User:Unfree/Georgie Price

Georgie Price (b. Jan 5, 1901, d. May 10, 1964) was a Vaudevillian entertainer, highly regarded by his peers.

The early years
Georgie became a child star at an early age, thanks to impressario Gus Edwards, who adopted him at the age of six. Since he was too young to work, and child labor was becoming increasingly disparaged, his father had to have his birth certificate altered to show that he was seven. He'd already learned he could earn nickels by singing and dancing on the subway, which he entered, with his brothers and friends, by jumping the turnstiles. Living on (they do say "on") New York's crowded, bustling Lower East Side, he picked up lots of popular music, and once he got into Vaudeville, he avidly picked up lessons from older entertainers, especially mimicry, dance steps, songs, and whistling, all of which he continued performing all his life. He took naturally to a peculiar talent he must have learned from the streets, international double talk. That is, he could make a pretense of speaking any of a great number of foreign languages, well enough to amuse people who'd frequently overheard them spoken, but unlike other entertainers who did it by practicing stock phrases over and over, Georgie could do it naturally by improvisation. He was just like that. He picked up many talents without rehearsing, or rather, by making rehearsal part of his daily life. He was often heard practicing accents, songs, and imitations subtly, under his breath, or seen dancing a few quick steps, while going about his day. Having begun at such an early age, he learned how to mimic many entertainers who'd passed away even before he was born. Georgie was lucky, to have grown up among a lot of noise, too, because he developed a powerful voice early in life which held him in good stead with the arrival of the recording industry. It may have been luck, too, that his father, though handsome, was also a drinker and adventurer, but a poor family man; he deserted the family several times, hopping aboard a ship bound for England, for example, or simply going on a bender, or philandering. The children had to make money somehow, and Georgie succeeded very well.

When phonograph machines and records first became popular, electronic amplification hadn't yet been developed, and recordings were made by inscribing grooves mechanically in wax. That required a great deal of volume, especially of the singers and quieter instruments, who played directly into a huge cone, and Georgie, with his powerful tenor voice was perfectly suited to it. He became the first non-classical (read "non-operatic") singer to land a long-term contract with the biggest recording company of the day, RCA Victor. Under it, he made many recordings, almost all gold records, that is, selling over a million copies each. There were plenty of Gramophones and few popular records. It wasn't that classical music wasn't good enough, but lighter entertainment was more fun.

People who could afford pianos bought them for their parlors, and parlors were de rigeur, and many people discovered them harder to play than they expected. Starved for entertainment, they either took to reciting poetry, home dramatics, or music, or bought a Gramophone or Victrola. (Telling jokes, of course, never will die out, and Georgie mastered that, in spades.) Soon radio, and then amplification came along, which were mixed blessings. Great numbers of people went to Vaudeville, burlesque (which wasn't suitable for children), or "legitimate" theaters (where plays, symphonies, and operas were performed, and lectures were given) often, if they could afford it, every night. There were always matinees, which were cheaper, but occurred during work hours. But player pianos, phonograph machines, and radios kept the crowds more and more at home, gradually spelling a death knell for live theater entertainment in general.