Alfred Aloysous Bernard (November 23, 1888 – March 6, 1949) was an American
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
singer, known as "The Boy From
Dixie", who was most popular during the 1910s through early 1930s.
Life
Born in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, he became a
blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
singer in
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
s before starting his recording career around 1916. He was one of the first white singers to record
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
songs.
W. C. Handy credited Bernard with helping his own career by recording a number of his songs, notably "
St. Louis Blues". Bernard recorded the song for nine different record labels, the most successful being what Handy called ''"the sensational
Victor recording in which he sang with the
Dixieland Jazz Band"''.
From 1919, he recorded solo for
Okeh Records. His songs included one called "Shake, Rattle and Roll", about a
dice game, which was wholly unrelated, except in title, to the later
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
song. Bernard was sometimes billed as "The Singing Comedian", and was the first American singer to record the song "
Frankie and Johnny" in America.
[Tim Gracyk, ''American Recording Pioneers 1895-1925'', 2000] (The first known recording was made by
Gene Greene and
Charley Straight in London.) He also recorded duets with
Ernest Hare, in which Bernard took the female singing part, including his biggest hit, "I Want To Hold You In My Arms". He recorded with songwriter
J. Russel Robinson as "The Dixie Stars" and, with Robinson, wrote the
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...
feature "Sam Jones Blues". He also co-wrote songs with
Jimmy Durante.
Later, he recorded with
Vernon Dalhart. In 1925, inspired by Dalhart, he began recording hillbilly songs. His 1930 version of "
Hesitation Blues", recorded with the Goofus Five, is considered to predict the
western swing style, with an intriguing combination of country and western and Chicago blues feels. Bernard continued to record into the 1940s.
He died on March 6, 1949, in
Manhattan, New York.
References
External links
Al Bernard recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Al
American vaudeville performers
Blackface minstrel performers
Okeh Records artists
Vocalion Records artists
1888 births
1949 deaths
Singers from New Orleans
Pioneer recording artists
Edison Records artists
Emerson Records artists
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
Columbia Records artists