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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
Made Popular by Songs
Hen and Women Who Have Won Wealth
and Fame By Singing Favorite Melo-
dies — How Boulanger Became
Known — Harrigan, Scanlan,
Annie Pixley, Tony Pastor
and Others Hade Fa-
mous by Tunes.
EARLY two hundred men during the past
fifty years in America have been brought
prominently before the public through the in-
fluence of popular songs and hymns. Much has
been written about how songs have been made
popular by singers, but very little about songs
that have immortalized men.
General Boulanger was brought to the front
mainly, says a writer in the New York Herald,
through a vocal setting of the celebrated '' Bou-
langer March," sung by a Parisian music hall
singer, Paulus. Boulanger had obtained some
distinction previous to this time, but through
the singing of Paulus he became known to the
bourgeoise, and his fame was heralded all over
France, and thence throughout the civilized
world. There are many notable instances of
popularity created in this manner.
Ira D. Sankey, the singing evangelist was
comparatively unknown until he sang the hymn
entitled "The Ninety and Nine." At the
present time, when this celebrated hymn is re-
ferred to, it always suggests a picture of Sankey
seated on a platform, before an audience of
from five thousand to ten thousand persons,
singing "The Ninety and Nine" as only he
could render it.
David Wambold, now dead, one of the origi-
nal San Francisco Minstrels, who was one of
the sweetest ballad singers this country has
produced, is always remembered in connection
with the ballad " Come Sit by My Side, Little
Darling.'' Even now, after the lapse of nearly
twenty years, many readers of this paper will,
no doubt, recall the exquisite finish and melody
with which Wambold invited his little dariing
to come sit by his side and lean her brown head
upon his breast.
' ' OLD BLACK JOE.''
The fame of Milton Barlow, the minstrel,
rests chiefly upon his delineation of the char-
acter of " Old Black Joe." His singing of this
famous old negro melody has never been
equalled. He dressed and acted the part of the
old black refugee, and sang the song so well
that it would be difficult to find a boy of ten
years of the present time who could not sing the
refrain of the melody.
The present generation of song lovers has no
knowledge whatever of Edward Harding, but
old-timers will remember him as an Englishman
who came to this country more than forty years
ago, and who brought with him a baritone voice
of great strength and sweetness. In New York
City at that time there were concert halls where
beer and liquor were sold. There were probably
a dozen of these places south of 14th street,
and prominent among them was one in
Lispenard street, just off Broadway, which was
mainly supported by men in the dry goods dis-
trict.
The concert hall at that time was run on the
English plan, and was a reputable resort. At
THE
this resort Harding was a great favorite, and the
song which brought him to public notice was
the " Village Blacksmith," the music of which
was written by a German named Weiss, and the
words by Longfellow. Harding gained distinc-
tion all over the State because of his rendering
of this really great song, and the place in Lis-
penard street was nightly thronged to hear him
sing it.
Contemporaneous with Harding was the
equally well-known singer Lingard. He at-
tained celebrity through his character songs,
his principal successes being "Champagne
Charlie "and "Captain Jinks." Such an im-
pression did Lingard make upon the public
mind, that even now, after the lapse of thirty
years or more, " Captain Jinks " can, in fancy,
be seen parading down Broadway, and the in-
ebriated figure of "Champagne Charlie" still
stands out on the records of time, boasting of
his capacity for alcoholic stimulants.
his rendition of the celebrated " Mulligan
Guards '' song, in which they '' shouldered guns
and marched and marched away, from Baxter
street 'way up to Avenue A, the drums and
fifes did sweetly, sweetly play, as we marched,
marched, marched with the Mulligan Guards."
As Mark Twain will be remembered for his
Story of the jumping frog of the Calaveras and
the incident in Tom Sawyer's career when he
whitewashed the fence, so will "Ned " Harri-
gan 's name be remembered* in years to come
with the rollicking, jolly music of the " Mulli-
gan Guards." The sound of it even now is
enough to set the listener's feet in motion.
Who does not remember that gentle, patheti-
cally melodious little ballad, "Empty is the
Cradle, Baby's Gone?" The author of th ; s
tender gem was Harry Kennedy, who now lies
under the sod. But in future years, when the
name of this favorite song writer shall be re-
called in tender reminiscence, "Empty is the
Cradle '' will always be associated with it upon
IN THE OLD TIMES.
the walls of memory.
'' Down in a Coal Mine '' did more to popu-
Gradually coming down through the years
larize Tony Pastor than any of the thousand and toward the present, "Brannigan's Band " sug-
one ditties which he has sung since. It was gests the name of the comedian, Tony Hart;
mainly through Mr. Pastor's efforts as a vocalist and William Scanlan, with his " Peck-a-Boo,"
that the fame of the old familiar song was spread will always be intimately associated in the
across the seas and reached hearers in every civil- minds of the lovers of popular songs.
ized clime.
A consideration of songs which have been
"Oh, yes," said the genial singer as this written and sung in the last decade brings to
prominent incident in his career was brought to mind "Stick to Your Mother, Tom," sung by
his attention, "'Down in a Coal Mine' was Maude Beverley. For several years this vocalist
perhaps the most successful song I ever sung. had been singing in concert halls and earning a
There was something wholesome and genuine precarious existence, attracting no special at-
about it which made the song immensely popu- tention. But through the success attained by
lar. We don't get such things as that now- her singing of "Stick to Your Mother, Tom,"
adays. At the present time the writers ot she quickly arose to the $100 a week class, and
popular songs strive after topical subjects which her prosperity continued for a long time.
leave no lasting impression upon the public
At about the same time May Howard attained
mind. I should like to get another song equally international fame in the manner she sang "The
as good.''
Letter That Never Came,'' which was also true
Minstrel Billy Emerson owes' more of his of Banks Winters, who inflicted upon a groan-
popularity to " I 'm as Happy as a Big Sun- ing public that well-known chestnut, "White
flower '' than to any other one song. Its suc- Wings." Equally successful was the Philadel-
cess was attested to by the fact that he sang it phia minstrel, J. L. Carncross, with "See That
on nearly one thousand consecutive nights. My Grave's Kept Green." It is mainly due to
Thomas Dixon, the tenor minstrel, for nearly a Mr. Carncross' sweet voice that the grave has
quarter of a century sang •' Sally in Our been kept green ever since, even if paint had to
Alley." He had a very sweet voice, but he be used to achieve this laudable object.
did not attract any particular attention until
Lotta was first individualized with her singing
he happened to stumble across '' Sally,'' who of the then famous darky melody '' In the Morn-
had already celebrated her two hundredth birth- ing By the Bright Light," while the late Annie
day. He made a great hit with the song, and Pixley was universally associated with '' The
his singing of it caused him to be in demand Cows Are in the Corn." Then came J. K. Em-
by theatrical managers for nearly twenty years. met with his celebrated lullaby, " Go to Sleep,
The pretty little ballad, "My Pretty Red My Baby," the fame of which has been kept
Rose," was instrumental in bringing "Bobby " alive by several imitations since his death.
Newcombe to public notice, and until the day of
R. J. Jose had been singing for a comparative-
his death '' Bobby '' always included this popu- ly small salary in Dockstader's minstrels, until
lar air in his repertory.
he roused his audiences to enthusiastic applause
Frank Howard achieved celebrity as a ballad by his rendering of "With All Her Faults I
singer through his singing "Only a Pansy Love Her Still." Within a week his salary was
Blossom," which he had written himself. He doubled, and even to the present day he falls
spread the fame of his own song when employed back upon this song as one of the most attrac-
by a patent medicine firm to travel through the tive features of his extensive repertory, invari-
South with one of their wagons. It is probably ably enlisting encores whenever sung.
a fact that more bottles of this medicine have
MORE RECENT INSTANCES.
been sold through the influence of Howard's
sweet voice in '' Only a Pansy Blossom '' than
A review of the more recent instances of men
were ever disposed of by a peripatetic medicine and women who have attracted universal atten-
vendor.
tion in the field of popular song calls up Maggie
"MULLIGAN GUARDS." "
/
Cline. " Mary Ann Kehoe " walked into pub-
Not a little of the success achieved by Edward licity when Maggie first trotted Miss Kehoe out
Harrigan upon the stage was due primarily to upon the stage, with its suggestions of domestic
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