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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 1001-1016 of 1016 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Brunswick 789W-791W 10-in. 5/13/1925 Charleston Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 879W-881W 10-in. 6/19/1925 I'm tired of everything but you Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 882W-884W 10-in. 6/19/1925 Desert isle Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1042W-1044W 10-in. 8/6/1925 Sonya (Yup alay yup!) Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1045W-1047W 10-in. 8/6/1925 Mamie Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1136W-1138W 10-in. 8/12/1925 Breezin' along (To Georgia) Selvin's Novelty Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1139W-1141W 10-in. 8/12/1925 Let's wander away Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1266W-1269W 10-in. 8/31/1925 Brown eyes, why are you blue? Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader, instrumentalist, violin  
Brunswick 1270W-1272W 10-in. 8/31/1925 The kinky kids' parade Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist  
Brunswick 1273W-1275W 10-in. 9/1/1925 Charlestonette Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1276W-1278W 10-in. 9/1/1925 Ya! Ya! Alma! Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader, vocalist  
Brunswick 1340W-1342W 10-in. 9/15/1925 You told me to go Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Brunswick 1343W-1346W 10-in. 9/15/1925 Oh lovey, be mine Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo leader, vocalist  
Edison 9547 10-in. 6/3/1924 Love is just a gamble (Take another chance) Arthur Hall ; Nathan Glantz Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Vocalion 14047-14049 10-in. 12/11/1924 Oh Mabel! Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
Vocalion 14050-14053 10-in. 12/11/1924 No wonder Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band leader  
(Results 1001-1016 of 1016 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Selvin, Ben," accessed April 18, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

Selvin, Ben. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 18, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111064.

"Selvin, Ben." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 18 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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