100 years ago: American Quartet's "Casey Jones" hit #1 for the first of 11 weeks

Casey Jones American Quartet

Writer(s): Wallace Saunders, T. Lawrence Seibert, Eddie Newton (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 18, 1910 Peak: 111 US, 3 GA, 6 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Folk ballads about railroad tragedies became their own musical genre in the five centuries following the Civil War. With more than 40 versions, the song “Casey Jones” came to make its subject matter a mythological figure on par with Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan. SS It has been called “the most notable railroad song ever” JA and, according to Pulitzer-prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg, “the greatest ballad ever composed on the North American continent.” SS John Luther “Casey” Jones ran the Illinois “Cannon Ball Express.” His promptness was so well known that some folks set their watches by his runs. Of course, his obsession with being on time had also got him cited for numerous infractions – and was likely a factor in his fateful final run. SS On April 30, 1900, Jones was at the helm when “Old No. 3” left Memphis en route to Canton, Mississippi. Despite signs warning trains to slow down, Jones was going full speed when they pulled into Vaughn, Mississippi, and realized there were still cars on the main track. Not able to stop in time, Jones pushed a brakeman out of the cab and to safety. Then he grabbed the brakes with all his might to try to avert disaster. He couldn’t safe himself, but he spared the lives of many of the passengers. Railroader Wallace Saunders, who knew Casey, adapted a song called “Jimmie Jones” about another railroad accident. SS Vaudeville performer Tallifero Lawrence Seibert heard the song, which had been popularized on the vaudeville circuit by the Leighton Brothers, and wrote a sketch into his act about Jones. When Seibert met Eddie Walter Newton, a ragtime piano player, the two streamlined the lyrics, reset the song in the Far West, and added a catchier rhythm. SS They published it and gained all rights to the sheet music. With fifteen #1 songs already to his name, Billy Murray was already a superstar when he joined the American Quartet. However, it was their recording of “Casey Jones” that became the biggest of Murray’s career. It was also the biggest hit of 1910 WHC and, if the likely-inflated figure of two million sales is to be believed, the biggest American seller up to that point, passing Murray’s own “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” SS Resources: JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 33. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 7. WHC Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 21. Related Links: First posted 7/2/2014; last updated 8/26/2022.

100 years ago: “Bird in a Gilded Cage” hit #1

A Bird in a Gilded Cage Steve Porter

Writer(s): Arthur J. Lamb (words), Harry Von Tilzer (music) (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 26, 1900 Peak: 16 US, 12 GA, 15 SM (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Harry Von Tilzer was a composer, songwriter, publisher and vaudeville performer born in 1872 in Detroit, Michigan. He got started playing piano and writing tunes for burlesque and vaudeville shows. His first major success was “My Old New Hampshire Home” in 1898. It sold more than two million copies of sheet music and prompted him to become a professional songwriter. WT Arthur J. Lamb was a lyricist born in 1870 in Somerset, England. He had his first major success with “Asleep in the Deep” in 1897. WL Two years later, Lamb approached Von Tilzer with lyrics for “A Bird in a Gilded Cage.” Von Tilzer liked it, but asked Lamb to change some words so it was clear the woman in the song was married and not a mistress. The song details the story of a trophy wife who is “surrounded by wealth yet impoverished socially and emotionally.” PS In the first verse, a couple talk about the woman, saying she only married for money, setting up the chorus which refers to her as “a bird in a gilded cage.” In the second verse, the woman dies and it is even speculated that she may be happier that way. Von Tilzer became “the most prolific composer of this decade.” DJ He said the song was “the key that opened the door of wealth and fame for him.” WB It also opened the doors for ballads to dominate popular music in America through 1914. WB The two went on to work together on more songs, including hits like “The Mansion of Aching Hearts.” W2 The sheet music billed “Cage” as “the most beautiful ballad ever written.” It certainly was “an enormously successful sentimental ballad” TY2 and one of the most successful songs of 1900, selling more than two million copies of sheet music. The first charted version was by Jere Mahoney in April 1990 and it reached #1 on Billboard. It spent five weeks on top, knocked out by Steve Porter’s version of the song. It bettered Mahoney’s, staying at the pinnacle for six weeks. Harry MacDonough also charted with the song that October, reaching #2. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Steve Porter DMDB encyclopedia entry for Jere Mahoney DMDB encyclopedia entry for Harry Von Tilzer DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 22. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) PS ParlorSongs.com (2001). “Tear Jerkers in American Song, Part 1” TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 9-10. WT Wikipedia page about Harry Von Tilzer WL Wikipedia page on Arthur J. Lamb WB Wikipedia page on “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” First posted 12/1/2022; last updated 12/15/2022.

Today in Music (1897): “On the Banks of the Wabash” hit #1

On the Banks of the Wabash George J. Gaskin

Writer(s): Paul Dresser (music & lyrics) (see lyrics here) Published: July 1897 First Charted: November 6, 1897 (George J. Gaskin); January 8, 1898 (Steve Porter) Peak: 110 PM (Gaskin), 14 (Porter) (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 million (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.013 video, 0.024 streaming

Awards (George J. Gaskin): Click on award for more details. Awards (Steve Porter):

About the Song: Paul Dresser grew up near Terre Haute, Indiana. His family had a home and farm adjacent to the Wabash River, which was the state’s primary internal waterway. TI Even after he headed off to New York to eventually become one of the most successful songwriters of the 19th century, he would come home to visit. In the spring of 1897, he wrote “On the Banks of the Wabash” as a reflection of his youthful years about his hometown. He said, “I was born on the banks of the Wabash at Terre Haute…My fondest recollections are of my mother and of my early days along the stream.” TI He finished it and published it in July. He dedicated the song to Mary E. South, a fourteen-year old from Terre Haute whom he’d never met. IN The song was an immediate success. A department store in Chicago claimed it sold nearly 1500 records of the song in one day. TI The song was compared to Stephen Foster’s “The Folks at Home” (aka “Down on the Swanee River”). SA An Indiana newspaper said, “certainly no song since the latter has awakened so much interest among lovers of a good song, nor has any other American author seemed as capable of filling the void left vacant by Foster. TI It reportedly wasn the second best-selling song of the 19th century in terms of sheet music sales, TI selling and estimated half million copies in its first year and eventually reaching sales of one million. TI From a chart stand point, George J. Gaskin was the first to chart with it in 1897. After ten weeks at #1, it was dethroened by Steve Porter’s version, which spent four weeks on top. PM Roger Harding also took it to #3 in 1898 and in 1913, Harry MacDonough and the American Quartet got to #5 with their rendition of the song. PM There are some interesting stories associated with the song. During a Coney Island blackout in 1900, the crowd of roughly 5000 people were kept calm by whistling “On the Banks of the Wabash.” SA The song was rewritten as “On the Banks of Havana” at the onset of the Spanish American War reflect anti-war sentiment. SA It was adopted as the Indiana state official song in 1913. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Steve Porter IN IN.gov SA SongOfAmerica.net by Christie Finn TI ThisIndiana.angefire.com PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 563, 643. Related Links: First posted 6/26/2024.