Boer War Era Music - 1899 - 1902

Harry Macdonough is our featured performer, singing numerous songs including: our opening song "Goodbye Dolly Gray" - which reflected the patriotic fervour of Canadians on the eve of war - and our final song over the credits, "Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight." He is backed throughout by the "Haydn Quartet."

Harry Macdonough was one of the most well-liked ballad singers of his time, his popularity second only to that of Henry Burr. Macdonough was born John Scantlebury Macdonald in Hamilton, Ontario on May 30, 1871. He later changed his name, believing Harry Macdonough to be a more suitable name for a romantic balladeer. He had musical training as a youth and began his singing career as a church soloist.

In 1898, he made his first recordings for the Michigan Electric Company of Detroit, which were used in its slot-machine phonograph parlours. In 1899, he was invited to sing second tenor for the Edison Male Quartet with John Bieling (tenor), S.H. Dudley (baritone) and William F. Hooley (bass). The group then began recording for Berliner and Victor as the Haydn Quartet which [rose] to fame by concentrating on sentimental ballads, old standards, and gospel hymns [Hoffman]. Macdonough had great success both as a soloist and in concert with the Victor Mixed Chorus, the Victor Light Opera Company (c. 1909-12), the Victor Opera Trio, Quartet & Sextet (1915), the Lyric Quartet (1906-15?), the Orpheus Quartet, the Original Lyric Trio (1899), and the Christy Minstrels (Billy Murray and the Haydn Quartet).

Over the years, Macdonough became more involved with the administrative side of the business (as early as 1905 he had supervision of all Victor recording outside Camden, N.J.), and by 1920 had retired from singing. Until 1922, he was a sales manager for Victor Talking Machine Co. From 1923-25, he held the post of Manager of Artists & Repertoire at Victor. In 1925, he took a job at Columbia as director of recording studios, where he worked until his death in 1931.

In the course of his singing career, Macdonough recorded hundreds of solos, duets and ensemble pieces. Among his recordings were Tell Me Pretty Maiden* (with Grace Spencer), Hiawatha*, Annie Laurie* (with the Haydn Quartet), and By the Light of the Silv'ry Moon (with the Haydn Quartet and Billy Murray). A discography can be found in Roll Back the Years.

For more information on Harry Macdonough's recordings, please consult the Virtual Gramophone data base.

Henry Burr - Tenor (1885-1941)

Henry Burr was the most prolific recording artist of his time, with more than 12 000 recordings to his credit by his own reported estimate. He was born Harry McClaskey in St. Stephen near Saint John, New Brunswick on January 15, 1885. He began singing as a young child and at age 13 (1898) was a boy soprano with a Saint John concert band. When Giuseppe Campanari of the Metropolitan Opera heard his singing, he suggested that Burr go to the United States to study voice. In 1902, he left New Brunswick for New York City where he studied with John D. Meehan and Ellen Burr (from whom he adopted his most often used professional pseudonym), and sang at Grace Methodist Episcopal Church.

While still in his teens (probably in 1902), Burr began recording for Columbia. The first Columbia recording on which his name appeared was released in 1904. In 1906 he joined the Columbia Male Quartet which recorded under the name Peerless Quartet for the Victor label. He assumed the leadership of the group in 1910, managing it until 1928. Over the years he would record under many names (Harry McClaskey, Henry Burr, and Irving Gillette, to name a few) also singing with a number of ensembles, including the Heidelberg Quintette and the Sterling Trio, and performing many popular duets with Albert Campbell. In 1915, he assembled a touring troupe of the most popular Victor recording artists, including singers Billy Murray, Arthur Collins, Albert Campbell, and banjo player Vess Ossman. After several years of recording as a freelance artist, Burr signed a lucrative exclusive contract with Victor and continued to manage and tour with the Eight Popular Victor Artists troupe. They also starred on the Goodrich Zippers and the Cities Service radio programmes. When Victor decided not to renew the ensemble's contract after a management change in 1927, Burr disbanded the group and assumed the position of programme director for the Columbia Broadcasting Company (later CBS).

Burr was never content to rely solely on his singing career for income, involving himself in other ventures while still at the peak of his popularity. In 1915, to try his hand at record making, he established the Paroquette Manufacturing Co. which soon went out of business (1917). He was joint owner with Fred Van Eps of a banjo factory, and for a few years ran a music publishing company in New York City. He wrote lyrics for other artists including those for Ray Perkins, Stand Up and Sing for Your Father an Old-time Tune.

Though his recording career was largely over by the late 1920s due to changes in both recording technology and popular taste, Burr made a successful comeback on Chicago radio station WLS's National Barn Dance in the 1930s. The programme's popularity rivaled that of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Henry Burr died of throat cancer in 1941 and was buried in Westchester, New York. He was survived by his wife Cecilia.

To estimate accurately Burr's recording output is difficult due to both the quantity of his recordings and the multitude of pseudonyms under which he recorded. Partial discographies can be found in Roll Back the Years and in a biography by Arthur Makosinski, in preparation (1998). A few of his most popular songs include, In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, The Song that Stole My Heart Away and My Buddy, recorded as a soloist, and Let Me Call You Sweetheart and My bird of Paradise with the Peerless Quartet.

Harold Augustus Jarvis - Tenor (1864-1924)

Harold Jarvis was born in Toronto in 1864, the son of singer Annie McLear. As a young boy he gained some popularity singing Scottish songs while in highland costume. At the age of 14, he entered the merchant marine, sailing on the Allen and P & O lines between Montreal and England, and joined the Royal Naval Reserve. He left the marine service to study Music at the Royal Academy of Music where he won a gold medal.

In 1891, he moved to Detroit where he sang as a tenor soloist at the First Presbyterian Church. The following year he married the singer, Laurie Geikie of Toronto. In 1903, he sang the tenor role in The Messiah, performing with the celebrated Canadian opera singer Emma Albani.

He returned to Toronto in 1911, but was to settle finally in Detroit, where he died in 1924 at the age of 60.

He began recording for Victor in 1908, for Columbia in 1912 and for Edison in 1914. His most popular song was Beautiful Isle of Somewhere , first recorded in 1914. Among his recordings for Victor were March of the Cameron men*, My ain countrie* and O Canada*. A partial discography can be found in Roll Back the Years.

For more information on Harold Jarvis's recordings, please consult the Virtual Gramophone data base.