Search - Eddie Cantor & Georgie Jessel :: Pals

Cantor and Jessel -- an unusual pairing

Christopher J. Clay | Cold Spring, KY USA | 07/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album consists of a thirty year-old tribute by Jessel to his (then) recently-deceased friend Eddie Cantor and a forty-minute audio track from a Cantor appearance on a California-based Jessel TV show from 1958. The tribute is interesting in that it contains nice excerpts from Cantor radio shows, and passable versions of his hit tunes (these are versions that were recorded for lip-synch for Cantor's 1955 weekly TV show). As such, it is a good introduction to Cantor for those who know little of him. The TV show is more interesting, as it shows the contrast between Jessel and Cantor. Cantor, the thoughtful, almost erudite elder statesman of show business and Jessel, who never advanced much beyond the status of a vaudeville hack. Most interesting in this program is that Cantor sings five of the hit songs associated with his career, quite unusual given that in late 1958 Cantor's health was in serious decline and he rarely did musical performances. Nonetheless, "Banjo Eyes" reached deep into his bag of tricks on that night and gave a great performance. Cantor's gransdon, Brian Gari, is to be commended for his very great efforts in keeping his grandfather's name alive by producing these and other albums."