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Len Spencer

Leonard Garfield Spencer (February 12, 1867 – December 15, 1914) was an early American recording artist. He began recording for the Columbia Phonograph Company, in 1889 or 1890. Between 1892 and 1897 he recorded extensively for the New Jersey Phonograph Company and its successor the United States Phonograph Company. He specialized in vaudeville sketches and comic songs, but also sang sentimental ballads popular at the time. He returned to Columbia in 1898 for an exclusive contract then began recording for Berliner Gramophone (disc) records in 1899 and continued with Victor and Columbia as discs became the dominant format in the early 1900s.

He began performing with banjoist Vess L. Ossman in 1901 and with Ada Jones in 1905. He is best remembered today for his vaudeville-style comic sketches, such as "The Arkansaw Traveler" (1902), combining clever turns of phrase, ironic elocutionary delivery, sound effects and music to create colorful dialogues featuring itinerant Southerners, auctioneers, circus barkers, and Irish, Jewish or Black Americans. Many of his roles were performed in either blackface or brownface. Spencer's output was eclectic. He imitated animal sounds in "A Barnyard Serenade" (1906) and released another record titled "The Transformation Scene from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'," but also popularized songs still known today such as "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom De-ay" and "A Hot Time in the Old Town." Music historian Bob Stanley deems it "probable" that Spencer's comedic "Arkansaw Traveler" routine was the first record to sell one million copies, though official documentation is lacking.

As the popularity of Len's style of humor waned in the latter part of the decade, he opened a booking agency called "Len Spencer's Lyceum" in New York. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage while working at the Lyceum on December 15, 1914.

Birth and Death Data: Born February 12, 1867 (Washington, D.C.), Died December 15, 1914 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1896 - 1925

Roles Represented in DAHR: speaker, author, baritone vocal, performer, composer, adapter

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 426-450 of 812 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 804 10-in. between January and September 1902 The old folks at home Artists vary Minstrels, with male vocal duet and orchestra performer  
Columbia 805 7-in. ca. Jan.-Sept. 1902 My old Kentucky home Artists vary Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra performer  
Columbia 805 10-in. between January and September 1902 My old Kentucky home Henry Burr Minstrels, with male vocal solo and orchestra performer  
Columbia 883 7-in. ca. 1902-1904 Old Mother Hubbard Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Dialogue, with animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 883 10-in. ca. 1902 Old Mother Hubbard Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Dialogue, with animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 884 7-in. approximately 1902 The Blazing Rag Concert Hall Artists vary Monologue speaker  
Columbia 884 10-in. ca. 1902 The Blazing Rag Concert Hall Harry Spencer ; Len Spencer Dialogue speaker  
Columbia 885 7-in. ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 Sale of household furniture Artists vary Descriptive scene, with effects speaker  
Columbia 885 10-in. ca. 1902 Sale of household furniture Artists vary Descriptive scene, with effects speaker  
Columbia 886 7-in. ca. 1902 Daybreak at Calamity Farm Alf Holt ; Len Spencer Descriptive scene, with animal imitations author, speaker  
Columbia 886 10-in. ca. 1902 Daybreak at Calamity Farm Alf Holt ; Len Spencer Descriptive scene, with animal imitations author, speaker  
Columbia 887 7-in. approximately 1902 The dog fight Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Comic dialogue, with animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 887 10-in. ca. 1902 The dog fight Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Comic dialogue, with animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 889 7-in. ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 Auction sale of a bird and animal store Len Spencer Descriptive scene, with bird and animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 889 10-in. approximately 1902 Auction sale of a bird and animal store Len Spencer Descriptive scene, with bird and animal imitations speaker  
Columbia 922 7-in. ca. 1902-Oct. 1905 Imitation Chinese song Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Male vocal duet vocalist, baritone vocal  
Columbia 922 10-in. ca. 1902 Imitation Chinese song Gilbert Girard ; Len Spencer Male vocal duet vocalist, baritone vocal  
Columbia 1028 7-in. ca. 1902 On Emancipation Day Len Spencer Male vocal solo, with piano speaker  
Columbia 1028 10-in. approximately 1902 On Emancipation Day Len Spencer Male vocal solo, with piano speaker  
Columbia 1065 7-in. ca. 1902 Making the fiddle talk Len Spencer Monologue, with violin author, speaker  
Columbia 1065 10-in. ca. 1902 Making the fiddle talk Len Spencer Monologue, with violin author, speaker  
Columbia 1109D 10-in. approximately 1903 An evening with the minstrels Minstrels [Columbia Records group] Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, baritone vocal  
Columbia 1109H 7-in. approximately 1903 An evening with the minstrels Minstrels [Columbia Records group] Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, baritone vocal  
Columbia 1109H 10-in. approximately 1903 An evening with the minstrels Minstrels [Columbia Records group] Minstrels : Male vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, baritone vocal  
Columbia 1109C 7-in. approximately 1903 An evening with the minstrels Minstrels [Columbia Records group] Minstrels : Comic dialogue speaker  
(Results 426-450 of 812 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Spencer, Len," accessed May 20, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.

Spencer, Len. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 20, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197.

"Spencer, Len." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106197

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