I hear some of you asking, “Al who?” and I hand you now a virtual towel because you are obviously still wet behind the ears.
Jolson -- J as in junta, U as in ubiquitous, N as in numismatic, T as in tetracycline, A as in aphrodisiac.
Wait. That spells junta, not Jolson. I lost my head there for a minute. A thousand pardons.
What I meant to say was Jolson -- J as in jarring, O as in onomatopoeia, L as in lugubriously, S as in surreptitious, O as in obsequious, N as in Nefertiti.
J, O, L, S, O, N. Jolson.
Let’s say it together, class:
Jolson.
If you have a little time to spare, you might also want to read every word of this Wikipedia article about Al Jolson.
Then listen to him sing that song again.
Here’s another “golden oldie,” a true one, even older than Al Jolson:
(Photograph by Philippe Pikart, 2009, of the bust of Nefertiti from the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin collection, currently in the Neues Museum.)
You can read about her here.
Then there will be nothing left to do but sit back and hum Al’s song and wait for the flowers that bloom in May.
If only life were that simple.
I remember him from The Black & White Minstrel Show that we are probably not meant to mention any more.
ReplyDeleteAnd, coincidentally, Nefertiti also plays a role in my family's history: My father was looking at a photo the other day of his Aunt, and said: 'She had an ebony statue of Nefertiti on her dressing-room table' He had not seen it since he was 6 or 7, before he left England.
Katherine, given that, according to that Wikipedia article in the link, Jolson was outspoken for his day and championed the rights of people of color, today's political correctness that forbids us even to mention certain facts about the past strikes me as very strange indeed.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Nefertiti cropping up so recently in your conversation with your father.