Marion Harris
"Nobody Cares If I'm Blue"
1930
Brunswick 4812
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics by Grant Clarke
Between making her first acoustic disc in 1916 and her first electrical disc in 1927, Marion Harris evolved from a vaudeville "shouter" in the tradition of Sophie Tucker and Nora Bayes to a crooner like the early Bing Crosby.
She began by recording mostly comic songs, blues, and Tin Pan Alley songs about blues as well as about the new music known as "jass." Towards the mid-1920s she made records that indicated a greater versatility and by the late 1920s her voice was different from earlier years, with Harris singing in the more intimate manner of torch singers such as Ruth Etting and Helen Morgan. Her late recordings suggest Harris had more vocal training than these singers.
She was born Mary Ellen Harrison in 1896, at least according to obituaries, which may be inaccurate since they were only based on press releases approved at some point by Harris herself. The month and day are unknown. Even the year is open to question since no researcher has located a birth certificate.
She may have wanted her background to remain obscure since a century ago many Americans looked down upon stage performers. Women were stigmatized if they worked in vaudeville. Harris may have been one of the many performers from middle-class backgrounds who were evasive or deceptive about their roots to avoid embarrassing family members.
Newspaper obituaries state that she was born in the small town of Henderson, Kentucky, but no documents relating to a Mary Ellen Harrison exist in Henderson County, Kentucky.
Columbia's September 1920 supplement states, "Marion Harris is a Kentucky girl and a descendant of Benjamin Harrison." The reference may be to the Harrison who signed the Declaration of Independence though most readers would infer that the Harrison here was the 23rd President of the United States.
Her first recording, "I Ain't Got Nobody Much," was made on August 9, 1916, and issued on Victor 18133 in October.
An example of her early association with jazz is her mid-1917 recording of Gene Buck and Dave Stamper's "When I Hear That Jazz Band Play" from Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic.
Variety on November 22, 1918, confirms that Harris was only beginning to gain recognition: "Marion Harris, comparatively new to New York vaudeville, may be said to have stopped the show. Tall, very blonde, her locks dressed in an original fashion, she is an animated picture of youthful vivacity."
Harris moved from Victor to the Columbia Graphophone Company in early 1920, making her Columbia debut with "Left All Alone Again Blues" (A2939).
"Nobody Cares If I'm Blue"
1930
Brunswick 4812
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics by Grant Clarke
Between making her first acoustic disc in 1916 and her first electrical disc in 1927, Marion Harris evolved from a vaudeville "shouter" in the tradition of Sophie Tucker and Nora Bayes to a crooner like the early Bing Crosby.
She began by recording mostly comic songs, blues, and Tin Pan Alley songs about blues as well as about the new music known as "jass." Towards the mid-1920s she made records that indicated a greater versatility and by the late 1920s her voice was different from earlier years, with Harris singing in the more intimate manner of torch singers such as Ruth Etting and Helen Morgan. Her late recordings suggest Harris had more vocal training than these singers.
She was born Mary Ellen Harrison in 1896, at least according to obituaries, which may be inaccurate since they were only based on press releases approved at some point by Harris herself. The month and day are unknown. Even the year is open to question since no researcher has located a birth certificate.
She may have wanted her background to remain obscure since a century ago many Americans looked down upon stage performers. Women were stigmatized if they worked in vaudeville. Harris may have been one of the many performers from middle-class backgrounds who were evasive or deceptive about their roots to avoid embarrassing family members.
Newspaper obituaries state that she was born in the small town of Henderson, Kentucky, but no documents relating to a Mary Ellen Harrison exist in Henderson County, Kentucky.
Columbia's September 1920 supplement states, "Marion Harris is a Kentucky girl and a descendant of Benjamin Harrison." The reference may be to the Harrison who signed the Declaration of Independence though most readers would infer that the Harrison here was the 23rd President of the United States.
Her first recording, "I Ain't Got Nobody Much," was made on August 9, 1916, and issued on Victor 18133 in October.
An example of her early association with jazz is her mid-1917 recording of Gene Buck and Dave Stamper's "When I Hear That Jazz Band Play" from Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic.
Variety on November 22, 1918, confirms that Harris was only beginning to gain recognition: "Marion Harris, comparatively new to New York vaudeville, may be said to have stopped the show. Tall, very blonde, her locks dressed in an original fashion, she is an animated picture of youthful vivacity."
Harris moved from Victor to the Columbia Graphophone Company in early 1920, making her Columbia debut with "Left All Alone Again Blues" (A2939).
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