Al Jolson Baby Face

[Spiewak06]

I would venture to say that every entertainer that has come after the Man himself owes him a great debt. This man was a rock star before there were rock stars. He was not the king of pop or of rock, but of Entertainment in general. It's a damn shame we may never see another like him.

[oldgirl6]

I wish I could go back in time and see him live. PS the black face comes from the Stephen Foster productions of old spirituals in the 1850's and it carried on to the vaudeville years. Yet... Jolie was the best

[darceynicholls1]

Amazing <3

[beatngo710]

He has such an amazing voice!

[dexyshotspur]

aaahhhh you little choochy baby face! :-)))

[FredDude27]

Hard to believe he past away only 2 years after this performance.

[lrh1966]

I remember hearing this song sang by the little girl "Darla" on "The Little Rascals". It has been many years since I saw reruns of it, and I might be off on her name?...Friends, Lloyd.

[BarbershopTopHat]

IT'S GEORGE NELSON!!!!!

[JeffsGreats]

@BarbershopTopHat Who's George Nelson? or is that an inside joke?

[BarbershopTopHat]

@JeffsGreats I'm referencing George "Baby Face" Nelson from O Brother Where Art Thou. He hated being called Baby Face so he would yell at people and say " IT'S GEORGE NELSON!! NOT BABY FACE!!". Its kind of a random joke, but the title reminded me of it.

[wendyverdades]

He is such a baby face. such an artist

[terryclary]

Magic....... Terry

[wattever333]

reminds me of louis prima

[dolittle1949]

I still watch these movies..In fact I bought the DVD from turner classic movies ..The Jolson story went to my sons and we watched it together as he has since he was 10.

I watched it with my granma when I was 6 and have been hooked on Al Jolsen since..I love the Jolson story with Larry Parks and now I ordered Jolson sings again..Never gets old have both on VCR but My VCR died....love this music .Wasn;t even born when these movies came out..My Son will have his kids watch these also...priceless

[oldgirl6]

Jolie was god!

[BigBagsForRent]

lol This guy is hilarious.

[Kaffyboy]

I visited Al Jolson's grave at Hillside Memorial in Hollywood a couple of years back and it is, to say the least, VERY impressive! There is a bronze statue of Jolie, his crypt is below a columned memorial with a huge water fall feature. Beautiful!

[ugha323a]

@StellarXplorer

He LOVED the audience

[1800HART]

where was this performance? he died a few years later ..

[grandslam1998]

I have a thousand songs, but just one for you! AL Jolson

[InsertName125]

You ain't seen nothin' yet!

[windowsy39]

@InsertName125 He said "You ain't heard nothin yet, (not seen)

[666HELLGUITAR]

This is actually Dean Martin's voice

[dwctek]

@666HELLGUITAR

THAT IS NOT DEAN MARTIN'S VOICE. THAT IS THE VOICE OF AL JOLSON

[u1n2s3u4n5g6]

Thank you Jolie

[nedarc]

I love the adoration of the music and memory of Jolson. I had no idea that so many YOUNG people were into this. It gives me great hope for the future of America. You know that Jolson was born in Russia and was Jewish and became an American idol. It is still true today.....That anyone with the heart and spirit can make it in this Blessed Country of Ours !

[windowsy39]

@nedarc You're right about young people being into Jolson. My youngest daughter is 33 years old, when she was 10, I rented The Jolson Story & Jolson Sings Again. She fell in love with the music, and Scotty Beckett lol and she knows the words to every song in both movies and I have always loved Jolson, and Larry Parks.lol I learned from my parents a long time ago, "children learn what they live" if you introduce them to good music, they'll love good music. We both have copies of both movies.

[XbigbearXful]

acer yolsen!!!!

[windowsy39]

@XbigbearXful His name is Asa Yolson, then changed it to Al Jolson

[Lampshade51]

From what I understand, Jolson wanted to play himself in the sequel ("Jolson Sings Again"). So to appease him, Harry Cohen of Columbia had a screen test shot in late 1948. Even during the shooting Jolson seems to know that it isn't going to work.  He was paunchy and balding. Jolson reportedly saw the test film and that was the end of his campaign to play himself. Interestingly, about a year later he entered into a contract with CBS for television, but died before the first show.

[ensconse]

Jolson Sings Again should have starred the real deal - what a silly mistake.

[DelusionalMonkeys]

@ensconse I agree! That would have been so cool. When I saw "Jolson Sings Again" as a little kid, it was surreal when Al meet Al... But what a great movie anyway.

[windowsy39]

@DelusionalMonkeys They both were great movies, but sorry, I have to disagree with you, if he would have played himself, he would have made a fool of himself. Cute Story from Larry Parks book, From "Blackface to Blacklist." Little girl with her parents at a hollywood affair, Jolson was there, she was introduced to him and like they say, "Out of the mouths of babes" She said, Gee, Mr. Jolson, you were much better looking in the two movies. Larry Parks was absolutely marvelous, sound familier?

[ugha323a]

@windowsy39 He was too old to play himself.

[DelusionalMonkeys]

@windowsy39 I do beleive that I have to think that you are right about that.

Larry is so great in both films.

Very very too bad he was 'Blacklisted' I'd a`love'd to see what he would have done in the 50's & 60's in some movies.

He's a great underrated actor.

[windowsy39]

@ensconse No offense to Jolie, and may in rest in peace, but had he played imself in either 'The Jolson Story" or "Jolson Sings Again" his career never would have blossomed again. Sure it was his voice that we heard, and watched Larry do a fantastic job in lip syncing the words, and his mannerisms that Larry studied for months before shooting the movie, but it was LARRY PARKS, let him rest in peace that made both movies work, the only problem was that Jolie was too damm conceited to believe it.

[schwibert]

Glad people still watch this guy...Al jolson that is..

[Dragoon201]

pretty good for 40s music

[hexy1971]

Al Jolson is great i remember being 5 and my day blacking his face with shoe polish and singing Al Jolson to me all night long i have been hooked ever since That was the men were men and ladies were ladies and treated as so i was born in wrong century Thanks AL Jolson for making my youth so memorable and keeping it with me through the years!

[JeffsGreats]

i could have sworn it was baby face?!

[anglerfly]

The name of the song is four lefe clover

[TheSaidEric]

THE MAN !!

[iacob2426]

....Great ! Thanks a lot.

[ahichiz]

hey ShaneKarma376 that's the best yet w/Jolson & amongst the best all-time ever!!!...may i ask yr permission to appropriate it for further use?..lololHHAA!!

[ShaneKarma376]

@ahichiz Hahahaha glad you like it my friend .

[ShaneKarma376]

Al Jolson doesn't perform in black face, black people perform in Al Jolson face haha.

[israelbakon]

great

[tuxguys]

Was this early television? Priceless.

[millsbrothers]

no, it was for larry parks to practice from

[tuxguys]

That explains why he just walks off, even before the "band" has finished the final chord.

Great stuff.

[298625]

Love you, Jolie. And the best part of Youtube is reading enthusiastic responses from other Jolson lovers. We are legion.

[babyfacemichael]

Fifty nine years to the day after his death there is still NO ONE to touch the great Al Jolson!

[SJA1949]

Always glad to see/hear Al Jolson. Thanks for sharing this cause it's my favorite version of that song.

[friscolobo]

Jolson is still exciting.

[tomhamilton8]

lovely song

[dimmer505]

Just came accross the vid by accident.

FFFFFANTASTIC. Thanks for posting. A great man and an even greater performer. Please keep the vids comeing.

[ikevyoiPhone3G1996]

Great Video, iam 13 and I'm a big fan of Al Jolson sadly today people hardly know who Al Jolson

[UnknownPenguin1000]

I agree with that. This when music was music!!

[babyfacemichael]

Like other people commenting on this clip I also first discovered Al when I was sixteen years old and now at forty three I am still as much in awe at that voice as ever. Take note at the end of the song just how miserable Al looks when he stops singing - it seems as though he really did just live to sing!

[LucMoustache]

Baby Face its my most favorie from Al Jolson

[joehancock01]

hes got comedy how he dan..look at his face expressions lol

[gnativerson]

beautiful rich low notes !

[charlotte13c]

hah actually you may not of realised but teens to listen to jolson i'm 13 and my whole life i have listened to him and i think he is a legend. i have seen jolson story aswell in the first one were he had made the run way and he dancing down it they do it from far away cause it is actually al jolson dancing because no body could dance anything like the real al jolson but omg Larry Park did such a good job of al jolsons life i must admit

[298625]

How great that there are teens who love Jolie. I also discovered him at 13 when everyone else was listening to Elvis. Jolie is the real king.

[2emeraldeyes]

It's so funny how most people don't think younger people love the old stuff, everyone loves classic stuff and if they don't like it, they have NO taste!

[guyinva001]

He did this with one lung WOW!!

[ORIOLES403]

After the success of the Jolson Story, Al insisted in starring in the sequel "Jolson Sings Again". Columbia pictures felt Jolson was too old to play himself, but to appease Al agreed to let him "try out" for the role. After seeing this reel ,Jolson agreed to let Larry Parks portray him again. Coumbia, i.e. Harry Cohn ,was relieved, after all Larry Parks had been nominated for an Academy awrad in 1946 for the "Jolson Story". This reel was shot in late 1948.

[298625]

Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering where these wonderful clips came from.

[95671]

isnt there a way that young people can hear Al Jolson because all they listen to is lady Ga-Ga n Flo rida, we ought to get them to apprieciate Al Jolson, even though im a teenager, its changed my life listening to him.

[WHITExSUGAR]

im 21, ive been loving Jolson since i can remember thanks to my grandad. i quite like him being a secret though, people my age are too... i dunno but they would never appreciate this. lets keep him hidden

[FoPo4]

Looks like a very early kinescope of a rehearsal. Notice how he just walks off at the end. Odd.

[cervanntes]

Given the year and the performance itself, I wonder if this isn't a recording he made in preparation for the film "Jolson Sings Again", possibly for Larry Parks to watch to learn the mannerisms.

[EmpressDR]

I believe that uis exactly what it is --I think another poster or the uploader said so of another of these clips --there are about three songs like this. Looks like he's lip-synching. But how closely did Larry Parks copy? This would be for Jolson Sings Again, I would venture, not the original Jolson Story. Pity that another biopic film on him does not appear. It would be great.

Hearts to the Great Jolson

[maureen1938]

The one and only Al Jolson... it's lovely to hear these old songs again, thank you for posting. I love them all