Ben Bernie & All the Lads - He's The Last Word, 1926

BEN BERNIE Born Benjamin Anselvitz in 1891, died in 1943. Actor, bandleader, author, violinist. He began his career in vaudeville. Educated at the New York College of Music, City College of New York, and Columbia School of Mines, he joined his first orchestra in 1922. For the next twenty years he toured with his band called "The Lads" and considered today one of the best hot dance American orchestras of the Jazz Age. Ben Bernie's band can be seen in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound short Ben Bernie and All the Lads (1924-1925), featuring pianist Oscar Levant. Bernie's band recorded many sides throughout the 1920s and 1930s, mainly for Vocalion and Brunswick, also labelled as Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. He toured with Maurice Chevalier in Europe and appeared on radio and in films. His films include "Love And Kisses" (1937), "Wake Up And Love" (1937), "Stolen Harmony" (1935), and "Shoot The Works" (1934). He also wrote the songs "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Who's Your Little Whozis," "I Can't Believe It's True," "Holding My Honey's Hand," "A Bowl Of Chop Suey And Yooey," "After The Dance Was Over," "Was Last Night The Last Night?," "Ain't That Marvelous (My Baby Loves Me)," and "Strange Interlude."
Today, he is best remembered from the the one of the most popular shows in the history of the NBC "Red" Radio Network: "Ben Bernie's Orchestra" during the "Old Maestro's" 1932-1933 season. Sponsored by Blue Ribbon Malt, it pulled a 33.7 audience share. Bernie—known for his long-running, playful feud with columnist Walter Winchell—broadcast his show live from New York each Tuesday at 9 p.m., and then repeated the performance for a live feed to the West Coast two-and-a-half hours later. (The show was heard in Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m. on KFI.) The orchestra leader began each show with the words: "How do you do Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Ben Bernie, the Old Maestro, yow-sah."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Roaring
• Twenties
• American
• hot
• dance
• band
• Jazz
• Age
• 1920s
• 78s
• shellack

[Bigenginej]

The liiting strains of the "Old Maestro" forever seranade the heavens !

[gmmix]

VERY informative commentary! Many thanks for all the information. And, yes, I like the rendition, too!

[Humaneering]

great stuff all this happy days from RobotRuss

[VictrolaJazz]

@sbd650 YOW-SUH! YOW-SUH! YOW-SUH! Indeed he is the last word!

[sbd650]

Great rendition! *****

[jazz1929]

Love it! Wish I had Scrappy Lambert and Billy Hillpot to sing to me in my living room.

[Victrolaman1]

Nice Video Doc and thanks for the Ben Bernie history lesson.

[guitaress1]

Great song and this is a nice rendition. *****

[merrihew]

Apparently almost no one attended his funeral.

[barbcard]

Toe-tapping music for another gray day. Walter Winchell evokes memories of family feuds over his politics which became increasingly right wing after the War. He was even linked with the

notorious Sen. Joseph McCarthy.