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Song Car-Tunes
'' Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes'', ''Song Car-Tunes'', or (as some sources erroneously say) ''Sound Car-Tunes'', is a series of short three-minute animated films produced by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer between May 1924 and September 1927, pioneering the use of the " Follow the Bouncing Ball" device used to lead audiences in theater sing-alongs. The ''Song Car-Tunes'' also pioneered the application of sound film to animation. History 47 ''Song Car-tunes'' were produced and released between 1924 and 1927. The first, ''Come Take a Trip on My Airship'', was released on March 9, 1924. Beginning in 1925, an estimated 16 ''Song Car-tunes'' were produced using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process developed by Lee DeForest. The remaining 31 titles were released silent, designed to be played with live music in theaters. The Fleischer brothers partnered with DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film organizations may use different definitions, however; the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, for example, currently defines a short film as 45 minutes or less in the case of documentaries, and 59 minutes or less in the case of scripted narrative films (it is not made clear whether this includes closing credits). In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from the 1920s into the 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for a film of three or four reels. "Short" was an abbreviation for either term. The increasingly rare industry term "short subject" carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short films are often s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Black Joe
"Old Black Joe" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1860. Ken Emerson, author of the book ''Doo-Dah!'' (1998), indicates that Foster's fictional Joe was inspired by a servant in the home of Foster's father-in-law, Dr. McDowell of Pittsburgh. The song is not written in dialect. Emerson believes that the song's "soft melancholy" and its "elusive undertone" (rather than anything musical), brings the song closest to traditional African-American spirituals. Harold Vincent Milligan describes the song as "one of the best of the Ethiopian ontemporary parlance for blackface minstrel songssongs ... its mood is one of gentle melancholy, of sorrow without bitterness. There is a wistful tenderness in the music." Jim Kweskin covered the song on his 1971 album ''Jim Kweskin's America''. The song has sometimes been recorded as "Poor Old Joe", including by Paul Robeson who recorded it several times, for example in 1928 and 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and education Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1916. On November 27, 1921, his band began broadcasting on the new medium of entertainment radio; the band's weekly 90-minute show on the Newark, New Jersey, station WJZ boosted the popularity of both himself and of radio. He became one of North America's most popular bandleaders, and would retain that status through the 1940s. Career He began his radio programs by announcing "Hello everybody, Lopez speaking!" His theme song was "Nola", Felix Arndt's novelty ragtime piece of 1915, and Lopez became so identified with it that he occasionally satirized it. (His 1939 movie short for Vitaphone, ''Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra'', features the entir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Denny
Jack Denny (September 25, 1895 – September 15, 1950) was an American dance band leader during the pre-World War II years. He was born in the United States and started his musical career in Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ..., Quebec in 1920. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Denny led dance bands with a conventionally styled orchestra during the 1920s, playing at various venues, including the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Canada. In 1931, he relocated to New York City, where he played at the newly opened Waldorf-Astoria Hotel the following year. Denny's band quickly gained popularity among the high society clientele of the Waldorf-Astoria, prompting him to develop a sweet and marvelous sound that had no brass section. His arrangements were often complex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal Kemp
James Hal Kemp (March 27, 1904 – December 21, 1940) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Biography Hal Kemp was born in Marion, Alabama. He formed his first band in high school, and by the age of 19 led a University of North Carolina band, the Carolina Club Orchestra. They sailed to England, where they made their first recordings in London, and on their return journey made the acquaintance of the Prince of Wales, who performed with them. As a result, the band was mentioned in US press reports, and on their return received several offers of contracts. In 1927, Kemp formed his own orchestra, which at various times featured Skinnay Ennis, Bunny Berigan, and John Scott Trotter, and the band became a popular jazz orchestra in the late 1920s. Biog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gus Arnheim
Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being " I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He also had a few small acting roles. Career Arnheim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. In 1919, three men who all would become famous band leaders played together at the Sunset Inn in Santa Monica, California. Arnheim played piano, Abe Lyman played the drums, and Henry Halstead played violin. Arnheim grew up in Chicago and at one point was accompanist to vaudevillian Sophie Tucker. When Lyman organized a full dance orchestra, Arnheim came along as pianist, leaving to start his own group in 1927. Arnheim's orchestra made at least three film short subjects for Warner Brothers' Vitaphone Corporation in 1928–29. Arnheim first recorded for OKeh in 1928–1929, when he signed with Victor in 1929 and stayed through 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shep Fields
Shep Fields (born Saul Feldman, September 12, 1910 – February 23, 1981) was an American bandleader who led the Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm orchestra during the 1930s. His distinctive Rippling Rhythm sound was featured on big band remote broadcasts from historic hotels nationwide and remained popular with audiences from the 1930s into the early 1960s. Biography Early life Shep Fields was born Saul Feldman in Brooklyn, New York, on September 12, 1910, and his mother's maiden name was Sowalski. His brother, Edward Fields, was a carpet manufacturer, and his younger brother, Freddie Fields, was a respected theatrical agent and film producer who helped to establish Creative Management Associates in 1960. Their father died at 39. Fields began his musical career by playing clarinet and tenor saxophone in bands during college. His "Shep Fields Jazz Orchestra" made frequent appearances at his father's resort hotel, the Queen Mountain House in the Catskill Mountains, which f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman (born Abraham Simon; August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including '' Your Hit Parade''. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 4, 1897, to an Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant family, Lyman's name at birth was Abraham Simon. He and his brother, Mike, changed their last name to Lyman because they both thought it sounded better. Abe learned to play the drums when he was young, and at the age of 14 he had a job as a drummer in a Chicago café. Around 1919, he was regularly playing music with two other notable future big band leaders, Henry Halstead and Gus Arnheim, in California. In Los Angeles Mike Lyman opened the Sunset, a night club popular with such film stars as Mary Pickford, Norma Talmadge, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. When Abe's nine-piece band first played at the Sunset, it was a success, but the club cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Bands
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing the Lindy Hop. In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave a greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Instruments Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, drums and sometimes vibraphone or other percussion. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boswell Sisters
The Boswell Sisters were an American close harmony singing trio of the jazz and swing eras, consisting of three sisters: Martha Boswell (June 9, 1905 – July 2, 1958), Connie Boswell (later spelled "Connee", December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976), and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell (May 20, 1911 – November 12, 1988). Hailing from uptown New Orleans, the group blended intricate harmonies and song arrangements featuring effects such as scat, instrumental imitation, ‘Boswellese’ gibberish, tempo and meter changes, major/minor juxtaposition, key changes, and incorporation of sections from other songs. They attained national prominence in the United States in the 1930s during the twilight of the Jazz Age and the onset of the Great Depression. After the trio split in 1936, Connie continued as a solo vocalist in radio, film, and later television for an additional quarter century. The trio's "unique singing style and ground-breaking arrangements fused 'blackness' and 'whiteness' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records. The Mills Brothers were the first black artists to have their own show on national network radio (on CBS in 1930); they made appearances in film; and were the first to have a No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' singles chart, with " Paper Doll" in 1943. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Early years The Mills Brothers were born into a family of nine in Piqua, Ohio, United States. The quartet consisted of Donald (lead tenor vocals, April 29, 1915 – November 13, 1999), Herbert (tenor vocals, April 2, 1912 – April 12, 1989), Harry (baritone vocals, August 9, 1913 – June 28, 1982), and John Jr. ( tenor guitar, double bass, bass vocals; October 19, 1910 – January 23 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lillian Roth
Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 – May 12, 1980) was an American singer and actress. Her life story was told in the 1955 film ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. Early life Roth was born on December 13, 1910, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Katie (née Silverman) and Arthur Rutstein, who were both Jewish.Stark, Bonnie Rothbart (2009)"Lillian Roth, 1910–1980" ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved September 6, 2018. At the age of six, Roth was taken by her mother to Educational Pictures, where she became the company's trademark, symbolized by a living statue holding a lamp of knowledge. In her 1954 autobiography ''I'll Cry Tomorrow (book), I'll Cry Tomorrow'', Roth alleged that she had been molested by the man who had painted her as a statue. She attended the Professional Children's School in New York City with classma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
