Billy Murray sings "I'm Glad I'm Married"
Edison Standard Record 10018
1908.
Music is by Albert Von Tilzer.
Music is by Jack Norworth.
A friend of mine once said to me,
"Why don't you take a wife?
You'll never know true happiness
till you try married life."
I found a girl and bought the
ring, got married right away.
I wouldn't change my place
with any single man today.
I'm glad I'm married.
My wife is a dream.
Mends my clothes and
treats me right. Lets me
stay out late at night...
Billy Murray (25 May 1877 - 17 August 1954) was arguably the most popular recording artist of the acoustic era. He worked as a solo artist but was equally comfortable in duets, trios, quartets, and quintets. His ability to adapt to changing musical trends resulted in heavy session work from 1903 until the advent of electric recording. Though his popularity was in decline after 1925 or so, he recorded steadily until the onset of the Great Depression, even returning to studios during World War II.
William Thomas Murray "squalled for the first time in 1877" in Philadelphia, according to an article attributed to Murray and titled "My Twin--The Phonograph" in the January 1917 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly.
His parents, Patrick Murray (born in 1849) and Julia Kelleher Murray, appear to have emigrated from County Kerry, Ireland, when young. The family moved from the East to Denver, Colorado. Victor catalogs nicknamed him "The Denver Nightingale."
Printed in 1912 was a record slip for Edison Blue Amberol 1602, featuring "When I Get You Alone Tonight," which gives some biographical information. It states, "Billy Murray...ran away from his home in Denver when but thirteen years old, and after working as a newsboy and jockey in San Francisco, returned to Denver and got a job as property man in a local theater. He became friendly with the night watchman of the theater, and together they originated a singing and dancing act, which they practiced in secret in a nearby barn, until finally they were able to try it on the stage."
When he was around 16, his parents allowed him to join Harry Leavitt's High Rollers Troupe as an actor in 1893. Harry Leavitt was a touring impresario.
In 1897 Murray and Matt Keefe visited the Bacigalupi Brothers in San Francisco. Murray cites an earlier year in "My Twin--The Phonograph," but the fact that one song recorded was published in 1897 suggests he was off by a year. Murray states, "In 1896 I was trouping with a minstrel show, and finally landed in 'Frisco.' The Edison Jobbers in San Francisco were Bacigalupi Brothers, and one of the members of the firm, or one of their customers, attended a performance at which Matt Kief [sic], the famous minstrel, and myself sang 'The County Mayo'['The Lass From The County Mayo']...As a result, Matt and I were engaged to go to the store and make some records of the song.
