VICTOR 78 RPM Record 20098 Peerless Quartet with Billy Murray “My Dream of the Big Parade”/”The Prisoners Sweetheart” Henry Burr E Visible Condition, very nice clean record and a less common Billy Murray tune.

Billy Murray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Patrick and Julia (Kelleher) Murray, immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. His parents moved to Denver, Colorado in 1882, where he grew up. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a traveling vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career. In 1897 Murray made his first recordings for Peter Bacigalupi, the owner of a phonograph company in San Francisco. As of 2010 none of  Murray's cylinder records with Bacigalupi are known to have survived. In 1903, he started recording regularly in New York City and New Jersey area, where major record companies in the U.S. as well as the Tin Pan Alley music industry were concentrated.

In 1906, he recorded the first of his popular duets with Ada Jones. He also performed with Aileen Stanley, the Haydn Quartet, the American Quartet (also known as the Premier Quartet), and Elsie Baker as well as performed solo work. Nicknamed "The Denver Nightingale", Murray had a strong tenor voice with excellent enunciation and a conversational delivery compared with bel canto singers of the era. On comic songs, he often deliberately sang slightly flat, which he felt helped the comic effect. Although he often performed romantic numbers and ballads which sold well, his comedy and novelty song recordings continue to be popular with later generations of record collectors.

Henry Burr aka , Harry McClaskey was born in the border town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, Harry McClaskey was the son of a candy and tobacco store owner, A. A. McClaskey. His mother was the former Ida Connors and he was the youngest of four children. His vocal talents were recognized early and by the age of 5 he was performing publicly in St. Stephen’s.  In 1906, Burr joined the Columbia Male Quartet, which was recording for the Columbia Record Company, as second tenor under the management of Frank C. Stanley. They were later renamed the Peerless Quartet when they moved to the Victor label. When Stanley died in 1910, Burr took over management of the group. It continued on as a popular recording and live group (with various personnel and name changes over the years) until 1928, when it disbanded. Burr was also a member of the Metropolitan Trio and the Manhattan Mixed Trio, both of which featured him with Frank C. Stanley and Elise Stevenson. In 1921, he contributed music to a summertime review called The Broadway Whirl. Burr recorded in a duo with Albert Campbell. The pair had a succession of hits between 1911 and 1925, including "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (1913); "Till We Meet Again" (1919); and "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (1919)

The scratches on the left of every photo are my broken glass on scanner – not on item. Images of artists etc. are for information only and not included in auction, record & sleeve only.

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More of all the types of records listed: Odd tunes, Political, Blues, Hot Jazz, Hillbilly, Odd labels, Doo-Wop, etc. More of all the types of records listed: Odd tunes, Political, Blues, Hot Jazz, Hillbilly, Odd labels, Doo-Wop, etc.

E++, Visibly nearly new with no visible signs of wear or damage.

E+, Looks and plays like new with only few signs of handling and play.

E Still very shiny, near new looking, with slight visible signs of wear and a few nearly inaudible scuffs and scratches

E- Still shiny but without the luster of a new record, few scuffs that have little or no effect on play, some light scratches.

E- - Mostly shiny but with even less of the luster of an E- record, more scuffs than E-that have little or no effect on play, light scratches with some light noise.

 

VG+, Slightly above average condition 78 in which scuffs and general use has dulled the finish somewhat. Wear is moderate but playing is generally free from distortion. Surface noise not overly pronounced.

VG, An average condition 78 - moderate wear throughout, but still very playable and enjoyable. Surface somewhat dull with noise and scratches audible but not intrusive.

VG-, Quite playable still, but with some distortion and may have some graying in loud passages. Music remains loud in most passages. Surface noise and scratches well below music level.

VG- - Quite playable still, but with distortion and most have some graying in loud passages. Music remains loud in most passages. Surface noise and scratches noticeable and may be loud at times.

 

G+ Quite worn and scratched, but music level is still higher than surface noise. Grey may be throughout but still serviceable. Music begins to sound muffled.

G Not so good. Wear and scratch damage extensive. Listening can become uncomfortable as music and surface noise probably blending. Lowest level music can be understood.

G-, Music barely audible over surface noise & listening is uncomfortable. Record is borderline unplayable.

 

P Used only for high dollar space fillers like Black Patti, Okeh blues, etc. Music covered by surface noise, scratches, and needle digs, label may be trashed, & listening is almost if not definitely impossible. Record is basically unplayable. What you keep because you can?t bear to toss ? while you look for that E+ copy of Robert Johnson on Vocalion at the local flea markets for $1 (Good Luck!)

 

See Description, A wildcard grade that can be used when standard grading does not apply or when a record (or item) has special attributes (or defects) that can affect how the item is assigned a grade.