Artist: Ben Selvin Orch.
Author: Fred Fisher
Label: Banner
Year: 1922
"The town that Billy Sunday couldn't shut down". Billy was a puritan with convincing preaching qualities, selling out mass-meetings everywhere. The fact he was a former baseball icon helped. Alcohol was the main target in his fire & brimstone sermons. Calling Billy Sunday's gatherings a major trigger for the passing of the 18th amendment (Prohibition Act) is not even an understatement. The city of Chicago was the least amused. That's what you get with Germans, Irish and Polish for most important immigrant communities. That's the biggest beer producers, beer consumers and beer digesters respectively. When the Prohibition Act finally was abandoned (triggered by Chicago), Billy concentrated on the end of times instead and the longer they lasted, the more vigorous and vicious his speeches. At last he nailed a fixed date for the end of times: 1935. Became the year he died.
Covers:
Susan Hayward [in film With A Song In My Heart, a biopic portraying Jane Froman]
Frank Sinatra [in film The Joker Is Wild]
Tony Bennett [with Count Basie's orchestra]
Rufus Wainwright [At Carnegie Hall]
Lyle Lovett [with Chris Botti]
Ben Selvin was one of these hyper productive pioneer bandleaders. Made some 2.000 recordings.
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)