Billy Jones
William Reese Jones (March 15, 1889 – November 23, 1940) was a tenor who recorded during the 1920s and 1930s, finding fame as a radio star on The Happiness Boys radio program. Jones worked in such occupations as mining, banking, and blacksmithing before his 1918 recording debut. He recorded with the Cleartone Four, the Crescent Trio, the Harmonizers Quartet and the Premier Quartet, and he performed under a variety of names (Harry Blake, Billy Clarke, Lester George, Duncan Jones, Reese Jones, John Kelley, Dennis O'Malley, William Rees, Victor Roberts, Billy West, William West, and Carlton Williams). After he met Ernie Hare in 1919, they teamed in 1920 when Brunswick executive Gus Haenschen had them sing an accompaniment on a Brunswick Records recording. They went on to do numerous recordings together for Brunswick, Edison, and other companies. They began on radio October 18, 1921 on WJZ (Newark, New Jersey). Sponsored by the chain of Happiness Candy stores, they were heard on The Happiness Boys program beginning August 22, 1923 on New York's WEAF, moving to NBC from a run from 1926 to 1929. As "The Happiness Boys", they sang popular tunes, mostly light fare and comic songs, and they joked with one another between numbers. By 1928, they were the highest paid singers in radio, earning $1,250 a week. The partnership ended with Hare's death on March 9, 1939. Jones continued to perform, teaming with Hare's 16-year-old daughter, Marilyn Hare, in 1939-40. He died November 23, 1940, in Manhattan, of a heart attack, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. Among Jones' hits was "The grass is always greener in the other fellow's yard" which became the theme song of the "Big Brother Bob Emery " a children's program, first on radio, then on TV in both New York and Boston in the 1940s and 1950s. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 15, 1889 (New York City), Died November 23, 1940 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1916 - 1951
Roles Represented in DAHR: tenor vocal, speaker, author, saxophone, tenor saxophone, songwriter, vocalist, lyricist
Notes: Also recorded under the name Victor Roberts.
See Also: Roberts, Victor
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 76-100 of 738 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | [Trial 1920-03-05-03] | Not documented | 3/5/1920 | Oh! How I laugh when I think how I cried about you | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | [Trial 1920-04-22-01] | Not documented | 4/22/1920 | Oh! By jingo | Harmonizers Quartet | Male vocal quartet | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Victor | [Trial 1920-04-22-02] | Not documented | 4/22/1920 | Southern smiles | Harmonizers Quartet | Male vocal quartet | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 79511 | 10-in. | 11/10/1920 | Medley of marching songs | Prince's Band | Band, with male vocal quartet | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 79512 | 10-in. | 11/10/1920 | Lindy | Prince's Band | Band, with male vocal quartet | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 79653 | 10-in. | 1/21/1921 | Playmates | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 79980 | 10-in. | 9/9/1921 | Little Alabama coon | Rosa Ponselle | Soprano vocal solo, with male vocal quartet and orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80105 | 10-in. | 12/16/1921 | While Miami dreams | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80109 | 10-in. | 12/19/1921 | Lalawana lullaby | Ernest Hare ; Billy Jones | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80130 | 10-in. | 1/9/1922 | Feather-bed Lane | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80143 | 10-in. | 1/18/1922 | Ka-lu-a | Shannon Four | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80175 | 10-in. | 2/2/1922 | Indiana lullaby | Ernest Hare ; Billy Jones | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80182 | 10-in. | 2/10/1922 | After the rain | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80208 | 10-in. | 2/17/1922 | You can have every light on Broadway | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80315 | 10-in. | 4/22/1922 | Sweet and low | Lucy Gates | Soprano vocal solo, with male vocal quartet, woodwind ensemble, and celeste | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80316 | 10-in. | 4/22/1922 | Chiming bells of long ago | Lucy Gates | Soprano vocal solo, with male vocal quartet, woodwind ensemble, and celeste | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80320 | 10-in. | 4/24/1922 | Maryland, my Maryland | Tandy MacKenzie | Male vocal solo, with male vocal quartet and orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80367 | 10-in. | 5/31/1922 | Gee! But I hate to go home alone | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80372 | 10-in. | 6/7/1922 | Why should I cry over you | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80408 | 10-in. | 6/16/1922 | I wish there was a wireless to heaven (then Mama would not seem so far away) | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80956 | 10-in. | 4/12/1923 | Cohen 'phones for a 'phone | Joe Hayman | Comic scene | speaker | |
Columbia | 80957 | 10-in. | 4/12/1923 | Cohen 'phones his son at college | Joe Hayman | Comic scene | speaker | |
Columbia | 80967 | 10-in. | 4/14/1923 | Barney Google | Ernest Hare ; Billy Jones | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 80968 | 10-in. | 4/14/1923 | Old King Tut | Ernest Hare ; Billy Jones | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal | |
Columbia | 81015 | 10-in. | 5/15/1923 | Bebe | Billy Jones | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, tenor vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Jones, Billy," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109631.
Jones, Billy. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109631.
"Jones, Billy." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Jones, Billy, 1889-1940 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no93019431
Wikidata: Billy Jones - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4912815
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/320148996089759751445
MusicBrainz: Billy Jones - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b575c167-df18-4018-b3fd-cbba2f9a6ef2
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