Samuel Siegel (born 1875, Des Moines, Iowa — died January 14, 1948, Los Angeles, California) was an American mandolinvirtuoso and composer who played mandolin on 29 records for Victor Records, including 9 pieces of his own composition and two that he arranged.[1][2][3][4][5] Siegel was the first mandolinist to record on Emile Berliner's phonograph disk-records.[4] He was labeled "America's Greatest Mandoline Virtuoso" and "The King of the Mandolin" in the May 1900 Banjo World.[4]
Siegel performed both in vaudeville, as well as in concert halls.[4] He had no formal training in music, but saw that the mandolin needed original music, rather than relying on the transcribed violin music.[4] His compositions and arrangements were well known in his day.[4]
He was the author of Siegel's Special Mandolin Studies, published by Joseph W. Stern & Co., 1901, in which he covered left-hand Pizzicato and harmonic duo style.[6][7]
Siegel recorded with Roy Butin in 1908 on four Victor records, the tunes: Southern Fantasy, Estellita Waltz, American Valor March, and In Fairyland.[8]
He recorded Edison Diamond Disk recordRagtime Echoes in 1918 with Marie Caveny, with her on ukulele, and also Dance, Mouse Dance, and Medley.[9][10] Marie and her husband James Frank Caveny lived with Siegel as lodgers in Chicago during the 1910 United States Census.[11] They were performers or lecturers in the Lyceum movement.[12] James Franklin was a cartoonist and Marie sang soprano in their performance.[12]