| “Holdin’ The Sack” Salt And Pepper September 18, 1924 (Cameo 609 mx 1151) |
| “Doodle Doo Doo” Salt And Pepper September 18, 1924 (Cameo 609 mx 1156) |
One of the many fads of American popular culture in the 1920s was the ukulele craze. The Hawaiian instrument captured public attention through performances of Hawaiian bands at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.
By 1925, over four million ukuleles had been sold in the United States. On college campuses, the ukulele had become an important accessory and symbol of Jazz Age popular culture.
The 1920s celebrity most associated with the craze was Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards, whose recordings are well-represented in Radio Dismuke’s playlist. Those less familiar with 1920s and 1930s popular music may know him as the voice of Jiminy Cricket, who famously sang “When You Wish Upon a Star” in Walt Disney’s 1940 film Pinocchio.
Here are two pre-microphone-era recordings by a lesser-known duo associated with the instrument’s popularity. Frank Kurtz (Salt) and Jack Pepper were famous on the vaudeville circuits and in Broadway musical revues for their comedic song and dance act, which featured singing and ukulele playing in a style similar to that of Cliff Edwards. They also appeared on radio and recorded about ten sides on the low-priced Cameo label.
After the duo broke up, Jack Pepper formed a new vaudeville act, Ginger and Pepper, with a young, then-unknown Texas dancer named Ginger Rogers. The two married in 1929 and divorced in 1931.
On both of these recordings, you can hear the duo perform the high-pitched style of scat singing popularized by Cliff Edwards, which sounds reminiscent of a kazoo. The term for this vocal effect is eefing (also spelled eephing).