Al Jolson - The Best of Al Jolson

A good budget collection of Al's music

Born in Lithuania as Asa Yoelson, Al Jolson migrated to America as a teenager, eventually becoming the first superstar of popular music. Some aspects of his career have to be seen in the context of the time especially his policy of blacking up his face, which would cause outrage these days but back then it was a gimmick that helped him.

An extrovert showman, Al generally recorded upbeat, fun songs such as There's a rainbow round my shoulder, Let me sing and I'm happy, California here I come, Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody, For me and my gal, I'm sitting on top of the world and When the red red robin comes bob-bob bobbing along.

Al could sing ballads when he chose to, as he shows on the perennial classic I only have eyes for you, which was revived in the fifties by the Flamingos and again in the seventies by Art Garfunkel, who both had considerable success with the song. New covers of this classic song continue to appear at regular intervals.

All those classic songs and others are to be found here. This is not the strongest collection of Al's music but it contains the tracks that most people are looking for at a budget price. As such, it serves its purpose brilliantly. Always remember, however, that Al recorded using equipment that now seems primitive and you cannot expect perfect sound quality. May 12, 2005

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