) who starred opposite of Loretta Young and Jean Harlow in “Platinum Blonde.” In 1923, and after divorcing Williams, she married Rush Bissell Hughes, son of playwright Rupert Hughes, uncle of Howard Hughes. A 1927 huge scandal involving a sixteen-year-old chorus girl Adele Smith and Rush Hughes ended the marriage on January 5, 1928.Continues Next