April 11, 2006
Back to the Borscht Belt: Benny Bell Rereleased on CDs
Joel Samberg produced a new CD of the work of Jewish and Yiddish recording artist of Vaudeville and the Borscht Belt, the late Benny Bell. It s called Benny Bell: Lost Legend of Elton Street and is available by sending a check or money order for $11.00, made out to Joel Samberg, to Lost Legend, P.O. Box 144, Verona NJ 07044-0144. Postage and handling are included in the price. For other Benny Bell albums, see CD Baby:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bennybell More... Benny, whose career spanned more than seven decades, recorded many Yiddish comedy songs, ceremonial tunes for weddings and bar mitzvahs, and ballads such as Brooklyn Bridge and the beautifully emotive Home Again in Israel, written in 1948. He died in 1999 at the age of 93.The new CD contains 20 Yiddish and English recordings. Benny Bell had his greatest popularity between the mid-1930s and the early 1950s. In addition to Yiddish and Jewish ceremonial songs, he was also known for a series of bawdy tunes and novelty ditties, such as Shaving Cream, (a song frequently played on the Dr. Demento radio program) and Pincus the Peddler, which were jukebox hits throughout New York City. Even today, thousands of people coast to coast search for rare Benny Bell 78, 45 and 33 rpm albums and singles. There have been several Benny Bell fan clubs through the years, and industry pros have called for retrospectives of his work.
Benny Bell was Samburg's grandfather. Samburg writes: "he was one of the funniest, busiest, most resilient performers ever to come out of Vaudeville and the Borscht Belt. He was also passionate about his faith, and that shows through in his work. ... I m making this new CD of 20 of his Yiddish and English tunes available in one collection for the very first time. Taken from the actual original recordings, the new CD is an ageless, priceless time capsule into a very special category of Jewish-American music of the 20th Century. " Posted by jmwc at April 11, 2006 12:15 AM