Henry Burr
Encyclopedia
Henry Burr was a Canadian singer of popular
songs from the early 20th century, an early radio performer and producer. He was born Harry Haley McClaskey and used Henry Burr as one of his many pseudonym
s, in addition to Irving Gillette, Henry Gillette, Alfred Alexander, Robert Rice, Carl Ely, Harry Barr, Frank Knapp, Al King, and Shamus McClaskey. He was one of the first singers to make popular acoustic recordings and one of the most prolific recording artists of all time, with more than 12,000 recordings by his own estimate. A tenor, he performed as a soloist and also in duets, trios and quartets. His most famous collaboration was the Peerless Quartet
.
, Canada
, Harry McClaskey was the son of a candy and tobacco store owner, A. A. McClaskey. His mother was the former Ida Connors and he was the youngest of four children. His vocal talents were recognized early and by the age of 5 he was performing publicly in St. Stephen. At age 10 he was the mascot for the Saint John Bicycle and Athletic Club in the nearby city of Saint John
, singing "Her Eyes Don't Shine Like Diamonds" and at age 13 he was performing onstage as a boy tenor with the Artillery Band in Saint John. The family had moved to Saint John by this time. Perhaps doubting that he could make a career in music, he later attended Mt. Allison Academy
in Sackville, New Brunswick
, and afterwards worked for his father. On April 14, 1901, he appeared at the opera house in Saint John in his first notable concert with the Scottish soprano Jessie MacLachlan
. On September 30, 1901 he was discovered by the Metropolitan Opera
baritone Giuseppe Campanari
who was in St. John to perform at the St. John Opera House. Campanari insisted that McClaskey go to New York for musical training.
It was around 1902 that he started to make recordings with Columbia Records
and he used the name Henry Burr at that time. He arrived at a particularly opportune time for Columbia, as their star tenor George J. Gaskin
was in the final years of his career. He started recording for Edison Records
as well in November 1904, under the name Irving Gillette. Disagreements with company executives resulted in him no longer recording for Edison after October 1914. He first recorded with Victor
on January 4, 1905, and the recordings were first released that March. On April 7, 1905 he recorded Egbert Van Alstyne
's "In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree" which proved to be highly popular. It was also recorded by contemporary Billy Murray
the same year. Burr proved to be a successful artist, recording as noted, thousands of songs for various labels under various names. He would record with Leeds Talk-O-Phone
, Imperial
, Busy Bee Records and the American Record Company
as well.
label. When Stanley died in 1910, Burr took over management of the group. It continued on as a popular recording and live performance team (with various personnel and name changes over the years) until 1928, when it disbanded. Burr was also a member of other recording groups, including the Metropolitan Trio and the Manhattan Mixed Trio, both of which featured him with Frank C. Stanley
and Elise Stevenson.
, based in New York City. The Paroquette system used vertical cut records and featured his own recordings and those of several other performers. As a novel introduction in a highly competitive market, the Paroquette recording technique was an early failure, and the company was out of business by 1917. Burr also tried music publishing, and he also shared ownership in a banjo
factory with Van Eps for a short while.
while broadcasting technology was still in its infancy. He made his first appearance in 1920 in Denver, Colorado
using a microphone improvised from a wooden bowl with an inverted telephone transmitter. The broadcast was heard as far west as San Francisco. Burr is also credited with making the first transcontinental 'broadcast' by singing into the telephone in New York and being heard by diners wearing headphones at a Rotary dinner in California. Also in 1920, he signed an exclusive contract with Victor that lasted seven years. A lucrative contract, it made him (for a time) a wealthy man.
By the late 1920s, his recording career was over – electrical recording technologies had led to the crooner
style of tenor first exemplified in the singing of Gene Austin
and Al Bowlly
– but the commercial potential of radio continued to interest Burr. As a result, he became involved in early radio programming, forming Henry Burr, Inc. in 1928 as a producer of radio programming. He produced numerous programs for commercial radio networks into the 1930s. He originated the Cities Service broadcast, which he produced for two years.
In October 1929, he reportedly lost a substantial portion of his wealth in the Wall Street Crash of 1929
. Within a month, however, he was appointed Director of the Artist's Bureau at CBS which had just been organized under the ownership of William S. Paley
.
Around 1935, he returned to performing on the radio as a member of the WLS Chicago
National Barn Dance
troupe, which was broadcast over NBC on Saturday evenings. He soon became a featured performer on the show, which he stayed with for five years until shortly before his death. He suffered from throat cancer and died in Chicago
on April 6, 1941. Buried near his stepdaughter Marguarite in Mount Vernon, New York
, where he had lived, he was survived by his wife, Cecilia.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
songs from the early 20th century, an early radio performer and producer. He was born Harry Haley McClaskey and used Henry Burr as one of his many pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s, in addition to Irving Gillette, Henry Gillette, Alfred Alexander, Robert Rice, Carl Ely, Harry Barr, Frank Knapp, Al King, and Shamus McClaskey. He was one of the first singers to make popular acoustic recordings and one of the most prolific recording artists of all time, with more than 12,000 recordings by his own estimate. A tenor, he performed as a soloist and also in duets, trios and quartets. His most famous collaboration was the Peerless Quartet
Peerless Quartet
The Peerless Quartet, , was a vocal group from the acoustic era . It was organised in 1904 as the Columbia Quartet. It remained active until 1928 and had many changes of personnel during that time, the one constant being Henry Burr...
.
Early years
Born in the border town of St. Stephen, New BrunswickSt. Stephen, New Brunswick
St. Stephen is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River at .-Climate:...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Harry McClaskey was the son of a candy and tobacco store owner, A. A. McClaskey. His mother was the former Ida Connors and he was the youngest of four children. His vocal talents were recognized early and by the age of 5 he was performing publicly in St. Stephen. At age 10 he was the mascot for the Saint John Bicycle and Athletic Club in the nearby city of Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, singing "Her Eyes Don't Shine Like Diamonds" and at age 13 he was performing onstage as a boy tenor with the Artillery Band in Saint John. The family had moved to Saint John by this time. Perhaps doubting that he could make a career in music, he later attended Mt. Allison Academy
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
in Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
, and afterwards worked for his father. On April 14, 1901, he appeared at the opera house in Saint John in his first notable concert with the Scottish soprano Jessie MacLachlan
Jessie MacLachlan
Jessie Niven MacLachlan was a Scottish Gaelic soprano.A native of Mull, Jessie was the eldest of eight children born to Alexander MacLachlan and Margaret Campbell Niven...
. On September 30, 1901 he was discovered by the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
baritone Giuseppe Campanari
Giuseppe Campanari
Giuseppe Campanari Cooke gives his date of birth as 17 November 1858 but this is unlikely given the d.o.b. of his brother Leandro. was an Italian-born operatic baritone and cellist...
who was in St. John to perform at the St. John Opera House. Campanari insisted that McClaskey go to New York for musical training.
Recording artist
Emboldened by Campanari's endorsement, McClaskey ventured to New York in 1902, where he began lessons and sang with the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church choir. He ultimately rose to tenor soloist for the choir. His teachers included John Dennis Meehan (or Mehan) and Kate Stella Burr, from whom he would adopt his stage name in her honour.It was around 1902 that he started to make recordings with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and he used the name Henry Burr at that time. He arrived at a particularly opportune time for Columbia, as their star tenor George J. Gaskin
George J. Gaskin
-Career:Born in Belfast, Ireland, he became one of the most popular singers the United States in the 1890s and was nicknamed the "Silver Voiced Irish Tenor". His earliest known recordings were done for the Edison North American Phonograph Company on June 2, 1891...
was in the final years of his career. He started recording for Edison Records
Edison Records
Edison Records was one of the earliest record labels which pioneered recorded sound and was an important player in the early recording industry.- Early phonographs before commercial mass produced records :...
as well in November 1904, under the name Irving Gillette. Disagreements with company executives resulted in him no longer recording for Edison after October 1914. He first recorded with Victor
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
on January 4, 1905, and the recordings were first released that March. On April 7, 1905 he recorded Egbert Van Alstyne
Egbert Van Alstyne
Egbert Anson Van Alstyne was a United States songwriter and pianist. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes from the early 20th century.He was born in Marengo, Illinois...
's "In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree" which proved to be highly popular. It was also recorded by contemporary Billy Murray
Billy Murray (singer)
William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
the same year. Burr proved to be a successful artist, recording as noted, thousands of songs for various labels under various names. He would record with Leeds Talk-O-Phone
Leeds Talk-O-Phone
Leeds Talk-O-Phone was a record label, producing cylinders from 1894 to 1903 and single-sided lateral-cut disc gramophone records in the United States of America from about 1902 to 1909....
, Imperial
Imperial Records (1900)
The earliest Imperial Records was a short-lived United States based company of the first decade of the 1900s, producing single-sided lateral cut gramophone records. Issues included ragtime banjo music, operatic solos, and Hebrew songs. As the name implies, they seem to have been destined at least...
, Busy Bee Records and the American Record Company
American Record Company
The American Record Company was a United States record label, in business from about 1904 to 1908. Then re-activated in 1979.The American Record Company was founded by Ellsworth A. Hawthorne and Horace Sheble and Frederick M. Prescott. It was based in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as well.
Collaborations
In 1906, Burr joined the Columbia Male Quartet which was recording for the Columbia Record Company as second tenor under the management of Frank C. Stanley. They were later renamed the Peerless Quartet when they moved to the VictorVictor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
label. When Stanley died in 1910, Burr took over management of the group. It continued on as a popular recording and live performance team (with various personnel and name changes over the years) until 1928, when it disbanded. Burr was also a member of other recording groups, including the Metropolitan Trio and the Manhattan Mixed Trio, both of which featured him with Frank C. Stanley
Frank C. Stanley
Frank C. Stanley was a bass-baritone singer, stage performer and banjoist who made many early gramophone recordings on disc and cylinder during the 1890s and the 1900s. His real name was William Stanley Grinsted. He was born on 29 December 1868 in Orange, New Jersey...
and Elise Stevenson.
As a businessman
By 1915, he was in a comfortable position financially, and he began to seek ways to invest his money. That year, he formed the Paroquette Record Manufacturing Company with Fred Van EpsFred Van Eps
Fred Van Eps was a noted banjoist and banjo maker. The "Van Eps Recording Banjo" was a well-known model until 1930.-Biography:...
, based in New York City. The Paroquette system used vertical cut records and featured his own recordings and those of several other performers. As a novel introduction in a highly competitive market, the Paroquette recording technique was an early failure, and the company was out of business by 1917. Burr also tried music publishing, and he also shared ownership in a banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
factory with Van Eps for a short while.
Early radio
Burr performed live on the radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
while broadcasting technology was still in its infancy. He made his first appearance in 1920 in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
using a microphone improvised from a wooden bowl with an inverted telephone transmitter. The broadcast was heard as far west as San Francisco. Burr is also credited with making the first transcontinental 'broadcast' by singing into the telephone in New York and being heard by diners wearing headphones at a Rotary dinner in California. Also in 1920, he signed an exclusive contract with Victor that lasted seven years. A lucrative contract, it made him (for a time) a wealthy man.
By the late 1920s, his recording career was over – electrical recording technologies had led to the crooner
Crooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
style of tenor first exemplified in the singing of Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
and Al Bowlly
Al Bowlly
Albert Allick Bowlly was a Southern-African singer, songwriter, composer and band leader, who became a popular Jazz crooner during the 1930s in the United Kingdom and later, in the United States of America. He recorded more than 1,000 records between 1927 and 1941...
– but the commercial potential of radio continued to interest Burr. As a result, he became involved in early radio programming, forming Henry Burr, Inc. in 1928 as a producer of radio programming. He produced numerous programs for commercial radio networks into the 1930s. He originated the Cities Service broadcast, which he produced for two years.
In October 1929, he reportedly lost a substantial portion of his wealth in the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
. Within a month, however, he was appointed Director of the Artist's Bureau at CBS which had just been organized under the ownership of William S. Paley
William S. Paley
William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
.
Around 1935, he returned to performing on the radio as a member of the WLS Chicago
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
National Barn Dance
National Barn Dance
National Barn Dance, broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry...
troupe, which was broadcast over NBC on Saturday evenings. He soon became a featured performer on the show, which he stayed with for five years until shortly before his death. He suffered from throat cancer and died in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on April 6, 1941. Buried near his stepdaughter Marguarite in Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, where he had lived, he was survived by his wife, Cecilia.
See also
- The Haydn QuartetThe Haydn QuartetThe Haydn Quartet was one of the most popular recording close harmony quartets in the early twentieth century.Originally Samuel Holland Rous formed a vocal quartet in 1896 to record for Edison’s studios...
- 1903 in music1903 in music-Events:*February 11 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony is premiered in Vienna*February 23 – George Enescu conducts the world premieres of three of his works, the Suite No. 1 for orchestra, op. 9, in C major, and the two Romanian Rhapsodies, op...
- 1909 in music1909 in music-Events:*November 28 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is premièred in New York City-Albums Released:*Tchailkovsky's Nutcracker Suite - Mark Hamburg And The Royal Albert Hall Orchestra-Published popular music:...
- 1918 in music1918 in music-Events:* March 3 - Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 2 is premiered in Budapest* May 24 - Béla Bartók's opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle is premiered in Budapest.*April 30/May 1 - Toivo Kuula is mortally wounded in the Finnish Civil War....
- 1922 in music1922 in music-Events:*January 24 - Carl Nielsen conducts the first public performance of his Symphony No. 5 in Copenhagen.*October 19 - Maurice Ravel orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is premiered in Paris...
- "Peg o' My HeartPeg o' My Heart"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
" - "I'm Forever Blowing BubblesI'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" is a popular song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.-Creation:The music was written by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin", actually a collective pseudonym for the writers James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent...
"
External links
- Discography of Henry Burr on Victor RecordsVictor Talking Machine CompanyThe Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR) - Arthur Makosinki: Henry Burr online Makosinki attempts to trace the convoluted changes in Burr's various quartets, trios and other ventures. The web site also provides various additional stage names.
Audio
- When you and I were young Maggie (1916 solo performance) From Virtual Gramophone.
- Henry Burr in concert This site contains direct links to the above site, which eliminates the need to search the database.
- Samples from Archeophone Records
- AVTrust.ca - Henry Burr (video clip)
- Henry Burr recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization ProjectCylinder Preservation and Digitization ProjectThe Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Libraries with streaming and downloadable versions of over 10,000 phonograph cylinders manufactured between 1893 and the mid 1920s.- History :The project began...
at the University of California, Santa BarbaraUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraThe University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
Library.