Billy Murray

Billy Murray was the most successful recording artist of the acoustic era of recording that stretched from before the turn of the 20th century to the mid-'20s. He possessed a penetrating tenor voice, a strong sense of phrasing and enunciation, and a comic style that overcame the sonic limitations of early recording. The first singer ever to make a living solely from recording, he is ranked by chart researcher Joel Whitburn as the top recording artist of the first decade of the 20th century, and journalist Jim Walsh estimated that he was also the biggest record-seller of the period 1910-1920. He was the primary interpreter of the songs of George M. Cohan, recording the hit versions of "Yankee Doodle Boy," "Give My Regards to Broadway," "The Grand Old Rag" (aka "You're a Grand Old Flag"), and "Harrigan." Despite his success as a recording artist, Murray was not as famous as some other singers of the day because he stuck mainly to the recording studio and did not appear extensively on-stage. The son of Irish immigrants, Murray grew up in Denver, CO, where his family moved in 1883, and became interested in show business early; in 1893, while still in his teens, he became a member of Harry Leavitt's High Rollers show, a touring theatrical act. It was the beginning of a decade of work in vaudeville and minstrel shows. Al G. Field of the Al G. Field Minstrels, of which Murray was a member starting around the turn of the century, began calling him Billy, rather than William, Murray, since the name Billy Murray sounded more like a comedian. Although he had made his first recordings in 1897 with his then-partner Matt Keefe, Murray cut his first solo sides in 1903, probably for Edison. Typically for the day, he did not sign exclusively to one label, but freelanced for all the...