Alfred Aloysous Bernard (November 23, 1888 – March 6, 1949) was an American
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
singer, known as "The Boy From
Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
", who was most popular during the 1910s through early 1930s.
Life
Born in
, he became a
blackface singer in
minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...
s before starting his recording career around 1916. He was one of the first white singers to record
blues songs.
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...
credited Bernard with helping his own career by recording a number of his songs, notably "
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...
". Bernard recorded the song for nine different record labels, the most successful being what Handy called ''"the sensational
Victor recording in which he sang with the
Dixieland Jazz Band"''.
From 1919, he recorded solo for
Okeh Records. His songs included one called "Shake, Rattle and Roll", about a
dice game, which was wholly unrelated, except in title, to the later
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
song. Bernard was sometimes billed as "The Singing Comedian", and was the first American singer to record the song "
Frankie and Johnny" in America.
[Tim Gracyk, ''American Recording Pioneers 1895-1925'', 2000] (The first known recording was made by
Gene Greene
Eugene Delbert Greene (June 9, 1877 – April 5, 1930) was an American vaudeville and ragtime singer. He was one of the first to use scat singing techniques.
Career
Greene was born in Indiana. He worked with his wife, Blanche Werner, as Greene ...
and
Charley Straight
Charles Theodore "Charley" Straight (January 16, 1891 – September 22, 1940) was an American pianist, bandleader and composer.
Biography
Straight started his career in 1909 accompanying singer Gene Greene in Vaudeville. In 1916, he began work ...
in London.) He also recorded duets with
Ernest Hare
Ernest Dudley Hare (5 December 1900, Highgate, London - 1981, London) was an English stage and film actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional ...
, in which Bernard took the female singing part, including his biggest hit, "I Want To Hold You In My Arms". He recorded with songwriter
J. Russel Robinson
Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Career
Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teen ...
as "The Dixie Stars" and, with Robinson, wrote the
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock a ...
feature "Sam Jones Blues". He also co-wrote songs with
Jimmy Durante.
Later, he recorded with
Vernon Dalhart
Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country song ...
. In 1925, inspired by Dalhart, he began recording hillbilly songs. His 1930 version of "
Hesitation Blues
"Hesitation Blues" is a popular song adapted from a traditional tune. One version was published by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, and Art Gillham. Another was published by W.C. Handy as "Hesitating Blues". Because the tune is traditional, man ...
", recorded with the Goofus Five, is considered to predict the
western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...
style, with an intriguing combination of country and western and Chicago blues feels. Bernard continued to record into the 1940s
He died on March 6, 1949 in
Manhattan, New York City.
References
External links
Al Bernard recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Al
Vaudeville performers
Blackface minstrel performers
Okeh Records artists
Vocalion Records artists
1888 births
1949 deaths
Musicians from New Orleans
Pioneer recording artists
Singers from Louisiana
Edison Records artists
Emerson Records artists
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers