Byron Harlan: His Top 50 Songs

First posted 8/29/2013; updated 5/29/2019.

Tenor singer born Byron George Harlan on 8/29/1861 in Kansas. Died 9/11/1936. Worked as a ragtime and minstrel singer and balladeer, recording as a solo artist (1899-1919), in a duo with Arthur Collins (01-18), and with the Big Four Quartet (01) and Columbia Comedy Trio (07). He was friends and neighbors with Thomas Edison.

Harlan has five songs featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953 – “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “The Darktown Strutters’ Ball” are duets with Arthur Collins while “School Days,” “My Gal Sal,” and “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” are solo recordings.

For a complete list of this act’s songs and albums honored by the DMDB, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

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Top 100 Songs

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Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

AC = Arthur Collins, FS = Frank Stanley. His 23 songs which peaked at #1 on the U.S. pop charts are noted.

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Alexander’s Ragtime Band (w/ AC, 1911) #1
2. School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids) (1907) #1
3. My Gal Sal (1907) #1
4. Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1906) #1
5. Darktown Strutters’ Ball (w/ AC, 1918) #1
6. The Aba Daba Honeymoon (w/ AC, 1901) #1
7. Hello, Central, Give Me Heaven (1901) #1
8. Put Your Arms Around Me Honey (I Never Knew Any Girl Like You) (w/ AC, 1911) #1
9. Down Where the Wurzburger Flows (w/ AC, 1902) #1
10. Blue Bell (w/ FS, 1904) #1

DMDB Top 5%:

11. When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’ (w/ AC, 1913)
12. The Right Church But the Wrong Pew (w/ AC, 1909) #1
13. The Good Old U.S.A. (1906) #1
14. Under the Yum Yum Tree (w/ AC, 1911) #1
15. Where the Morning Glories Twine Around the Door (1905) #1
16. Hurrah for Baffin’s Bay (w/ AC, 1903) #1
17. I Love the Ladies (w/ AC, 1914) #1
18. Everybody’s Doin’ It Now (w/ AC, 1912)
19. Always in the Way (1903)
20. Daddy’s Little Girl (1906)

21. Keep on the Sunny Side (1906)
22. Camp Meetin’ Time (w/ AC, 1906) #1
23. Oh How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wachi Woo (That's Love in Honolulu) (w/ AC, 1916) #1
24. Alabama Jubilee (w/ AC, 1915)
25. Nobody’s Little Girl (1907) #1
26. Tammany (w/ AC, 1905)
27. Coax Me (w/ AC, 1905)
28. Would You Care? (1905)
29. Oh, You Circus Day (w/ AC, 1912)
30. All Aboard for Dreamland (1904) #1

31. Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Boys Are Marching Along) (w/ FS, 1910) #1
32. The Old Grey Mare (Whiffle Tree) (w/ AC, 1918)
33. Tell Me Pretty Maiden (w/ FS, Joe Belmont, & Flordora Girls, 1901) #1
34. When the Harvest Days Are Over, Jessie, Dear (1901)
35. Melinda’s Wedding Day (w/ AC, 1913)
36. Down Among the Sugar Cane (w/ AC, 1909)
37. Down in Jungle Town (w/ AC, 1908)
38. They're Wearing 'Em Higher in Hawaii (w/ AC, 1917)
39. Snookey Ookums (w/ AC, 1913)
40. The Mansion of Aching Hearts (1902) #1

41. There Never Was a Girl Like You (1908)
42. In the Shadows of the Pines (with A.D. Madeira, 1900)
43. The Cubanola Glide (w/ AC, 1910)
44. The Wedding of Reuben and the Maid (w/ AC, 1901)
45. My Gal Irene (w/ AC, 1908)
46. The Battle Cry of Freedom (w/ FS, 1905)
47. Waiting for the Robert E. Lee (w/ AC, 1912)
48. Won’t You Come Over to My House? (1907)

DMDB Top 10%:

49. That Mesmerizing Mendelssohn Tune (w/ AC, 1910)
50. Two Blue Eyes (Two Little Baby Shoes) (1907)

51. Under the Anheuser Busch (w/ AC, 1904)
52. Two Rubes in a Tavern (w/ FS, 1902)
53. Under the Bamboo Tree (w/ AC, 1903)
54. Parody on “Hiawatha” (w/ AC, 1903)
55. The Blue and the Gray (The Mother’s Gift to Her Country) (1900)
56. The International Rag (w/ AC, 1913)
57. Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet (1910)
58. In My Merry Oldsmobile (w/ AC, 1905)
59. Please Mamma Buy Me a Baby (1903)
60. The Leader of the German Band (w/ AC, 1906)

61. There’s No Place Like Home (1903)
62. Longing for You (1905)
63. How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen Paree (1919)
64. Down in Chattanooga (w/ AC, 1914)
65. Sugar Moon (w/ AC, 1910)
66. Celebratin’ Day in Tennessee (w/ AC, 1914)
67. The Honeymoon Glide (w/ AC, 1911)
68. The Message of the Old Church Bell (1905)
69. And a Little Bit More (w/ AC, 1907)
70. Sunbonnet Sue (1908)

71. I’m Crazy ‘Bout It! (w/ AC, 1906)
72. I'm Going Back to Dixie (aka “I Want to Be in Dixie”) (w/ AC, 1912)
73. Meet Me in Rose-Time, Rosie (w/ FS, 1909)
74. The Birds (w/ Joe Belmont, 1902)
75. First Rehearsal for the Huskin’ Bee (w/ FS, 1902)
76. I’m a Twelve O’Clock Fellow in a Nine O’Clock Town (1917)

DMDB Top 20%:

77. Out in an Automobile (w/ AC, 1906)
78. It Makes Me Think of Home, Sweet Home (1905)
79. Casey Jones (w/ AC, 1910)
80. Are You Sincere? (1908)

81. It Looks Like a Big Night Tonight (w/ AC, 1908)
82. Chicken Reel (w/ FS, 1911)
83. Here Comes My Daddy Now (w/ AC, 1913)
84. The Memphis Blues (w/ AC, 1915)
85. On a Monkey Honeymoon (w/ AC, 1910)
86. Down Where the Big Bananas Grow (w/ AC, 1910)
87. Moonlight in Jungle Land (w/ AC, 1910)
88. Minstrel Parade (w/ AC, 1915)
89. Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay! (w/ AC, 1909)
90. Paddle Your Own Canoe (w/ AC, 1906)

91. Goodbye Little Girl Goodbye (1904)
92. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula (w/ AC, 1916)
93. Long Boy (Goodbye, Ma! Goodbye, Pa! Goodbye, Mule) (w/ the Peerless Quartet, 1918)
94. A Picnic for Two (1905)
95. Camp Meeting Band (w/ AC, 1914)
96. By Heck (with Will Robbins, 1915)
97. My Wife’s Gone to the Country (Hurah! Hurah!) (w/ AC, 1909)
98. Down in Dear Old New Orleans (w/ AC, 1913)
99. School Mates (1909)
100. It’s Great to Be a Soldier Man (1907)

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Awards:

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100 years ago: Byron Harlan hit #1 with “School Days”

School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids) Byron G. Harlan

Writer(s): Gus Edwards (m), Will Cobb (w) (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 11, 1907 Peak: 111 US, 15 GA, 19 SM (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In the early 1900s, sentimental ballads were popular and songs like “Shine on, Harvest Moon,” “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree,” and “School Days” “exemplified this musical style.” WHC These songs dominated sheet music sales, as they “could be sung in the parlor at home around the family piano.” WHC It “remains a singalong favorite.” DJ The song was introduced by its composer, Gus Edwards, in vaudeville’s School Boys and Girls. The show served as a launching pad for budding talent since it featured a number of child stars, such as Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Groucho Marx, and Georgie Price. TY2 “School Days” was the final song, “sung by the entire company of teachers and children. This was a trip down memory lane for a mature old couple, Nellie and Joe who return to the site of their old school house, see themselves as a couple of kids once more.” SM Edwards, who has been called “the most important songwriter to come out of vaudeville,” PS was born in Germany and came to the United States with his family when he was eight. He used to sneak into theaters and befriend the vaudeville performers. At the encouragement of the legendary George M. Cohan, Edwards began writing songs despite not knowing how to read or write music. His first was 1898’s “All I Want Is My Black Baby Back” and by the time “School Days’ came about, Edwards was a famous songwriter with hits like “In My Merry Oldsmobile.” PS While entertaining troops headed for Cuba to fight in the Spanish American War, he met Will Cobb. The pair collaborated on a long list of hits, PS among them “School Days.” Byron G. Harlan’s recording of “School Days” went to #1 for 11 weeks, making it the top song of 1907, WHC the biggest hit of Harlan’s career, and “the biggest Tin Pan Alley had seen up till that time.” RCG The 3 million in sheet music sales made it one of the top 20 sellers from the first half of the 20th century. PM Albert Campbell took his 1908 recording to #3. Bing Crosby sang it in 1939’s The Star Maker, a film biopic about Edwards. In 1945’s Sunbonnet Sue, Gale Storm and Phil Regan performed the song. PS Resources: Archive.org: download song DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 169. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) PS ParlorSongs.com Lessons in America’s Popular Music History RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 38-9. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954 (1986). Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 634. WHC Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 5 and 14. Related Links: First posted 5/18/2012; last updated 12/15/2022.

100 years ago: Byron Harlan hit #1 with “My Gal Sal”

My Gal Sal Byron G. Harlan

Writer(s): Paul Dresser (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 5, 1907 Peak: 110 US, 3 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Theodore Dreiser was a famous American novelist whose brother, Paul, struck out to create his own identity by changing his last name to Dresser. He had a theatre background and sang in medicine shows and with the Billy Rice Minstrels. RA He was “a gargantuan man” RA of nearly 300 pounds who “wrote gigantic songs.” RA He was known as an emotional person who shed tears when composing sentimental songs. People of the era loved sentimental songs, but few have endured through the decades like this one. Part of the song’s success can be attributed to Dresser’s ability to avoid clichés and infuse his songs with originality. RA It is speculated that “My Gal Sal” is about a woman with whom Dresser had a long-term relationships. Her name was Annie Brace, but her professional name was Sallie Walker. She was the proprietor of the most prominent brothel in Evansville, Illinois. WK However, it was his wife, Louise, who introduced the song in vaudeville. TY2 Dresser predicted the song would sell a million copies, but he didn’t live to see it happen. “My Gal Sal,” also known as “They Call Her Frivolous Sal,” TY2 was the last song he ever wrote RA and it was also his greatest hit. DJ He died in 1906 at age 48. Byron G. Harlan made a hit recording of the song in 1907, taking it to #1 and making it one of the top ten songs of the decade. PM It would have been the top song of the year if not for Harlan’s “School Days,” which spent 11 weeks at the pinnacle. WHC The Columbia Stellar Quartet hit #11 with its 1921 version of the song. PM Ted Weems & His Orchestra revived it in 1924 and Claude Hopkins & His Orchestra did the same in 1934. DJ It was also featured in the 1927 movie The Jazz Singer and, in 1942, was used as the title for a biopic on Dresser. The song played throughout the film. DJ Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 140. RA Theodore Raph (1964). The Songs We Sang: A Treasury of American Popular Music. A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc.: New York. Page 311. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 37-8. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954 (1986). Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 554 and 629. WHC Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 14. Related Links: First posted 2/12/2013; last updated 12/9/2022.

Top 100 Songs According to Gardner’s Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century, 1900-1949

Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Top 100 Songs, 1900-1949

Edward Foote Gardner’s book, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century tackled the task of crafting charts for the popular songs of the pre-rock era. He developed a top 20 chart for each month of every year from 1900-1949. The charts also listed only song titles and not particular performers as it was common in the pre-rock era for multiple artists to have recordings of the same hit songs. This chart was created by first sorting songs based on total months at #1. The artist with the top-ranked version of the song is the one listed. Because there were multiple ties, songs were then listed in order of overall DMDB rank. An additional 64 songs which didn’t make this list were at #1 for 2 months. Check other lists based on charts, sales, and airplay here. 5 months at #1: 1. American Quartet “Over There” (1917) 2. Byron Harlan “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (1907) 4 months at #1: 3. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911) 4. Henry Burr “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” (1905) 5. Ben Selvin “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” (1919) 6. Ray Noble with Al Bowlly “The Old Spinning Wheel” (1933) 7. Haydn Quartet with Harry MacDonough “Sunbonnet Sue” (1908) 8. Byron G. Harlan “The Blue and the Gray” (1900) 3 months at #1: 9. The Mills Brothers “Paper Doll” (1942) 10. Francis Craig with Bob Lamm “Near You” (1947) 11. The Harmonicats “Peg O’ My Heart” (1947) 12. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1910) 13. Al Jolson “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913) 14. American Quartet “Moonlight Bay” (1912) 15. Dinah Shore & Her Harper Valley Boys “Buttons and Bows” (1948) 16. Harry MacDonough with Elise Stevenson (as Miss Walton) “ Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1909) 17. Sophie Tucker “Some of These Days” (1911) 18. The Ink Spots “The Gypsy” (1946) 19. Henry Burr with Albert Campbell “Till We Meet Again” (1919) 20. Byron Harlan “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1906) 21. George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice, & Edward Joyce “Always” (1926) 22. Harry MacDonough “Down by the Old Mill Stream” (1911) 23. Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet” (1909) 24. Heidelberg Quintet “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” (1912) 25. Paul Whiteman “Three O’Clock in the Morning” (1922) 26. Billy Murray with the American Quartet “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (1911) 27. J.W. Myers “On a Sunday Afternoon” (1902) 28. Byron G. Harlan “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven” (1901) 29. Gene Austin “Ramona” (1928) 30. Paul Whiteman “What’ll I Do?” (1924) 31. Harry MacDonough “Hiawatha (His Song to Minnehaha)” (1903) 32. The Victor Military Band “Poor Butterfly” (1917) 33. Wayne King with Ernie Birchill “Goodnight Sweetheart” (1931) 34. Haydn Quartet with Harry MacDonough “Bedelia” (1904) 35. Heidelberg Quintet “By the Beautiful Sea” (1914) 36. George MacFarlane “A Little Bit of Heaven (Shure, They Call It Ireland)” (1915) 37. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)” (1948) 38. Leo Reisman with Frances Maddux “Paradise” (1932) 39. Arthur Collins “Under the Bamboo Tree” (1902) 40. Joseph Smith with Harry MacDonough “Smiles” (1918) 41. Al Jolson “I Wonder What’s Become of Sally” (1924) 42. Dinah Shore “I’ll Walk Alone” (1944) 43. Henry Burr “Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland” (1910) 44. Billy Murray “Pretty Baby” (1916) 45. Byron G. Harlan with Frank Stanley “Blue Bell” (1904) 46. Fred Waring with Clare Hanlon “Little White Lies” (1930) 47. Big Four Quartet “Goodbye Dolly Gray” (1901) 48. Elizabeth Spencer with Charles Hart “Let the Rest of the World Go By” (1920) 49. Metropolitan Orchestra “Creole Belles” (1902) 2 months at #1: 50. Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers “White Christmas” (1942) 51. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939) 52. Gene Austin “My Blue Heaven” (1927) 53. Paul Whiteman “Whispering” (1920) 54. Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906) 55. Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925) 56. Peerless Quartet “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1911) 57. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940) 58. Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945) 59. Billy Murray with the Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908) 60. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940) 61. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942) 62. Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1949) 63. Billy Murray “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904) 64. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941) 65. Billy Murray “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1905) 66. Al Jolson “Sonny Boy” (1928) 67. Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (1943) 68. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944) 69. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939) 70. J.W. Myers “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902) 71. Perry Como “Till the End of Time” (1945) 72. John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1915) 73. Van & Schenck “Carolina in the Morning” (1923) 74. Nick Lucas Tip Toe “Through the Tulips” (1929) 75. Henry Burr “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” (1909) 76. Johnny Mercer with the Pied Pipers “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (1945) 77. Ben Selvin “Blue Skies” (1927) 78. Arthur Collins with Byron Harlan “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1918) 79. Ted Lewis “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town” (1932) 80. Victor Orchestra “The Glow-Worm” (1908) 81. Rudy Vallee “Stein Song (University of Maine)” (1930) 82. Billy Jones “Yes! We Have No Bananas” (1923) 83. Eddie Cantor “If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie” (1925) 84. Wendell Hall “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’” (1924) 85. Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners “You’ll Never Know” (1943) 86. Paul Whiteman with Franklyn Baur “Valencia (A Song of Spain)” (1926) 87. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)” (1941) 88. George Olsen with Joe Morrison “The Last Round-Up” (1933) 89. Paul Whiteman “My Mammy” (1921) 90. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen “Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)” (1944) 91. Eddie Cantor “Margie” (1921) 92. Johnny Mercer & the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945) 93. Peerless Quartet “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier” (1915) 94. Blue Barron & His Orchestra “Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon” (1949) 95. Frankie Carle with Marjorie Hughes “Oh, What It Seemed to Be” (1946) 96. Billy Murray “Harrigan” (1907) 97. Henry Burr “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight” (1918) 98. Ethel Waters “Am I Blue?” (1929) 99. Vic Damone “You’re Breaking My Heart” (1949) 100. Steve Porter “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (1900) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Lists Based on Charts, Sales, and Airplay” Dave’s Music Database: “Edward Foote Gardner’s Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century Songs of the Year, 1900-1949” Edward Foote Gardner (2000). Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century. Paragon House: St. Paul, MN. First posted 7/22/2014; last updated 12/1/2022.