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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 301-325 of 1016 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 146929 10-in. 8/29/1928 Grieving Chuck Campbell and his Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Marvin Young [Irving Kaufman] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W146936 10-in. 8/31/1928 Lady whippoorwill Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio leader  
Columbia W146937 10-in. 8/31/1928 Right out of heaven Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal trio leader  
Columbia W146938 10-in. 8/31/1928 Flower of love The Knickerbockers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W146939 10-in. 8/31/1928 Masquerade The Knickerbockers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W146940 10-in. 8/31/1928 Carmen Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 146953 10-in. 9/5/1928 Roses of yesterday Barney Trimble and his Oklahomans [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 146956 10-in. 9/5/1928 Beggars of life Bar Harbor Society Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Irving Kaufman Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 146957 10-in. 9/5/1928 Twelve o'clock waltz Bar Harbor Society Orchestra [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Irving Kaufman Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 147003 10-in. 9/15/1928 I'm sorry, Sally The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Tommy Weir Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 147004 10-in. 9/15/1928 Woman disputed (I love you) The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Tommy Weir Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia [W]147007 10-in. 9/18/1928 Jeannine I dream of lilac time Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio ; Danny Meyers Instrumental trio, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W147008 10-in. 9/18/1928 One, two, three, four Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio ; Danny Meyers Instrumental trio, with male vocal solo instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W147035 10-in. 9/25/1928 (Out of the) Tempest Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147036 10-in. 9/25/1928 Someday, somewhere (We'll meet again) Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147043 10-in. 10/8/1928 Happy days and lonely nights The Knickerbockers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147044 10-in. 10/8/1928 Doin' the raccoon The Knickerbockers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147045 10-in. 10/16/1928 When summer is gone The Columbians [Selvin's Orchestra] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147046 10-in. 10/16/1928 I wanna be loved by you Broadway Nitelites ; Vaughn De Leath Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147047 10-in. 10/16/1928 When summer is gone Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W147048 10-in. 10/17/1928 I'm sorry, Sally Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W147049 10-in. 10/17/1928 I'm sorry, Sally Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W147050 10-in. 10/17/1928 There's a rainbow 'round my shoulder Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 147068 10-in. 9/26/1928 There's a rainbow 'round my shoulder The Harmonians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Irving Kaufman Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia 147069 10-in. 9/26/1928 Some little someone Jerry Mason and his Californians [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Marvin Young [Irving Kaufman] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
(Results 301-325 of 1016 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed April 29, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 29 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064

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