"One Sweetly Solemn Thought" Elliott Shaw on Victor 16009 (1922) R. S. Ambrose & Cary Phoebe

"One Sweetly Solemn Thought"

Elliott Shaw

Victor 16009

1922

Music by R. S. Ambrose

Words by Cary Phoebe (1824-1871)

One sweetly solemn thought
Comes to me o’er and o’er.
I am near’r home today
Than I’ve ever been before.

Nearer my Father’s house,
Where many mansions be;
Nearer the great white throne,
Nearer the crystal sea.

Nearer the bound of life
Where we lay our burdens down;
Nearer leaving the cross,
Nearer gaining the crown.

But lying dark between,
Winding down through the night,
Is the deep and unknown stream
To be crossed ere we reach the light.

Father, perfect my trust!
Strengthen my pow’r of faith!
Nor let me stand, at last, alone
Upon the shore of death.

Be Thee near when my feet
Are slipping o’er the brink;
For it may be I’m nearer home,
Nearer now than I think.

Elliott Shaw was born on April 10, 1887, in Davenport, Iowa.

Shortly after his marriage in 1910, he went with his bride to New York to get further voice training and to pursue a singing career.

He studied with Percy Hemus and John Dennis Meehan (teacher of Henry Burr).

Although eventually known as a baritone, Shaw first sang professionally as a bass.

During his early career he was a church soloist, a concert and oratorio singer, and the bass in a male quartet.

Shaw's engagement as baritone of the Shannon Four in 1917 launched him on a long and successful recording career.

Throughout the 1920s he made solo, duet, trio, and quartet records for numerous companies, sometimes under such pseudonyms as Frank Sterling (Pathé and Perfect), Billy Travers (Harmony), and Robert Craig (Regal and Banner).

Duet partners included Elsie Baker, Helen Clark, Charles Hart, Lewis James, Franklyn Baur, and Wilfred Glenn. Most of his records were of popular songs, such as "Yearning (Just For You)" and "I Wonder What's Become of Sally," but he occasionally ventured into the realm of classical song and opera. With Charles Hart he recorded "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah" (set to music from Flotow's opera Martha) and "The Moon Has Raised Her Lamp Above" (from Benedict's opera The Lily of Killarney); with Lewis James he recorded Faure's "Crucifix," Balfe's "Excelsior," and Henry Smart's "The Lord Is My Shepherd."

Shaw was a regular member of several large ensembles--the Victor Light Opera Company, the Trinity Choir, the Victor Salon Group, and the Victor Male and Mixed Choruses.

The Shannon Quartet got a new lease on life in 1925 when the singers changed their singing style to one that was more modern and jazzy, and changed their name to The Revelers. During the late 1920s they made several successful European tours, sang frequently on radio, and made some short sound films.

In 1932 Shaw left The Revelers for a short time to become bass of the reorganized National Cavaliers. Other members of the quartet were Henry Shope, Frank Parker, and John Seagle, son of concert baritone Oscar Seagle.

By 1934 Shaw had rejoined The Revelers but left them a short time later and was replaced by John Herrick. His last recordings, made on September 12, 1935, were a group of duets with Olive Kline of children's songs, issued in the Educational Series.

Shaw came out of retirement briefly when The Revelers, which had disbanded in 1939, were reunited for one radio broadcast in 1944 on NBC's Harvest of Stars, which featured their former first tenor, James Melton.

He died in a hospital near his home in Eastchester, New York, on August 13, 1973.