Arthur Collins
"Teasing"
Words by Cecil Mack
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
1904
Arthur Francis Collins was born in the home of his grandfather, Reverend Joseph Perry (a chaplain in the U.S. Navy), on Gerard Avenue in Philadelphia.
Collins joined the lifesaving station on the New Jersey coast. By 17 he was singing at church festivals and concerts, and his parents sent him to Philadelphia to take voice lessons. He joined the Old King Company, an unsuccessful touring company. He then joined a company starring Fay Templeton, but this company also failed. He next sang in summer operas in St. Louis and eventually toured with Francis Wilson in Merry Monarch and The Lion Tamer, remaining with Wilson for ten years, according to the October 1916 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly.
In 1895 in New York City's St. Timothy's Episcopal Church he married an Irish-born singer named Anna Leah Connolly (18 May 1867 - 14 May 1949), leaving show business to study shorthand, typewriting, and bookkeeping. Around 1898 the marriage produced a son. Page 65 of the September 15, 1918 issue of Talking Machine World features a photograph of a proud Collins "saying good-bye to son," with 20-year old Sergeant Arthur Perry Collins taking leave in uniform, headed for France.
Collins worked for a cigar company but resigned after six months when his right arm became lame. After recovering, he worked for the De Wolf Hopper Company, singing in Wang, and soon received a letter from Edison's National Phonograph Company inviting him to make a trial recording.
He went to Orange, New Jersey, at the earliest opportunity. The singer's wife reported to Walsh that the date was May 16, 1898. Early numbers recorded include "Every Night I See That Nigger Standing Round" (5404) and "Happy Days in Dixie" (5407). On Edison records he was often accompanied by Vess L. Ossman.
One of his most popular numbers in the earliest years was Thurland Chattaway's "Mandy Lee," recorded in early 1900 for Edison (7404) and in two sessions for Victor in that year.
Walsh states in Ronald Dethlefson's Edison Blue Amberol Recordings 1915-1929 (Brooklyn, NY: APM Press, 1981), "By a hasty count, which may be off a few notches, he made, from 1898 to 1912, no fewer than 227 solo two-minute cylinders, including both brown wax and the louder and less fragile Gold Moulded type, introduced in 1902....the team [Collins and Harlan] recorded approximately 65 Blue Amberol duets."
Collins is mentioned for the first time in the trade journal The Phonoscope in the February 1899 issue. It is noted that he was among the artists making Giant Tone cylinders. He probably made cylinders for a few other small firms around this time.
He began making Berliner discs on November 25, 1899, recording at that first session "My Hannah Lady" (0754), "I've Just Received A Telegram From Baby" (0753), "All I Wants Is My Black Baby Back" (0756), "Mandy Lee" (0757), and others.
"Teasing"
Words by Cecil Mack
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
1904
Arthur Francis Collins was born in the home of his grandfather, Reverend Joseph Perry (a chaplain in the U.S. Navy), on Gerard Avenue in Philadelphia.
Collins joined the lifesaving station on the New Jersey coast. By 17 he was singing at church festivals and concerts, and his parents sent him to Philadelphia to take voice lessons. He joined the Old King Company, an unsuccessful touring company. He then joined a company starring Fay Templeton, but this company also failed. He next sang in summer operas in St. Louis and eventually toured with Francis Wilson in Merry Monarch and The Lion Tamer, remaining with Wilson for ten years, according to the October 1916 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly.
In 1895 in New York City's St. Timothy's Episcopal Church he married an Irish-born singer named Anna Leah Connolly (18 May 1867 - 14 May 1949), leaving show business to study shorthand, typewriting, and bookkeeping. Around 1898 the marriage produced a son. Page 65 of the September 15, 1918 issue of Talking Machine World features a photograph of a proud Collins "saying good-bye to son," with 20-year old Sergeant Arthur Perry Collins taking leave in uniform, headed for France.
Collins worked for a cigar company but resigned after six months when his right arm became lame. After recovering, he worked for the De Wolf Hopper Company, singing in Wang, and soon received a letter from Edison's National Phonograph Company inviting him to make a trial recording.
He went to Orange, New Jersey, at the earliest opportunity. The singer's wife reported to Walsh that the date was May 16, 1898. Early numbers recorded include "Every Night I See That Nigger Standing Round" (5404) and "Happy Days in Dixie" (5407). On Edison records he was often accompanied by Vess L. Ossman.
One of his most popular numbers in the earliest years was Thurland Chattaway's "Mandy Lee," recorded in early 1900 for Edison (7404) and in two sessions for Victor in that year.
Walsh states in Ronald Dethlefson's Edison Blue Amberol Recordings 1915-1929 (Brooklyn, NY: APM Press, 1981), "By a hasty count, which may be off a few notches, he made, from 1898 to 1912, no fewer than 227 solo two-minute cylinders, including both brown wax and the louder and less fragile Gold Moulded type, introduced in 1902....the team [Collins and Harlan] recorded approximately 65 Blue Amberol duets."
Collins is mentioned for the first time in the trade journal The Phonoscope in the February 1899 issue. It is noted that he was among the artists making Giant Tone cylinders. He probably made cylinders for a few other small firms around this time.
He began making Berliner discs on November 25, 1899, recording at that first session "My Hannah Lady" (0754), "I've Just Received A Telegram From Baby" (0753), "All I Wants Is My Black Baby Back" (0756), "Mandy Lee" (0757), and others.
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