Customer Reviews

Anthology: The Denver Nightingale

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Although the new year is just a few days old, this may well turn out to be one of my best purchases of 2004. Ask 100 people under the age of 60 who Billy Murray was and I doubt you will find anyone who has ever heard of him. This is really too bad because Billy Murray was the top recording star of the pre-1920 era He was the original purveyor of such classics as "Meet Me In St, Louis, Louis", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "By The Light of the Silvery Moon", "Pretty Baby", "That Old Gang of Mine" and a host of other tunes that baby boomers might recall were revived in their childhood by Mitch Miller. Incredibly, Murrays recordings have been out of print since the early 1940's. This collection, masterfully assembled by Archeophone Records of St. Joseph, Il. is stunning! These are the original recordings, in some cases nearly a century old, and the quality of these recordings is far better than anyone would have a right to expect. Murrays magnificent tenor voice is strong and clear on these recordings and one marvels at his dominence of the businss in that era. This collection includes many of his hits as a solo artist as well as tunes he recorded with the Haydn Quartet and the American Quartet, two of the great vocal groups of that period. Also included are duets with popular female artists of the day, Ada Jones and Aileen Stanley. My favorite cut on the entire disc is is a tune he recorded with Aileen Stanley "You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night". If you really want to get a feel for that era, put on this disc, close your eyes and let your imagination go to work. What a joy it is to hear the tunes our grandparents and great-grandparents listened to. The package also includes a beautiful 24 page booklet packed with photos and information. Kudos to Archeophone records for a project well done! I look forward to more releases from this company.

Billy Murray was a great tenor, whose career coincided with the early advances made in recorded sound. Before this CD, nothing was available, unless you haunted antique stores for old records and cylinders. The sound on this CD is great, especially when you consider the sources: recordings 90-some years old, and the booklet is meticulously assembled with great photos and detailed information. Some super vaudeville stuff is here, and I, for one, am glad that someone took the initiative to compile this CD and make it available.

These are the kind of songs Grandpa sang in his men's choir. He would be delighted to know I bought this CD. he loved to hear me sing "Yankee Doodle Boy, and "Give my Regards to Broadway," as a tike. I may be Earth's youngest Billy Murray fan, at age 41--and I'm proud to say it. I just smile indulgently when my wife teases me about listening to this sort of music. This is a real window on the past in music, when everybody didn't sound just like everybody else.

...by this i mean it is virtually impssible to now find 78 rpm recordings or any format of this most popular accoustic singer...there are many wonderful songs here & quite a few i have never heard & a wonderful biography & pictures...i have been listening to billy murray since i was a child & received some old 78's as gifts from my parents...if you like ragtime,hot jazz & great singing-this is for you...now maybe they'll put out another one!!!

A Nice selection of Billy Murray songs from the turn of the century. No more surface noise on the CD's. However, I still on occassion play the original 78's noise and all, and must admit there is something about the surface noise that makes them original, and not bad at all. But go for the CD's 78s are getting hard to find.