Len Spencer
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Leonard Garfield Spencer was an American singer, composer, booking agent and vaudeville star who was considered one of the most popular recording artists in the United States from the 1890s to the 191
Spencer in 1899
Advertisement for Len Spencer's Lyceum, ca. 1912.
The Arkansas Traveler (song)
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"The Arkansas Traveler" is an American folk song first published by Mose Case, a humorist and guitarist from New York, in 1863. The song was based on the composition "The Arkansas Traveller" by Sandfo
Len Spencer
…known today such as "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom De-ay" and "A Hot Time in the Old Town." Music historian Bob Stanley deems it "probable" that Spencer's comedic "Arkansaw Traveler" routine was the first record to sell one million copies, though official documentation is lacking. In 1904, he recorded a speech attributed to Eugene…
Arkansas Traveler by Mose Case, sheet music cover, c. 1863
The Turn of the Tune. Traveller Playing the "Arkansas Traveller," lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1870