J. W. Myers - Bell Buoy (1981 or 1892)

Carl Rankin song from 1888

Forever deserted, my lone vigil keeping,
I'm chained to the rocks like a captive alone.
The waves, my tormentors, to keep me from sleeping,
I sound the alarm amidst the dark storm.

Tolling my warning from morning till morning,
And oft making happy poor souls in despair
When hearing destruction in tones loud and clear.
The boom of the bell-buoy bids them beware.

Here is a North American Phonograph Company brown wax cylinder from the early 1890s. The sound is clearer and more impressive than what we hear on most surviving cylinders of the 1890s--and this cylinder is very early!

Cylinders of the 1890s tend to sound better than discs of the era (I refer to Emile Berliner's products), and Edison cylinders tend to sound better than other cylinders, including Columbia's, if condition is about the same.

John W. Myers, 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 drop in his output is dramatic.

He was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1857. His real name was John Wheeler.

He immigrated to America before he was a teenager and worked at various jobs.

As a young man, he joined minstrel companies and worked in vaudeville. He eventually became a theatrical manager in New York. He was nearly middle-aged when his recording career began in 1892 or so. The recording industry suffered a blow by the mid-1890s, so he was not recording on a regular basis until the late 1890s. By 1898 his name was often cited in the trade journal The Phonoscope.

The May 10, 1901, catalog of Zon-o-phone discs issued by the National Gramophone Corporation lists seven titles sung by Myers.

He cut over 100 titles in the early days of the Victor Talking Machine Company, beginning on February 20, 1901, with performances issued on seven-inch discs. Sessions in October 1902 would be his last for Victor for a few years.

For Edison he cut a couple dozen titles, most of them in 1901, beginning with "Light of the Sea" (7820). He was a versatile artist, covering sentimental standards ("We'll Be Sweethearts to the End," 9498), bass-baritone classics ("Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," 7840), and comic numbers.

After "The Bridge" (8010) was released in 1902, he stopped making Edison records for a few years, finally returning with "Night Time" (9470), issued in February 1907.

Announcing its release, the December 1906 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly states, "Mr. Myers was always a favorite among admirers of the Edison Phonograph and Edison Records, and his re-enlistment in the Edison corps of artists will be pleasing news to them."