Sweet Adeline

Lovecraft remembered this being a hit in the Spring of 1904. His memory holds.



In 1934, Lovecraft recalled the Spring 1904 song "You're the Flower of My Heart, Sweet Adeline". From Wikipedia:

"(You're the Flower of My Heart) Sweet Adeline" is a ballad best known as a barbershop standard. It was first published in 1903, with lyrics by Richard H. Gerard to music by Harry Armstrong, from a tune he had written in 1896 at the age of 18. According to a 1928 newspaper story, the lyrics were inspired "by a girl who worked at the music counter of a New York department store."

After failing to find a publisher with the initial title, "You're the Flower of My Heart, Sweet Rosalie", according to a story the two decided a new title was in order and were inspired by a poster advertising the farewell tour of opera singer Adelina Patti. It did not become a hit until it was performed in 1904 by the {Philadelphia based} group The Quaker City Four. They re-priemiered is at a performance at the Hammerstein Theater and the "lid blew off".

{Lovecraft does not mention, but would probably have been chagrined at its use by John F. Fitzgerald, grandfather of John F. Kennedy, who used it as his theme song for his two successful campaigns for Mayor of Boston. In 1931, the Marx Brothers used it comedically, but I've not seen where Lovecraft saw the Marx Brothers in anything. Unlikely his "cup of tea".

I found a notice that at least by 16 December 1904, this was a billboard #1 hit: 1904 ... "Sweet Adeline (You're the Flower of My Heart)" by Haydn Quartet. Again, many people would have rushed to cover this to get a record sale. This one "had legs" as they say. Parodies would immediately be rampant, too.

Also, remember that there were dozens of top songs in these years - nothing changes - these are only the ones that impressed him over the years.

For instance, here are a few top Billboard hits of December on each year - Christmas was a hot buying time even then. The same singers/groups were perennial hit-meisters.

1908 ... "Sunbonnet Sue" by Harry MacDonough & Haydn Quartet
1907 ... "Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk" by Ada Jones & Billy Murray
1906 ... "Love Me and the World Is Mine" by Henry Burr
1905 ... "Where the Morning Glories Twine Around the Door" by Byron G. Harlan
1904 ... "Sweet Adeline (You're the Flower of My Heart)" by Haydn Quartet
1903 ... "Any Rags?" by Arthur Collins
1902 ... "In the Good Old Summer Time" by J.W. Myers

[Adeline was Adelina Patti, a 19th century singer of renown, and froma billboard sign of her parting came the song]

On The Banks of the Wabash

Lovecraft alludes to this song in passing in one of his letters (1934), but it was old even in his day. It would be more from his parent's era, but he remembered it.

From Wikipedia...

"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling songs of 19th-Century, in terms of sheet music sold. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by Tin Pan Alley firm Howley, Haviland & Co. in October 1897. The lyrics of the song reminisce about life near Dresser's childhood home by the Wabash River in Indiana.

The song remained popular and the Indiana General Assembly adopted the song as the official state song of Indiana on March 14, 1913. The song was the basis for a 1928 film by the same title. Its longtime popularity led to the emergence of several different lyrical versions of the song, including an 1898 anti-war song and a Swedish version that was a number one hit.

The song was composed during a transitory time in musical history when songs first began to be recorded for the phonograph. Wabash was among the first popular songs to be recorded, and Dresser's inability to control the distribution of phonograph cylinders led him and other music companies to petition the United States Congress to expand federal copyright protections over the new technology. Dresser's song was the subject of some controversy after his death in 1905.
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Round my Indiana homestead wave the cornfields,
In the distance loom the woodlands clear and cool.
Oftentimes my thoughts revert to scenes of childhood,
Where I first received my lessons, nature's school.
But one thing there is missing from the picture,
Without her face it seems so incomplete.
I long to see my mother in the doorway,
As she stood there years ago, her boy to greet.

Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes the breath of newmown hay.
Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

Many years have passed since I strolled by the river,
Arm in arm, with sweetheart Mary by my side,
It was there I tried to tell her that I loved her,
It was there I begged of her to be my bride.
Long years have passed since I strolled thro' there churchyard.
She's sleeping there, my angel, Mary dear,
I loved her, but she thought I didn't mean it,
Still I'd give my future were she only here.

Chrispy Time Travelin': In Search of ... "Bedelia"

Warning. Although Chrispy tries valiantly to make this a family-freindly blog, the nature of Lovecraft's beliefs and his era and milieu causes us to delve into darkness sometimes. I will do all I can to keep this of moderate temperament. "Bedelia" is ethnic and somewhat racist. Recall, Howard is now 12 years old, and these songs were permeating his young world. Chrispy believes that racism is learned, and usually in the pre-teen or teen-aged years. And so from an early age, HPL was being indoctrinated by his culture and probably by his family.

Before you throw stones at Lovecraft, let us all examine our own prejudices and beliefs. Beware glass houses. Otherwise, let us now scholarly pursure "Bedelia"
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The music (no words) can be heard on this quick-time link. You will have to have quicktime. Chrispy was unable to find all the words on this time travel trip, sorry.

http://parlorsongs.com/content/b/bedelia.mid

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OK, Lovecrftians, sit back as we click the time machine and go back to visit young Lovecraft in 1903. He mentions in passing* he used to sing "Bedelia". What's a Bedelia, you may ask? Let's depress "Da Google" button, and slip up the wikipedia lever a notch, and we get ...

"Bedelia (I Want to Steal Ye, Bedelia, I Love You So)", written by Billy Jerome and Jean Schwartz. We now go over to the Indiana University archives and we find ...

Title: Bedelia
First Line: There's a charming Irish lady with a roguish winning way,
First Line of Chorus: Bedelia, I want to steal ye, Bedelia, I love you so,
Composer: Schwartz, Jean
Lyricist: Jerome, William, 1856-1932
Performer: Elizabeth Murray
Published: New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., copyright 1903

Now remember, these hit songs were covered by many, many people once they broke out, so we may not know which singer he heard (see cover art above), or maybe he heard several versions of them. They would be played EVERYWHERE, much like Billy Cyrus' Achy-Breaky Heart or Macarena was a while back. You wouldn't be able to miss it. Believe me, you COULDN'T miss it, any more than you would have missed those songs YOU hear EVERYWHERE.
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Here is a commentary:

... the Irish were also vilified in the early 20th century as invaders of the land and stealers of employment. The authors of this song seemed to go for a double play by sub-titling this song as "The Irish Coon Song Serenade". My God, what on earth were they thinking of! The lyrics of the song are all Irish referenced but the sub title perhaps shows just what the authors thought of the Irish.

In fact though, it does appear that it was the musical style, the "coon song" style that they may have been referring to for the lyrics make no mention of African-Americans, nor does it try to make comparisons. The lyrics do however, use stereotypes and common misconceptions about the Irish.
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Lovecraft doesn't mention it, but we should add this historical note, as well.

"Cordelia Malone" a novelty song written in 1904 by Billy Jerome and Jean Schwartz, and recorded that same year by popular Irish American singer Billy Murray {Not Bill Murray, the ghostbuster SNK person}. The lyrics are a stableboy's first-hand account of his courtship of Cordelia Malone, a "smart Irish girl". Over the course of the song, he describes his seemingly successful efforts to woo Cordelia through use of the then newly invented telephone, stating that:

"...Young suitors can all nightly flock 'round the door, since her sister Bedelia won fame, but her smiles don't you see, they are only for me, so they might as well leave her alone, 'cause she seems to rejoice at the sound of my voice when I sing through the Bell telephone: "Hello, hello, sweet Cordelia"..."

The name given to Cordelia's sister, 'Bedelia', may be in reference to a popular (previous year) 1903 song, "Bedelia (I Want to Steal Ye, Bedelia, I Love You So)", also written by Billy Jerome and Jean Schwartz.
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Well, that's all we have "time" for right now, heh. (Mr. Wells only lets us borrow his machine every so often.)

[* In a 1934 letter he writes down the lyrics of "Bedelia", the big hit of 1903..., I don't have a copy but a reference states this is in Selected Letters: 1932-1934 p. 365 - To J Vernon Shea, 4 February 1934]