Customer Reviews

The Complete Victor Releases

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Once upon a time there was a fetching comedienne named Marion Harris whose name was well known to vaudeville audiences and record collectors, but it strikes no bells today. This was a serious loss until one of my favorite "bring back the golden oldies" companies, Archeophone, brought out 22 of her recordings on "Marion Harris: the Complete Victor Releases" (ARCH 5001A).


It seems she did not have a very good voice but what she had was just right for songs like "I Ain't Got Nobody Much," "They Go Wild, Simply Wild, Over Me," "I Wonder Why" (a very early Jerome Kern show tune), and "When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band to France." What made her really interesting is that she was possibly the first white female performer to popularize songs and lyrics written by black artists such as Henry Creamer and J. Turner Layton.


As is true with many of the Archeophone compilations of music recorded at this time, there is some "racially derogatory language." What is one to make of a line that says a black will be a hero in wartime because his color will not run? This was meant as a high compliment-but is of course an embarrassment today. Still, as Archeophone said about an earlier release, we cannot ignore the sins of the past if it means suppressing historical material such as that on this CD. I would like to hear your comments on this subject.


The booklet is loaded with all sorts of background material and photographs about the singer and the songs, including "Victor Supplements," printed comments that the Victor company included with the original discs. Fascinating.

Marion Harris has got to be one of the first female singers ever. I first heard a 1908 recording of hers, "Jazz Baby" years ago and the one reproduced on this disc is much better quality.