The Yacht Club Boys were a quartet of American comic singers, popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The best-known set of Yacht Club Boys consisted of Charlie Adler, George Kelly, Billy Mann, and Jimmie Kern. They made recordings from the 1920s and appeared as a specialty act in several feature films and short subjects of the 1930s. The Yacht Club Boys' screen career and on-screen behavior paralleled those of
The Ritz Brothers
The Ritz Brothers were an American family comedy act who performed extensively on stage, in nightclubs and in films from 1925 to the late 1960s. A fourth brother, George, acted as their manager.
Early life
The four brothers were born to Austria ...
, a musical-comedy trio doing the same type of musical burlesques.
The Yacht Club Boys began in 1926 as a "smart set" nightclub act: Chick Endor (lead vocalist and guitarist), George Walsh (piano), Tommy Purcell (violin), and Billy Mann (comedian). They earned high billing and high salaries almost immediately, and embarked on a European tour within their first year. In 1929 Jimmie Kern replaced Purcell, who had retired from show business, and the act became "collegiate." The group now dressed in varsity-styled sweaters and slacks, and sang novelty tunes in breezy fashion ("I'm Wild About Horns on an Automobile", "Nasty Nancy, the Meanest Gal in Town"). This foursome appeared in musical short subjects for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
in 1929–30. Endor and Walsh each had marital problems resulting in financial troubles and heavy alimony penalties, and withdrew from the act. By this time Billy Mann had become the leader behind the scenes, handling all the business details for the group.
In 1931 Charlie Adler and George Kelly joined Mann and Kern, and this became the permanent personnel. The Yacht Club Boys became strictly comic singers, abandoning their musical instruments, and refined their act to include sharper, broader humor, satirizing current events and trends. For example, "The Super-Special Picture of the Year" took aim at Hollywood hyperbole in general ("It's colossal, tremendous, gigantic, stupendous!") and famous movie director
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
in particular, as voiced by Charlie Adler. They composed much of their own material, credited in alphabetical order to "Adler, Kelly, Kern, and Mann" (although Kern was the chief writer). They starred in short subjects for Paramount in 1933–34, then for
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
in 1935–36, with titles emphasizing their wacky approach: ''Dough-Nuts'', ''The Vodka Boatmen'', etc. They also maintained a busy schedule of network radio appearances and recording sessions.
The Yacht Club Boys brought great energy to their performances, with brash songs like "You're Broke, You Dope" and "My, How the Country's Changed." Perhaps their most familiar screen appearances are in
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...
's ''
The Singing Kid
''The Singing Kid'' is a 1936 American musical film directed by William Keighley and written by Warren Duff and Pat C. Flick. Starring Al Jolson, Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot and Allen Jenkins, it was released ...
'' (1936), in which the four outspoken comics persistently try to keep Jolson from singing outdated "mammy songs;"
Knight, Arthur "Disintegrating the musical: Black performance and American musical film," Duke University Press, 2002, page 74. . Retrieved 31 Jan 2014 and the collegiate musical ''Pigskin Parade
''Pigskin Parade'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film which tells the story of husband-and-wife college football coaches who convince a backwoods player to play for their team so they can go to the big game. It was written by William M. Consel ...
'' (1936), in which they perform their specialties at college rallies.
Other activities
The group pursued other interests in 1939 and disbanded that year. Jimmie Kern was the first to leave, settling in Hollywood to become a screenwriter and later a director. To fulfill the quartet's remaining commitments, Kern was replaced by singer Jimmie Craig. Later in 1939 Billy Mann, a successful investor, bought the Irving Aaronson
Irving A. Aaronson (February 7, 1895 – March 10, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and big band leader. Aaronson's most popular song, "The Loveliest Night of the Year", was not recorded with his band but was adapted by Aaronson in 1950 for ...
orchestra outright, retaining Aaronson as pianist. Meanwhile, Charlie Adler and George Kelly became restaurateurs, buying the Tavern restaurant on 48th Street in New York City.
The Yacht Club Boys quartet made a brief comeback in nightclubs in 1942. Charlie Adler and George Kelly returned, adding new members Rodney McLennon and Bill Dwyer.
Later years
Charlie Adler and George Kelly remained partners in a succession of nightclub and restaurant ventures; Adler died in 1955. Kelly opened "Kelly's Deli" in New York City in 1960. Jimmie Kern became known professionally as Hollywood director James V. Kern
James V. Kern (September 22, 1909, New York City, New York – November 9, 1966, Encino, California) was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director.
Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorn ...
, directing many motion pictures and the ''I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' TV series; he died in 1966. Billy Mann, who had been an individual investor, became a professional stockbroker; he died in 1974.
Partial filmography
* ''The Singing Fool
''The Singing Fool'' is a 1928 American musical drama part-talkie motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which was released by Warner Bros. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, ''The Jazz Singer''. It is credited wit ...
'' (1928)
* ''On the High C's'' (short, 1929)
* ''Deep "C" Melodies'' (short, 1930)
* ''A Private Engagement'' (short, 1930)
* ''Hear Ye! Hear Ye!'' (short, 1934)
* ''Broadway Knights'' (short, 1934)
* ''The Singing Kid
''The Singing Kid'' is a 1936 American musical film directed by William Keighley and written by Warren Duff and Pat C. Flick. Starring Al Jolson, Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot and Allen Jenkins, it was released ...
'' (1936)
* ''Thanks a Million
''Thanks a Million'' is a 1935 musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It stars Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak and Fred Allen, and features Patsy Kelly, David Rubinoff and Paul Whiteman and his band with sin ...
'' (1935)
* ''The Vodka Boatmen'' (short, 1935)
* ''They're Off'' (short, 1936)
* '' Stage Struck'' (1936)
* ''Dough-Nuts'' (short, 1936)
* ''Pigskin Parade
''Pigskin Parade'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film which tells the story of husband-and-wife college football coaches who convince a backwoods player to play for their team so they can go to the big game. It was written by William M. Consel ...
'' (1936)
* ''Artists and Models
''Artists and Models'' is a 1955 American musical romantic comedy film in VistaVision directed by Frank Tashlin, marking Martin and Lewis's 14th feature together as a team. The film co-stars Shirley MacLaine and Dorothy Malone, with Eva Gabor an ...
'' (1937)
* ''Thrill of a Lifetime
''Thrill of a Lifetime'' is a television reality series (before that term was coined) created by Sidney M. Cohen (who also directed many of the episodes) and Willie Stein. It was telecast from 1981 to 1988 in Canada on the CTV network. ''Thril ...
'' (1937, billed as the stars)
* '' Cocoanut Grove'' (1938)
* ''Artists and Models Abroad
''Artists and Models Abroad'' (UK title: ''Stranded in Paris'') is a 1938 comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Jack Benny and Joan Bennett. It was made by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Ken Englund, Howard Lin ...
'' (1938)
References
External links
*{{IMDb name, id=2178891, name=The Yacht Club Boys
American pop music groups
Musical quartets
Musical groups disestablished in 1939