J. W. Myers - Sweet Savannah (1898)
J. W. Myers recorded "Sweet Savannah" in 1898.
It was issued on Berliner disc 1936.
This is a Paul Dresser song.
'Neath a Southern sky
there stands a humble cottage;
'neath its roof there sits a mother
old and gray.
In the trees around the songbirds
they are singing.
Their melodies help
while the hours away.
Although I've wandered far and wide,
Yet never have I forgotten her wherever I'm roamed.
Don't weep, dear mother, for your boy is coming
back to dear Savannah, home sweet home.
Very soon I will be back in old Savannah;
very soon I'll be where sweet magnolias bloom.
And my arms will soon entwine my
gray-haired sweetheart--
ere long I'll banish all her tears and gloom!
I love her for she bears the name of "mother"--
and in my dreams I see her falling tears.
The songbirds seem to know that she is grieving
and sing to her in her declining years.
Sweet Savannah, dear Savannah!
There's where the mockingbird is singing blithe and gay
In Savannah, sweet Savannah--scene of my childhood's day.
John W. Myers (c. 1864 - c. 1919), usually identified on records as J.W. Myers, was arguably the leading baritone balladeer in the first decade of commercial recordings, working regularly from the early 1890s to 1904 or so, after which a reduction in his output is dramatic.
Born in Wales, Myers immigrated to America at age 12 and worked at various jobs, eventually becoming a theatrical manager in New York. He resigned his managerial position in 1895 to tour with an opera company.
He possessed a rich baritone voice and as far back as his youth was asked to sing in concerts and at private gatherings. He had already been making cylinders for a few years by this time (he is identified as "the popular baritone" in an 1892 New Jersey Phonograph Company catalog described by Jim Walsh in the October 1958 issue of Hobbies), and when the tour was finished, Myers returned to New York City to concentrate on concert work there and to attend recording sessions.
He founded the Globe Phonograph Record Company by November 1896. That month's issue of The Phonoscope reported that Globe cylinders were priced at a dollar each. Globe soon afterwards folded.
A catalog issued in 1898 by Columbia's New England headquarters--the Eastern Talking Machine Company at 17 Tremont Street, Boston--lists over fifty Myers titles and states, "J.W. Myers, the famous baritone, whose records have achieved a wonderful popularity, has recently made a contract to sing exclusively for the Columbia Phonograph Company." Although Columbia's 1898 catalog identifies Myers as exclusive to that company, Myers cut dozens of titles for Berliner, having sessions as late as November 1897, March 1898, and December 1898. Columbia at that time made only cylinders.
His contract obviously allowed him to make discs for Berliner.
Titles in Columbia's 1898 catalog include "Bedouin Love Song" (5601) and "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" (5631).
It was issued on Berliner disc 1936.
This is a Paul Dresser song.
'Neath a Southern sky
there stands a humble cottage;
'neath its roof there sits a mother
old and gray.
In the trees around the songbirds
they are singing.
Their melodies help
while the hours away.
Although I've wandered far and wide,
Yet never have I forgotten her wherever I'm roamed.
Don't weep, dear mother, for your boy is coming
back to dear Savannah, home sweet home.
Very soon I will be back in old Savannah;
very soon I'll be where sweet magnolias bloom.
And my arms will soon entwine my
gray-haired sweetheart--
ere long I'll banish all her tears and gloom!
I love her for she bears the name of "mother"--
and in my dreams I see her falling tears.
The songbirds seem to know that she is grieving
and sing to her in her declining years.
Sweet Savannah, dear Savannah!
There's where the mockingbird is singing blithe and gay
In Savannah, sweet Savannah--scene of my childhood's day.
John W. Myers (c. 1864 - c. 1919), usually identified on records as J.W. Myers, was arguably the leading baritone balladeer in the first decade of commercial recordings, working regularly from the early 1890s to 1904 or so, after which a reduction in his output is dramatic.
Born in Wales, Myers immigrated to America at age 12 and worked at various jobs, eventually becoming a theatrical manager in New York. He resigned his managerial position in 1895 to tour with an opera company.
He possessed a rich baritone voice and as far back as his youth was asked to sing in concerts and at private gatherings. He had already been making cylinders for a few years by this time (he is identified as "the popular baritone" in an 1892 New Jersey Phonograph Company catalog described by Jim Walsh in the October 1958 issue of Hobbies), and when the tour was finished, Myers returned to New York City to concentrate on concert work there and to attend recording sessions.
He founded the Globe Phonograph Record Company by November 1896. That month's issue of The Phonoscope reported that Globe cylinders were priced at a dollar each. Globe soon afterwards folded.
A catalog issued in 1898 by Columbia's New England headquarters--the Eastern Talking Machine Company at 17 Tremont Street, Boston--lists over fifty Myers titles and states, "J.W. Myers, the famous baritone, whose records have achieved a wonderful popularity, has recently made a contract to sing exclusively for the Columbia Phonograph Company." Although Columbia's 1898 catalog identifies Myers as exclusive to that company, Myers cut dozens of titles for Berliner, having sessions as late as November 1897, March 1898, and December 1898. Columbia at that time made only cylinders.
His contract obviously allowed him to make discs for Berliner.
Titles in Columbia's 1898 catalog include "Bedouin Love Song" (5601) and "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" (5631).
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Música