Jolson and Levant on the Radio

We have heard a lot of Oscar Levant in recent months in his guise as piano virtuoso. Let's explore another aspect of his persona - the comical sidekick.

Today Levant is known for his roles as filmic friend to Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, but he also filled that role on radio. From October 1947 to May 1949, he was the comedic accomplice and musical accompanist to the erstwhile "World's Greatest Entertainer," Al Jolson, on the latter's weekly radio appearance hosting the long-running Kraft Music Hall.

Jolson was enjoying a late career renaissance sparked by the success of the 1946 film biography, The Jolson Story. Larry Parks played the singer in the film, with Al dubbing the vocals himself. He had lost none of his musical swagger over the years, and is in great vocal shape on the radio program, his voice having deepened over the years into a remarkably resonant bass-baritone.

Oscar and Al with Groucho Marx

Levant was never a great actor, and here his line readings are even stiffer than they were in films, a trait that is endearing or annoying depending on how you feel about him. Neither he nor Jolson are particularly well served by the material: half of of the jokes take aim at the host's supposed great age (he was in his 60s), the other half at his musical illiteracy when compared to Levant.

But the singing is good and Oscar is a surprisingly sympathetic and fluid accompanist, more evidence that he was at home in many genres.

This Decca record of excerpts from the Jolson radio show dates from the 1950s (correction - Randy writes to say it is from 1961), and according to producer Milt Gabler is the result of one thousand hours of work. Considering that Jolson only taped 35-1/2 hours of material, it's hard to figure how Gabler spent so much time selecting the songs that appear here. But they are well chosen, showing a good bit of Jolson's repertoire.

We cannot recapture what made Jolson special in the early decades of the last century. He was by all accounts a riveting live performer, but there are only traces of that kinetic presence here. Jolson died in 1950.