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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 576-600 of 1016 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia W150661 10-in. 7/24/1930 Good evenin' Art Gillham Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150662 10-in. 7/24/1930 Confessin' (That I love you) Art Gillham Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150665 10-in. 7/24/1930 My heart belongs to the girl who belongs to somebody else Art Gillham Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150666 10-in. 7/24/1930 I'm drifting back to dreamland Art Gillham Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150673 10-in. 7/25/1930 Moonlight on the Colorado Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet leader  
Columbia W150674 10-in. 7/25/1930 Somewhere in old Wyoming Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble leader  
Columbia W150675 10-in. 7/25/1930 I still get a thrill (Thinking of you) Blue Grass Boys ; Lee Morse Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150676 10-in. 7/25/1930 So beats my heart for you Blue Grass Boys ; Lee Morse Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia [W]150717 10-in. 8/19/1930 Don't tell her what's happened to me Sammy Fain Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150718 10-in. 8/19/1930 I'd rather mean a little to you Sammy Fain Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150719 10-in. 8/19/1930 I'm in love with all the world Sammy Fain Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band instrumentalist, violin  
Columbia W150720 10-in. 8/20/1930 When I look to the west (I think of you) The Cavaliers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W150721 10-in. 8/20/1930 When the organ played at twilight The Cavaliers Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W150723 10-in. 8/22/1930 I'm yours Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W150724 10-in. 8/22/1930 Dixiana Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
Columbia W150740 10-in. 8/27/1930 Don't tell her what's happened to me Ruth Etting Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150741 10-in. 8/27/1930 The kiss waltz Ruth Etting Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150742 10-in. 8/27/1930 I'm yours Ruth Etting Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150743 10-in. 8/28/1930 Just a little closer Ruth Etting Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150744 10-in. 8/28/1930 I'll be blue, just thinking of you Ruth Etting Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150745 10-in. 8/29/1930 Tomorrow is another day Irving Kaufman Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150746 10-in. 8/29/1930 This side of paradise Irving Kaufman Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150747 10-in. 8/29/1930 You're lucky to me Ethel Waters Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150748 10-in. 8/29/1930 Memories of you Ethel Waters Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band leader  
Columbia W150749 10-in. 8/29/1930 I'm learning a lot from you The Columbia Photo Players Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader  
(Results 576-600 of 1016 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed June 11, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved June 11, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 11 June 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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