Alfred Aloysous Bernard (November 23, 1888 – March 6, 1949) was an American vaudeville singer, known as "The Boy From Dixie", who was most popular during the 1910s through early 1930s.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he became a blackface singer in minstrel shows before starting his recording career around 1916. He was one of the first white singers to record blues songs. W. C. Handy credited Bernard with helping his own career by recording a number of his songs, notably "St. Louis Blues". 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".[1]
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 song.[2] Bernard was sometimes billed as "The Singing Comedian", and was the first American singer to record the song "Frankie and Johnny" in America.[3] (The first known recording was made by Gene Greene and Charley Straight in London.)[4] He also recorded duets with Ernest Hare, 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 as "The Dixie Stars" and, with Robinson, wrote the Bessie Smith feature "Sam Jones Blues". He also co-wrote songs with Jimmy Durante.[3]
Later, he recorded with Vernon Dalhart. In 1925, inspired by Dalhart, he began recording hillbilly songs. His 1930 version of "Hesitation Blues", recorded with the Goofus Five, is considered to predict the western swing style, with an intriguing combination of country and western and Chicago blues feels.[5] Bernard continued to record into the 1940s.
bernard, alfred, aloysous, bernard, november, 1888, march, 1949, american, vaudeville, singer, known, from, dixie, most, popular, during, 1910s, through, early, 1930s, background, informationbirth, namealfred, aloysous, bernardbornnovember, 1888new, orleans, l. Alfred Aloysous Bernard November 23 1888 March 6 1949 was an American vaudeville singer known as The Boy From Dixie who was most popular during the 1910s through early 1930s Al BernardBackground informationBirth nameAlfred Aloysous BernardBornNovember 23 1888New Orleans LouisianaDiedMarch 6 1949 aged 60 St Clare s HospitalManhattan New York City New YorkGenresJazz blues country popOccupation s SingerInstrument s VocalYears active1916 40sLabelsEdison Victor Okeh Indestructible BrunswickLife editBorn in New Orleans Louisiana he became a blackface singer in minstrel shows before starting his recording career around 1916 He was one of the first white singers to record blues songs W C Handy credited Bernard with helping his own career by recording a number of his songs notably St Louis Blues 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 1 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 song 2 Bernard was sometimes billed as The Singing Comedian and was the first American singer to record the song Frankie and Johnny in America 3 The first known recording was made by Gene Greene and Charley Straight in London 4 He also recorded duets with Ernest Hare 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 as The Dixie Stars and with Robinson wrote the Bessie Smith feature Sam Jones Blues He also co wrote songs with Jimmy Durante 3 Later he recorded with Vernon Dalhart In 1925 inspired by Dalhart he began recording hillbilly songs His 1930 version of Hesitation Blues recorded with the Goofus Five is considered to predict the western swing style with an intriguing combination of country and western and Chicago blues feels 5 Bernard continued to record into the 1940s He died on March 6 1949 in Manhattan New York 6 nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al Bernard References edit W C Handy Father of the Blues 1941 Audio file of Bernard s song Retrieved 2012 09 30 a b Tim Gracyk American Recording Pioneers 1895 1925 2000 See references in Gene Greene article Biography by Eugene Chadbourne at Allmusic Retrieved 6 February 2013 Al Bernard Singer And Song Writer 61 The New York Times March 7 1949 External links editAl Bernard recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings Free scores by Al Bernard at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Al Bernard amp oldid 1217248367, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
