“Sonny Boy”: Museum Object and Cultural History
“Sonny Boy”: publishing date: 1927. associated person: Jolson, Al. composer, lyricist: DeSylva, B. G..
The object in the museum catalogue
This sheet music is for the song “Sonny Boy” that was written and composed by Al Jolson, Ray Anderson, Bud DeSylva, and Lew Brown. The sheet music was published by DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson Inc in 1927. The song came from the film The Singing Fool, one of the first popular “talkies,” featuring Warner Brother’s revolutionary Vitaphone technology that synced sound with the film. The film featured Al Jolson as Al Stone and Davey Lee as his son, “Sonny Boy.” A photograph of them together is on the left of the pink cover that features a central white sun that is emitting rays.
Materials, dates and provenance
- publishing date: 1927
- associated person: Jolson, Al
- composer, lyricist: DeSylva, B. G.
- publisher: DeSylva, Brown and Henderson, Inc.
- Object Name: sheet music
- Physical Description: paper (overall material)
- Physical Description: ink (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 11 3/4 in x 9 in; 29.845 cm x 22.86 cm
- place made: United States: New York, New York
- ID Number: 1983.0313.14
- accession number: 1983.0313
- catalog number: 1983.0313.14
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
Sources
More in Music
Keep reading