Jewface

What did the dawn of American pop music sound like? The answer can be found through the new RebBoot Stereophonic release, Jewface, lost Jewish minstrel songs that took vaudeville stages by storm at the turn of the 20th century but that have become written out of history. Composed by legendary tunesmiths like Irving Berlin and Gus Kahn, many of the songs made use of authentically Jewish musical motifs fusing them with every Jewish stereotype under the sun. What may have sounded mournful, exotic, and 'Oriental' to non-Jewish audiences resonated in a unique way for new Jewish immigrants, thrilled at this cultural jujitsu: From 'Under the Matzos Tree' to 'I'm a Yiddish Cowboy,' and 'Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars,' exploring the Jewface recordings reveals one of the dirty little secrets of American culture: some of the very first hit records were fiendishly catchy Jewish musical creations, created by Jews, for Jews. All of these songs have been hunted down and re-mastered from cylinder recordings to create one of the most remarkable and perhaps offensive albums ever.