J. W. Myers is accompanied by an orchestra here.
"Just For Auld Lang Syne"
Columbia 3417
Music by Albert Von Tilzer
Words by Edward Madden
John W. Myers, usually identified on records as J. W. Myers, was arguably the leading baritone balladeer in the first decade of commercial recordings, working regularly from the early 1890s to 1904 or so, after which a drop in his output is dramatic.
He was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1857. His real name was John Wheeler.
He immigrated to America before he was a teenager and worked at various jobs.
As a young man, he joined minstrel companies and worked in vaudeville. He eventually became a theatrical manager in New York. He was nearly middle-aged when his recording career began in 1892 or so. The recording industry suffered a blow by the mid-1890s, so he was not recording on a regular basis until the late 1890s. By 1898 his name was often cited in the trade journal The Phonoscope.
The May 10, 1901, catalog of Zon-o-phone discs issued by the National Gramophone Corporation lists seven titles sung by Myers.
He cut over 100 titles in the early days of the Victor Talking Machine Company, beginning on February 20, 1901, with performances issued on seven-inch discs. Sessions in October 1902 would be his last for Victor for a few years.
For Edison he cut a couple dozen titles, most of them in 1901, beginning with "Light of the Sea" (7820). He was a versatile artist, covering sentimental standards ("We'll Be Sweethearts to the End," 9498), bass-baritone classics ("Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," 7840), and comic numbers.
After "The Bridge" (8010) was released in 1902, he stopped making Edison records for a few years, finally returning with "Night Time" (9470), issued in February 1907.
Announcing its release, the December 1906 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly states, "Mr. Myers was always a favorite among admirers of the Edison Phonograph and Edison Records, and his re-enlistment in the Edison corps of artists will be pleasing news to them."
By this time Myers recorded mainly sentimental numbers and songs of a previous generation. The February 1907 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly, announcing the April release of Standard 9524, states, "'The Bowery Grenadiers,' by J.W. Myers, is a revival of an old song that will awaken more than ordinary interest. It will recall by-gone days, when the late John W. Kelly entertained thousands with it. Thirty or more years ago it was one of the most popular songs of the day."
His final Edison recording was "Land League Band" (9576), issued in June 1907. The April 1907 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly calls this "a lively old march song popular a generation ago." Myers was issued only on two-minute wax cylinders, his career with Edison being over by the time four-minute wax Amberols were introduced in 1908.
He was popular abroad. The February 15, 1906, issue of the Talking Machine News, published in London, noted, "The newsboys of London and New York whistle the same tunes, whether they are 'Navajo,' 'My Irish Molly O,' 'Bedelia' or 'In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree,' because the talker has made them known on both sides of the ocean....If George Alexander or Henry Burr or J.W. Myers were to advertise a concert in the Albert Hall next month, nine-tenths of their audience would be talking machine users."
In late 1905 he cut titles for Leeds & Catlin, which issued Myer performances on over a dozen Imperial discs, beginning with "Somebody's Sweetheart I Want to Be" (44637) in January 1906 (Imperial discs sold for sixty cents). Edison and Victor issued Myers recordings until 1907. One of his last Columbia recordings was a new take, with orchestra accompaniment, of "Where the Silv'ry Colorado Wends Its Way," issued in January 1909 on A610. This title had earlier been issued on single-sided disc 1092 as well as cylinder 32032, both with Myers accompanied by piano.
His singing style was losing its appeal, and recording activity again dropped off. Major H. H. Annand reports in a list of U-S Everlasting cylinders that Myers was among those who in 1908 started the U-S Phonograph Company of Cleveland, Ohio. If true, it is curious that Myers did not make U-S Everlasting cylinders.
He resurfaced as a Columbia, Rex, and Emerson artist. One late Columbia title is "Along the Yukon Trail" (A1614), issued in 1914.
The singer died on March 2, 1919, in New York City.
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