100 years ago: Henry Burr hit #1 with “My Buddy”

My Buddy Henry Burr

Writer(s): Walter Donaldson (music), Gus Kahn (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 4, 1922 Peak: 11 US, 6 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.19 video, 0.07 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “My Buddy” was the first hit for Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn. Donaldson previously had hits with “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen Paree?” and “My Mammy” while Kahn had written lyrics for “Pretty Baby” and “Ain’t We Got Fun?” The pair went on to work together on “Makin’ Whoopee,” “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,” “Carolina in the Morning,” and “Love Me or Leave Me” and wrote more hits with other partners. Both were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The song “My Buddy” became a favorite in vaudeville, DJ popularized by Al Jolson. TY2 It was “quite a tearjerker.” TY2 It is “an old-fashioned ballad that brought back people’s memories of a time before the war,” SM allowing them “to express their grief now that part of their life was no longer there.” SM The lyrics say, “Life is a book that we study / Some of its leaves bring a sigh / There it was written by a buddy/ That we must part you and I / Nights are long since you went away / I think about you all through the day.” “My Buddy” was the last of Henry Burr’s twenty-three chart-toppers as a solo artist or with Albert Campbell. He had 164 chart entries total and is considered “the #1 ballad singer of recorded music’s 1890-1930 pioneer era.” PM He was the first to chart with “My Buddy” and his was the most successful. There were also chart versions by Ernest Hare (#5, 1923), Ben Bernie (#11, 1923), and Sammy Kaye (#23, 1942). PM The song has also been recorded by Gene Autry, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Teresa Brewer, Benny Carter, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Doris Day, Dr. John, Connie Francis, Glenn Frey, Stan Getz, Jackie Gleason, Eydie Gormé, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Jeff Healey, Earl Hines, Lena Horne, Harry James, Mario Lanza, Guy Lombardo, Glenn Miller, the Mills Brothers, Anne Murray, Dinah Shore, Nancy Sinatra, Kate Smith, Kay Starr, Barbra Streisand, Mel Tormé, Barry White, and Bob Wills. The song was featured in the movie Wings (1927), the Gus Kahn biopic I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951), The Black Marble (1980), and Buddy in 1997. TY2 Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 139. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 124. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 65-70 and 553. Related Links: First posted 4/25/2023.

100 years ago: “Danny Boy” charted for first time

Danny Boy Ernestine Schumann-Heink

Writer(s): traditional (adapted by Fred Weatherly) (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 19, 1918 Peak: 5 US, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Whenever alcohol and sentimentality are mixed in Irish bars around the world” LW there’s bound to be a rousing sing-a-long to “the delicious melancholy” LW of “the lovely lilting ballad ‘Danny Boy,’” LW “one of the most popular songs of the 20th century.” LW The song has been said to be a “mother’s lament” about her son heading out to find his fortune or fight against the English. “In her motherly way, she adds a bit of blackmail by suggesting that if he goes, he will never see her alive again.” LW Other accounts have said it is about an Irish father singing to his son, but still about the song heading off to war. SF Frederick Weatherly, a lawyer and sometime politician who published lyrics for at least 1500 songs, wrote the lyrics for “Danny Boy” in 1910. Ironically, he was an Englishman who is thought to have never even set foot in Ireland. SF It is disputed whether he wrote a tune to accompany the words LW or had simply written a poem not set to any tune. WK His sister-in-law, Margaret Enright Weatherly, provided him with “The Londonderry Air,” a traditional Irish melody which dates back to at least the first half of the 19th century and has been paired with hundreds of different lyrics. LW It has also been linked as far back as the 17th century to a blind harpist named Rory Dall O’Cahan. Jane Ross, of Londonderry, is then reported to have written down the music after hearing it played by a fiddler. SF Margaret heard her father and other Irish railroad workers play when she was a child in California. WK Frederick then adjusted the lyrics to fit the song, although some accounts say that Margaret actually set the words to the music. WK Either way, Frederick never acknowledged her contribution, which caused a major division amongst the family. SF She and her husband died in poverty while he went on to achieve fame and wealth. SF Weatherly gave the song to singer Elsie Griffin, who turned it into one of the new century’s most popular songs. WK The first charted version came in 1918, when Ernestine Schumann-Heink took it to #5 on the U.S. pop charts. Subsequent chart versions came from Glenn Miller (#17 US, 1940), Al Hibbler (#9 RB, 1950), Conway Twitty (#10 US, 1959), Sil Austin (#59 US, 1959), Andy Williams (#64 US, 1961), Patti LaBelle (#76 US, 1964), Jackie Wilson (#25 RB, 1965), and Ray Price (#9 CW, 1967). The song has also been recorded by Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Shane McGowan, Glenn Miller, Sinéad O'Connor, Elvis Presley, and Jim Reeves. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ernestine Schumann-Heink LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 23. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 11/22/2022.

100 years ago: “The Aba Daba Honeymoon” hit #1

The Aba Daba Honeymoon Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan

Writer(s): Walter Donaldson and Arthur Fields (both: words and music) (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 1, 1914 Peak: 12 US, 20 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.09 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This bizarre novelty song about a monkey wedding and honeymoon had a surprisingly sturdy shelf life. The song had a similar theme and title to the 1910 song “On a Monkey Honeymoon,” which was “about a bride and groom and he called her his monkey, whereas ‘Aba Daba Honeymoon’ was about a monkey with a long tail and a happy chimpanzee and they were in love, the chimp calling her monkey Monk and the monkey calling his lover chimp, Chimpy. Yet again there was a big baboon who performed the wedding ceremony but this time it really was a baboon.” SMThe listener finds out that the gibberish lyrics translate to the monkee and chimp declaring their love for each other. Ruth Roye introduced the song in 1914 at the Palace Theater in New York. TY2 That same year, Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan had a #1 with the song. The song resurfaced again for the films King of Jazz (1930) and Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe (1945), TY2 but its most significant appearance came in the 1950 film Two Weeks with Love. Debbie Reynolds sang it in the film with Carleton Carpenter and their version was released as a single, reaching #3 in 1951. It was one of several versions of the song to chart in its resurgence more than 25 years after Collins and Harlan first charted with it. There were other versions by Kitty Kallen & Richard Hayes (#9, 1951), Freddy Martin (#12, 1951), Cliff Stewart (#19, 1951), and Hoagy Carmichael with Cass Daley (#23, 1951). PM It resurfaced again in 1960 when Joe “Fingers” Carr and Ira Ironstrings recorded it for their album Together for the Last Time, Volume 1. 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 1. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 67. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 467. Related Links: First posted 2/27/2023.

On This Day (1912): American Quartet hit #1 with “Oh You Beautiful Doll”

Oh You Beautiful Doll Billy Murray & the American Quartet

Writer(s): Nat D. Ayer (music), Seymour Brown (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 16, 1911 Peak: 11 US, 13 GA, 112 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.23 video, 0.21 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “The definition of beauty or attractiveness has changed over the years…The men of the early 1900s would considered many of the beautiful women of the 21st century under nourished,” TY2 as suggested by the line “Oh, you beautiful doll / You great big beautiful doll” in the “ragtime love song” WK “Oh, You Beautiful Doll.” “In ’00, the Florodora girls were considered the epitome of feminine allure. The six girls were 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds each.” TY2 The American Quartet had a #1 hit with the song. Although Billy Murray received a separate credit, “this was definitely a group effort with the Quartet joining in as a harmony group right from the beginning and not being dominated by Murray.” SM This was the fourth chart-topper for the American Quartet, who first charted in 1910. PM The song has been recorded hundreds of times WK including an instrumental by Arthur Pryor’s band DJ in 1912. Al Campbell & Arthur Collins, the Crew-Cuts, Mitch Miller, Nancy Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. SH Judy Garland sang the song in the 1942 movie For Me and My Gal. DJ It has also been featured in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Broadway Rhythm (1944), Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949), Strangers on a Train (1951), The I-Don’t-Care Girl (1953), The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), The Taming of the Shrew (1969), and Somewhere in Time (1980). Resources: DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 150. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SH SecondHandSongs.com TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 58. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 23-5. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/26/2023; last updated 9/6/2023.