100 years ago: “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” hit #1 a second time

It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary John McCormack

Writer(s): Jack Judge, Harry Williams (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 16, 1915 Peak: 18 US, 12 GA, 16 SM, 9 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.5 video, 2.29 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Tipperary” was a British music hall song written in 1912 by Jack Judge. He wrote the song on a bet when someone dared him to write a new song the next day and perform it the same evening. That night, Judge overheard one man giving directions to another, saying, “it’s a long way to…” When Judge sang the song the next morning, a friend wrote down the musical notation for him. TY2 Harry Williams, another friend, got credit on the song because Judge had often borrowed money from Williams and Williams asked for credit if Judge ever wrote a best-selling song. TY2 Judge’s parents were Irish and his grandparents hailed from Tipperary, Ireland. During World War I, Daily Mail correspondent George Curnock witnessed Irish troops singing it while marching. It caught on with other units of the British Army as a lament on longing for home and eventually gained worldwide appeal. WK Although the song “really has nothing to do with war,” TY2 it became “a classic military song and has often been parodied through the decades.” DJ Florrie Forde first sang the song on the British music hall stage in 1913 and the following year the song appeared in two Broadway musicals, sung by Montgomery and Stone in Chin-Chin and Al Jolson in Dancing Around. DJ That year, the American Quartet were the first to chart with the song in the U.S., hitting #1 for seven weeks. However, it was John McCormack, who has been called “the most famous Irish tenor of all time,” PM who had the most successful version. He made his operatic debut in Italy and became an American sensation in 1910. He first hit #1 in 1911 with a pair of songs, “I’m Falling in Love with Someone” and “Mother Machree.” His version of “Tipperary” spent eight weeks on top and become the biggest song of the year. CPM Charles Adams Prince’s Orchestra and Albert Farrington also released versions of the song in 1915, peaking at #2 and #8 respectively. The song was featured in the the film On Moonlight Bay (1951), the musical and film Oh! What a Lovely War in the 1960s, and the musical Darling Lili (1970), which starred Julie Andrews. The German U-boat crew sings it to boost morale in the film Das Boot (1981). On the final episode of TV’s Mary Tyler Moore Show, the newsroom staff sing the song as they march off screen. The song also features in the television special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown when Snoopy, pretending to be a World War I flying ace, dances to a medley of the era’s tunes as played by Shroeder. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for John McCormack DMDB Encyclopedia entry for American Quartet DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 104. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 79-80. CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 25. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 301-2. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/23/2013; last updated 2/24/2023.

On This Day (1914): “The Memphis Blues” charted for the first time

The Memphis Blues Charles Adams Prince’s Orchestra

Writer(s): W.C. Handy (music), George A. Norton (words) (see lyrics here) Recorded: July 24, 1914 Released: October 1914 First Charted: November 7, 1914 Peak: 4 PM, 17 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards (W.C. Handy): Click on award for more details. Awards (Prince’s Orchestra): Awards (Victor Military Band):

About the Song: W.C. Handy’s ‘The Memphis Blues” was one of the first blues songs ever published and “the first to make a significant impact on the music industry.” SS Handy originally wrote the piece as “Mr. Crump” as a means of campaigining for Edward Crump in his bid for mayor of Memphis in 1909. He became the head of one of the most dominant political machines in the nation, ruling Memphis until he died in 1954. SS The song may have derived from “Mama Don’t Allow No Easy Talking Here” by Willie Perry and Susie Johnson, a Memphis-based husband-and-wife black vaudeville comedy team. SS Their publishing company threatened to prosecute anyone using their songs, a warning that may have been directed at Handy. However, no action was taken even though Johnson insisted years later that the song was stolen from her. SS Handy published an instrumental version of the song on September 28, 1912. He self-published it again with lyrics by the end of the year. He eventually sold the rights for $50 to New York music publisher TY2 Thomas C. Bennett and George A. Norton gave it new lyrics. George “Honey Boy” Evans, a white minstrel entertainer, then started performing the song around the country and it eventually became a hit. SS Because he’d sold the rights, Handy wouldn’t see any roylaties from the song until the copyright expierned 28 years later and reverted back to him. Handy has since been christened with the moniker “The Father of the Blues.” SS The chart version by Charles Adams Prince’s Orchestra reached #4 in 1914. He was born in San Francisco in 1869 and traveled with circuses and minstrel shows for several years before beginning a recording career and becoming the musical director of Columbia Records from the turn of the century through the early 1920s. PM He had 82 chart entries from 1905 to 1923, including three chart toppers. Music historian Steve Sullivan says Prince’s rendition is “a very straightforward instrumental arrangement in the carefully structured style of the time, without any improvisation, but with the luxury of a fairly extended playing time (close to four minutes), it conveys the song’s beauty and distinctiveness.” SS Prince made his recording nine days after the first recorded version by the Victor Military Band (#9 PM, 1914), but Prince’s version showed up on the charts first and has been deemed “the first hit recording of a blues song.” PM Other chart versions followed by Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan (#8 PM, 1915), Ted Lewis (#9 PM, 1927), and Harry James (#15 PM, 1944). “The Memphis Blues” has also been featured in the movie musicals Belle of the Nineties (1934) and The Birth of the Blues (1941). Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for W.C. Handy DMDB encyclopedia entry for Charles Adams Prince DMDB encyclopedia entry for Victor Military Band SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 70. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 357-8 and 548. First posted 9/6/2023.

100 years ago: Prince’s Orchestra hit #1 with “Ballin’ the Jack”

Ballin’ the Jack Prince’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Jim (James Henry) Burris (words), Chris Smith (music) (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 15, 1914 Peak: 13 US, 14 GA, 14 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.01 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Ballin the Jack” was railroad terminology about going full speed. “Jack” was term for the locomotive and “ballin’” referred to the highball, which was a radio signal which meant a clear line. SM Beyond railroad slang, the term meant “moving fast and having a good time.” TY2 The song began as a piano piece in 1912. Conducted by G. Hepburn Wilson, it was “made for dancing with a rag time beat with just the occasional whooping, cheering and sound effects which included whistles, a train horn and even a horse whinnying.” SM It became “the most famous fox-trot of the decade.” DJ Lyrics were added by Jim Burris in 1913 about learning a new dance. TY2 “The song was first heard in the revue show Darktown Follies which played off Broadway in Harlem.” SM Eddie Cantor introduced it in vaudeville and dancers Billy Kent and Jeannette Warner helped popularize it in vaudeville. DJ It was also interpolated into the show The Girl from Utah. DJ The only chart version was by Charles Adams Prince’s orchestra. He was born in 1869 in San Francisco, California and served as the musical director for Columbia Records before forming his band. The song went on to appear in several films. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly sang it in For Me and My Gal (1942); Danny Kaye did it in On the Riviera (1951); and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed it in That’s My Boy (1951). Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Charles Adams Prince DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 16. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 67. First posted 2/27/2023.

On This Day in Music (1814): “The Star-Spangled Banner” published

The Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key (words), John Stafford Smith (music)

Writer(s): Francis Scott Key, John Stafford Smith (see lyrics here) Written: September 16, 1814 Published (in newspaper): September 20, 1814 First Performed: October 19, 1814 First Charted: July 2, 1892 (Gilmore’s Band) Peak (various versions): 13 PM, 48 AC, 35 CW, 30 RB, 6 CL (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US (Whitney Houston, 1991) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 142.993 video, -- streaming

Awards (Key): Click on award for more details. Awards (Gilmore’s Band): Awards (Charles Adams Prince): Awards (John McCormack): Awards (Jimi Hendrix):

About the Song: The melody for “The Star-Spangled Banner” came from “To Anacreon in Heaven,” an English tune published circa 1780 and likely composed by John Stafford Smith. Ralph Tomlinson wrote the words. Both were members of London’s Anacreontic Club, a gentlemen’s society for wealthy men who gathered to celebrate with music, food, and drink. This was their theme song. CP The melody was popular in America during the War of 1812. During the last days of the war in 1814, Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Baltimore and “a gifted amateur poet,” SM was part of a group sent to negotiate with the British for the release of Dr. William Beanes. The party arrived on the vessel just before they attacked Fort McHenry from the harbor. TY2 When he saw the American flag still flying above the fort the next morning (September 14, 1814) AMP after the bombardment, he used the back of a letter to scribble down four verses SM of a poem he called “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” He used “To Anacreon in Heaven” as the melody to accompany his verses. His poem was published in The Baltimore Patriot on September 20, 1814. By mid-October, it had been reprinted in at least 17 other papers up and down the East Coast. SM It was first performed publicly on October 19, 1814 by Mr. Hardinge at the Holiday Street Theatre in Baltimore. AMP When the sheet music was published the next year, the title was changed to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was adopted as the national anthem, first by the army and navy, and then as the official American national anthem on March 3, 1931 via an act of Congress signed into law by President Herbert Hoover AMP The song requires a wide vocal range which makes it difficult for untrained singers. There are even professional musicians who’ve struggled to stay on pitch with the tune. The song has been popularly played by military bands throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. There have been chart versions of the song by Patrick Gilmore’s Band (#2 PM, 1892), Margaret Woodrow Wilson (#7 PM, 1915), Charles Adams Prince’s Orchestra (#12 PM, 1916), John McCormack (#13 PM, 1917), Jose Felciano (#50 BB, 1968), Faith Hill (#35 CW, 2001), andthe Band Perry (#59 CW, 2012). It has also been recorded by John Philip Sousa’s Band (1898), Billy Joel (2000), and Boston (2012). Whitney Houston famously sang the song at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 and that performance was revived and released as a single in 2001 (#6 BB, 48 AC, 30 RB) in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was also famously performed by Jimi Hendrix at the close of the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Francis Scott Key AMP AmericanMusicPreservation.com CP Contemplator.com SM Smithsonian website TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 88. First posted 8/29/2023; last updated 9/2/2023.