Billy Murray (25 May 1877 - 17 August 1954) was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. While he received star billings on Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. He was probably the best selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century. Billy Murray (singer) The copyright status of this vintage image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice as an instrument to produce music. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Vaudeville was a style of multi-act theater which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ...

He was born as William Thomas Murray in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of immigrants from Ireland. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a traveling vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career. He made his first recordings for a local phonograph cylinder company in San Francisco, California in 1897. He started recording regularly in the New York City and New Jersey area in 1903, when the nation's major record companies as well as the Tin Pan Alley music industry were concentrated there. Independence Hall, as it appears today. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843. ... The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders. ... San Franciscos famous fog and famous Golden Gate Bridge. ... 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ... State nickname: The Garden State Official languages None defined, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D) Acting, Outgoing Jon Corzine (D) (Governor-Elect) Senators Jon Corzine (D) (Outgoing) Bob Menendez (D) (named as Corzines replacement) Frank Lautenberg (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 47th 22... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Tin Pan Alley was the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States of America in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. ...

In 1906 he waxed the first of his popular duets with Ada Jones. He also performed with Aileen Stanley, the Haydn Quartet, the Premier Quartet, and the American Quartet (the latter two actually being the same group), in addition to his solo work. 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Ada Jones (June 1, 1873 – May 22, 1922) was a popular singer whose recordings ranged from 1905 to the early 1920s. ... Aileen Stanley (1897 - 24 March 1982) was a United States popular singer. ... Although virtually forgotten today, at the start of the Twentieth Century The Haydn Quartet were undisputed kings of the Barbershop sound. ...

He had a strong tenor voice with excellent enunciation and a more conversational delivery than common with bel canto singers of the era. On comic songs he often deliberately sang slightly flat, which he felt helped the comic effect. In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as a countertenor). ... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ...

While he often performed romantic numbers and ballads which sold well at the time, his comedy and novelty song recordings continue to be popular with later generations of record collectors. Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... A novelty song is a usually intentionally humorous song, usually in published or recorded form. ...

On October 24, 1908, baseball's anthem Take Me Out to the Ballgame was introduced by Murray. The song writing team of Albert Von Tilzer (music) and Jack Norworth (words) who created the immortal tune had never seen a game. (Note: Some sources say that Murray did not, in fact, ever record the song; that the song was recorded by the quartet he normally worked with, but he was not in that session. Ironically, Murray himself was known to be a baseball fan). // This Date in Baseball History The following are the events that happened world-wide throughout the sport of baseball on October 24. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Picture of Fenway Park. ... Take Me Out to the Ball Game is an early-20th century Tin Pan Alley song which became the unofficial anthem of baseball. ... Albert Von Tilzer (March 29, 1878 - October 1, 1956) was an American songwriter, the younger brother of Harry Von Tilzer. ... Jack Norworth (5 January 1879 - 1 September 1959) was a U.S. songwriter, singer, and vaudeville performer. ...

Murray's popularity faded with changes in public taste and recording technology; the rise of the electric microphone in the mid 1920s coincided with the rise of the crooners. His "hammering" style, as he called it, essentially yelling the song into the recording horn, did not work in the electronic era, and it took him some time to learn how to soften his voice. While he continued to work, his singing style was considered "dated" and less in demand. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he also did voices for animated cartoons, especially the "follow the bouncing ball" type which incorporated songs from his salad days. He also did radio work. Inside a condenser microphone. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America and in Australia as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... Bing Crosby crooning to a girl. ... An animated cartoon is a moving picture generated by photographing drawings frame-by-frame, as opposed to a normal movie, which is produced by shooting 24 frames a second of actual moving persons or objects. ...

Murray made his last recordings in 1943 and retired to Freeport, Long Island, New York in 1944. He died in nearby Jones Beach. 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... Freeport is a village located in Nassau County, New York. ... The four counties of Long Island. ... State nickname: The Empire State Official languages English Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Senators Charles Schumer (D) Hillary Clinton (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 13. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

	"Dixie" ( file info)
	1916 rendition of Dixie by the Metropolitan Mixed Chorus, with Frank Stanley, Ada Jones, and Billy Murray
	Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Image File history File links Gnome-speakernotes. ... Image File history File links Dixie_(1916). ... Sheet music, c. ... Ada Jones (June 1, 1873 – May 22, 1922) was a popular singer whose recordings ranged from 1905 to the early 1920s. ...

External links

• Biography with sound samples
• Billy Murray recording of "The Grand Old Rag" (later retitled "The Grand Old Flag"
• Billy Murray recording of "He'd Have to Get Out and Get Under to Fix up His Automobile"
• Billy Murray cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.