Ted Lewis

Given the scant availability of Ted Lewis recordings on compact disc, it seems improbable that he stood among the planet's leading musical attractions from the dawn of the 1920s into the mid-1930s, issuing million-selling discs at a time when such commercial peaks seldom occurred more than once annually. Even more striking is the realization that Lewis sustained an uninterrupted half-century of work in recording, radio, film, television, and live performance from 1917 to 1967 while commanding a level of esteem within jazz circles rarely extended to any dance-band leader. Although never ranked among the finest jazz instrumentalists—he nevertheless played better than his reputation suggested—Lewis also failed to earn serious regard as a vocalist, and the majority of his output was not viewed as strong jazz. Throughout most of the 1920s, his strongest decade commercially, he concentrated on dance pieces and novelty selections whose eccentric character now evokes the period's most exaggerated qualities. Even his signature line, "Is everybody happy?," had come to register, by the close of the 1930s, as a faintly anachronistic reminder of the so-called Roaring Twenties. In manner he recalled Paul Whiteman, though he possessed greater musical skill, and he also echoed Al Jolson, functioning as much through sheer personality as through musicianship. Lewis further assembled an uncommonly gifted roster of sidemen that included several future luminaries: Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Muggsy Spanier, Jimmy Dorsey, Frank Teschemacher, and George Brunies all passed through his ranks, while Fats Waller likewise performed briefly with the ensemble.

Theodore Leopold Friedman was born in Circleville, Ohio, in 1890 (some accounts list 1892) to the proprietor of a sizable clothing emporium. His parents envisioned a commercial future for him, yet the youth proved an unenthusiastic pupil and, more alarmingly, developed an early attraction to the performer's life. Exposure to the circus as a boy sparked this interest, and by his teenage years he had formed clear notions of showmanship while attaining solid basic command of the clarinet. Time spent at business school did nothing to erase his theatrical ambitions. By 1906, at age 16, he had entered vaudeville, appearing in tent shows and other low-rung engagements, and slowly established a following. An unplanned billing error during a partnership with another performer named Lewis produced the marquee listing "Lewis and Lewis," which he accepted as a favorable sign and retained as his professional identity.

Ted Lewis remained largely unknown for most of the 1910s, even after reaching New York. He organized his first ensemble, the five-piece Ted Lewis & His Nut Band, in 1916, initially to support a comedy routine. In 1917 he joined a group led by pianist Earl Fuller; the arrival of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in New York then altered his trajectory. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's success at Reisenweber's made that café the city's premier destination, and Lewis, still with Fuller's band, was engaged by the rival Rector's to recapture lost patronage. He quickly embraced Dixieland jazz and discovered that, despite his limitations as a singer, he possessed greater appeal in that role than as a comedian. Two additional signature elements completed the persona: a distinctive top hat, reportedly obtained in a wager with a carriage driver, and the repeated question "Is everybody happy?" He began directing the phrase to audiences at Rector's, where it became a permanent fixture; whenever Lewis and his band performed, the response was an emphatic affirmative. Half a century later he was still wearing the top hat and posing the question. He soon led his own band and opened his own club. By 1919 he had appeared in the Greenwich Village Follies, underwritten his own unsuccessful production Ted Lewis' Follies, performed in the Ziegfeld Midnight Follies, and taken part in the revue Artists and Models.

Columbia Records signed Lewis in 1919 and issued his first single, "Wond'ring" backed with "Blues My Naughty Sweety Gives Me," that October. The following year he introduced and recorded the first of several versions of "When My Baby Smiles at Me," which became his theme. By the mid-1920s he ranked among Columbia's leading sellers and among the world's foremost entertainers and bandleaders. Although he usually handled vocals himself, blending his plaintive delivery with an engaging stage presence, notable exceptions occurred: Ruth Etting recorded with him, Fats Waller did likewise, and in 1926, with Sophie Tucker as vocalist, he scored one of the year's biggest hits with the million-selling "Some of These Days." European engagements at London's Hippodrome and Kit Kat Club, followed by additional continental dates, cemented his international reputation. By the decade's end Columbia had created a custom label bearing the silhouette of the top-hatted leader. In December 1929 the label offered a new contract guaranteeing $42,000 annually plus royalties for two years. The agreement seemed advantageous, since Columbia received both a popular and a musically accomplished ensemble. George Brunies, formerly of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, joined on trombone in 1928; Muggsy Spanier arrived on trumpet the next year. Don Murray, the gifted clarinetist and saxophonist from the Jean Goldkette band, soon followed, elevating the group's technical polish. Lewis compensated his star soloists generously and strove to retain them; he understood his own instrumental shortcomings yet refused to let those constraints hamper the band. His own clarinet work, frequently labeled "gaspipe" style for its overblown shrillness, suited novelty material though it drew disapproval elsewhere, but he never hesitated to recruit superior players.

Murray's death in an automobile accident in June 1929 disrupted the personnel during the filming of the Warner Bros. feature Is Everybody Happy?, a dramatized account of Lewis' career. Frank Teschemacher, a Chicago clarinetist influenced by Bix Beiderbecke's cornet conception, was engaged as replacement; although Teschemacher and Lewis became friends, the newcomer declined touring duties while continuing to record. Jimmy Dorsey succeeded him, bringing fresh vitality and proving a major draw on the 1930 European tour. At that point the band stood among the nation's elite, and its 1930 recordings such as "Sobbin' Blues, Pts. 1-2" and "Aunt Hagar's Blues" enjoyed wide appeal. Lewis abruptly disbanded the group in 1930 and announced his retirement, only to return the following year under circumstances that remain unclear. Columbia had pressed for his comeback, and although he had accumulated sufficient wealth for a comfortable retirement, worsening economic conditions may have influenced the decision. The reconstituted band featured Benny Goodman in place of Dorsey, yet sales of the new Columbia sides, despite strong playing, never matched earlier levels amid the deepening Depression. The Columbia contract concluded in 1933; Lewis moved to Decca, but the swing era, ushered in by Goodman's own orchestra, rendered his Dixieland-based novelties less commercially dominant. He remained a magnetic stage figure whose music stayed buoyant even when it did not swing. Radio appearances included The Valspar Paint Program and The Merritt Beer Program; he was still featured on the Coca-Cola Spotlight broadcast as late as 1945, although he never favored radio work, preferring the visual elements of his vaudeville-rooted act—the top hat, physical comedy, and dancing. One enduring routine, "Me and My Shadow," paired him with his spotlight-generated silhouette and later incorporated a live dancer. Although his influence as a trendsetter had waned, audiences continued to support him; even Benny Goodman occasionally attended performances by his former employer. Lewis commanded top billing and fees at leading American and European venues before the war and made guest appearances in films such as Hold That Ghost with Abbott & Costello. Columbia Pictures remade Is Everybody Happy? in 1943. He continued recording for Decca into 1950 ("My Blue Heaven," "Blue Skies") and cut dance sides for the short-lived RKO label in the late 1950s, but live performance remained his primary focus, supplemented by occasional television spots. His final engagement, still wearing the top hat, took place at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1967, concluding fifty years in the profession.

Ted Lewis functioned almost, yet not entirely, as a personality rather than a musician. He resembled Al Jolson in certain respects but projected a gentler, more understated demeanor, clarinet at hand and a carefully chosen band behind him. Unlike Jolson he possessed no notable vocal instrument, yet listeners enjoyed the way he spoke lyrics, an approach sometimes likened to rap delivery. He was not an exceptional instrumentalist, but he engaged first-rate players and granted them latitude; he also displayed an affinity for blues, evident in his collaborations with Fats Waller on "Dallas Blues" and "Royal Garden Blues." Even at the close of the twentieth century, Lewis' strongest recordings continue to elicit smiles together with the impulse to dance and laugh, prompting audiences to answer his perennial question "Is everybody happy?" with an affirmative.