[78-L] Billy Murray Gennetts

[Ryan Barna]

http://www.denvernightingale.com/discography/gennett.html

 

There are no exact dates known for Murrays Gennetts except his last release, which I took from a test pressing. What I did was subtract three months from the release date (I see four months were subtracted from the listing Bill just posted). If I'm off on my recording month guesses, please advise.

 

May 1920 would have been the release date for "He Went in Like a Lion..." (per Talking Machine World), instead of the recording date.

 

There is one uncredited vocal he did on Gennett: "Dixie Is Dixie Once More" with the Premier-American Quartet. (I've listened to the disc, and he is audible.)

 

Here's the data I took from my site:

 

New York, NY: ca. April 1919
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
Heart Breaking Baby Doll (words & music: Cliff Hess and Sidney Mitchell)
mx. 6097 [no take]
Gennett 4526-A (released July 1919)
 
New York, NY: ca. June 1919
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
Take Your Girlie to the Movies (If You Can't Make Love at Home) (words: Edgar Leslie and Bert Kalmar; music: Pete Wendling)
mx. 7062a
Gennett 4542-B (released September 1919)
Same date?
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
And He'd Say Oo-La-La! Wee Wee! (words & music: Harry Ruby and George Jessel)
mx. 7063a
Gennett 4541-A (released September 1919)
Same date?
Premier-American Quartet. Orch. acc. (The quartet probably consists of Billy Murray, tenor; John Young, tenor; Steve Porter, baritone; and Donald Chalmers, bass.)
Dixie Is Dixie Once More (words: William Tracey; music: Maceo Pinkard)
mx. 7064 [no take]
Gennett 4541-B (released September 1919)
 
New York, NY: ca. February 1920
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
He Went in Like a Lion and Came Out Like a Lamb (words: Andrew B. Sterling; music: Harry Von Tilzer)
mx. 7197 [no take]
Gennett 9029-A (released May 1920); Starr 9029-A (Canada)
 
New York, NY: Possibly August 25, 1920
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
The Simple Simon Party (Montgomery)
mx. 7304a
Gennett 9073-A (released November 1920); Starr 9073-A (Canada)
Possibly same date:
Billy Murray. Orch. acc.
Chili Bean (words: Lew Brown; music: Albert Von Tilzer)
7305 [no take] Gennett 9065-A (released October 1920); Starr 9065-A (Canada)
The recording date shown was drawn from a test pressing of Gennett 9065.
 
I agree with Kurt's posting -- I definitely wouldn't say that Murray helped make Gennett what it was (there were many studio artists who helped establish Gennett before Murray recorded for them, and who actually made MORE Gennetts than Murray -- Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Henry Burr, Arthur Hall, etc), but Murray WAS a major recording star of the time, featured by many companies during the 1919-1920 era, and he definitely had more popularity (and sales) than many of the studio artists in his category, so his recognition deserves some attention. A spot on the Gennett Walk of Fame would be a nice gesture.
 
(Although if Murray got on the Gennett Walk of Fame, I think Henry Burr should deserve a spot too -- go ahead, laugh, moan, complain, throw chairs, but he has excellent credentials, and there's plenty of proof for me to support this claim. Seriously, I will defend him if necessary.)
 

-Ryan Barna
 		 	   		  
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