Ada Jones, Billy Murray - Shine On Harvest Moon (1909)

Ada Jones (June 1,1873 - May 2,1922) was a popular singer who recorded from 1905 to the early 1920s. She was born in Lancashire, England but moved with her family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of six in 1879. She started performing on stage, including juvenile roles in the 1880s.

In 1893 or 1894, she recorded some musical performances for the North American Phonograph Co., but the demise of this company ended this recording career and it was not until 1905 that she returned to recording, after a few years doing performances at such locations as Huber's 14th Street Museum in New York City. She recorded several duets with Billy Murray and Len Spencer. She sang in a range of accents and dialects.

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William Thomas "Billy" Murray (May 25,1877 - Aug.17,1954) was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century.

While he received star billings on Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. He was probably the best selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of immigrants from Ireland. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a traveling vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career. He made his first recordings for a local phonograph cylinder company in San Francisco, California in 1897.

He started recording regularly in the New York City and New Jersey area in 1903, when the nation's major record companies as well as the Tin Pan Alley music industry were concentrated there.

In 1906 he waxed the first of his popular duets with Ada Jones. He also performed with Aileen Stanley, the Haydn Quartet, and the American Quartet (also known as the Premier Quartet), in addition to his solo work.

He had a strong tenor voice with excellent enunciation and a more conversational delivery than common with bel canto singers of the era. On comic songs he often deliberately sang slightly flat, which he felt helped the comic effect.

While he often performed romantic numbers and ballads which sold well at the time, his comedy and novelty song recordings continue to be popular with later generations of record collectors.

Murray's popularity faded with changes in public taste and recording technology; the rise of the electric microphone in the mid 1920s coincided with the rise of the crooners. His "hammering" style, as he called it, essentially yelling the song into the recording horn, did not work in the electronic era, and it took him some time to learn how to soften his voice.

While his singing style was considered "dated" and was less in demand, he continued to find recording work. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the music from his salad days was considered nostalgic (the modern term would be "oldies") and Murray was in demand again. He did voices for animated cartoons, especially the popular "follow the bouncing ball" sing-along cartoons. He also did radio work.

Murray made his last recordings in 1943 and retired to Freeport, Long Island, New York in 1944. He died in nearby Jones Beach.


Ada Jones, Billy Murray - Shine On Harvest Moon (1909)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ada
• Jones
• Billy
• Murray
• 1909
• 1900s
• 10s
• 20s

[jimmygotups]

Thumbs up if you heard Fred, Ethel and Ricky sing this :)

[jbjindra]

Music nowadays will never equal this.

[blackiebeast]

way better than the rap garbage we endure these days !



[MrFacebookhater]

I love the song from Eda Jones named "Let It Alone" and "Silvery Moon"

[kbs1212]

1:23 "Well you betta' embrace these golden opportunities!" Hahahaha awesome.

[toughcrowd94]

Thank you for the upload! Good song! :)

[Kirke182]

Back then there was no overdubbing, no tape, no mixing board, no electricity. All recordings were captured with a single horn that funneled the sound to a movable stylus that cut directly to disc. All the musicians were right there and the performance had to be flawless and the sound had to be balanced perfectly because there was no adjusting it later on. It took some cajones to do this stuff back then.

[handal1973]

This is Dream !!!

[LarsGunblade]

Interesting. But there's no separation! And picking up nothing with my surrounds. Definitely not well produced... OK, I'm kidding. Actually sounds pretty good for being more than 100 years old!

[deserteacher]

lancashire county--where the beatles came from--50 years later

[Thejbirdy]

Wow...ancient.

[dyinglikeflies]

@jimmygotups I think they varied he lyrics just a bit. Have to check.