You Ain't Heard Nothin: Jolie's Finest Columbia

Al Jolson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 1994)
• Original Release Date: April 12, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028ZO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,588 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the Music Historian, March 31, 2001

By 

Edward J. Vasicek "Author, pastor, columnist" (Kokomo, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Ain't Heard Nothin: Jolie's Finest Columbia (Audio CD)

This CD is great for the music historian. It features selections from the World's Greatest Entertainer from 1913 through the early 30's.

This CD is well remastered, but even modern technology can only do so much. The songs recorded before 1925 were sung into a horn to cut the record, so even with the best technology, it sounds like you are hearing Jolson through a garden hose or tunnel. The selections done with the use of a microphone (1925 and after) sound quite a bit better.

Fans who want to get as much of Jolson as they can to complete their collection will definitely want this one; folks who want to hear clean, clear, and potent Jolson would do better to buy CD's based on his recordings from the 40's (Best of the Decca Years, or Jolson Live, for example).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ear worms for sale, August 3, 2006

By 

glamaFez (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Ain't Heard Nothin: Jolie's Finest Columbia (Audio CD)

The first time I heard an old Al Jolson record, I thought "who the hell is that?". I heard several layers of manic melodrama going on in his performance, along with strange parodies of foreign accents, and a whole kitchen sinkload of weirdness too subtle to describe. These performances are from that era and have those qualities.

The acoustic horn's narrow dynamic range enhances everything I love about these recordings. Sometimes it's as if you're listening to a crazed puppet or ventriloquist's dummy who wants you to adopt him, and who also happens to sing very well!

This is very entertaining stuff, totally different from later recordings where he is backed by a swing-era big band. If you want high fidelity, look elsewhere. It's pretty much irrelevant to what is appealing about these recordings (they're OLD recordings....got that?) They will add atmosphere and meaning to your life.

Many of the songs, once they're stuck in your mind, will be hard to dislodge. The term is "ear worm" and this disc is full of them. They are a fine antidote to the bland overproduced fodder that fills the airwaves today.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jolson is underappreciated, May 9, 2005

By 

Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Ain't Heard Nothin: Jolie's Finest Columbia (Audio CD)

I grew up with an older generation that idolized Jolson. By the time I reached adolescence, Jolson was easy to imitate and mock. His sentimental songs were remembered while his jazz singing was forgotten. When I finally began to collect music from the twenties, Jolson's jazz age recordings were a revelation. Jolson understood jazz singing and he had the spirit of it down perfectly. Forget the later Jolson when he bascially phoned in his performances. Check out young, lean, hungry, and jazz Jolson. He was good.