Harry Kennedy
William Henry Kennedy, known as Harry Kennedy (c. 1855 - January 3, 1894) was a popular ventriloquist and songwriter. Kennedy was born in Manchester, England, around 1855 (obituaries stated his age as either 39 or 45, the latter putting his birth year around 1849), and was a talented ventriloquist as a child. After working briefly as a teacher and seaman, by 1871 he had made it to Montreal and began performing as a ventriloquist. He debuted in New York City in 1874 and traveled with various minstrel groups. In 1890, he opened "Harry Kennedy's Theatre" in New York, but sold out and moved after one season to a smaller venue, the Alhambra, on Coney Island. He also managed a bar on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Songs he wrote include "When Peggy And I Are Wed", "Molly and I and the Baby", "Say Au Revoir, But Not Good-bye", "A Flower from Mother's Grave", "Cradle's Empty, Baby's Gone", "An Old Fashioned Photograph", "Patsy Branigan", "I Owe Ten Dollars to O'Grady", "I Had Fifteen Dollars in my Inside Pocket", "Hush Don't Wake the Baby", "Grandmother's Birthday" and "Little Empty Stockings By the Fire". He married his first wife, Nellie [Brock], in 1876, and she died in 1883. He married again in 1886 and his second spouse (Mary, sister of Nellie Brock) died in 1890. Survived by five minor children, Kennedy died at his home in Brooklyn of Bright's disease on January 3, 1894, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn. |
Birth and Death Data: Born 1855, Died 1894
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1895 - 1935
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berliner | 188 | 7-in. | Before June 1895 | Say au revoir, but not goodbye | Artists vary | Male vocal solo | composer, lyricist | |
Berliner | 3302 | 7-in. | Before Apr. 1899 | Say au revoir, but not goodbye | Arthur Pryor | Trombone solo | composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]698 | 10-in. | 4/29/1902 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with piano | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]698 | 7-in. | 2/21/1901 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with piano | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]3139 | 10-in. | 2/21/1901 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
Victor | C-3140 | 12-in. | 2/23/1906 | A flower from my angel mother's grave | Richard Jose | Counter-tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | B-13033 | 10-in. | 3/28/1913 | Say 'au revoir' but not 'good-bye' | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | CVE-16098 | 12-in. | 1/13/1927 | Songs of the past, no. 1 | Victor Mixed Chorus | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | C-16098 | 12-in. | 6/17/1915 | Songs of the past, no. 1 | Victor Mixed Chorus | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | BS-89511 | 10-in. | 4/1/1935 | Tina | Don Reid ; Xavier Cugat Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | lyricist | |
Columbia | 559 | 10-in. | ca. Jan.-Sept. 1902 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with piano | lyricist, composer | |
Columbia | 559 | 7-in. | ca. Jan.-Sept. 1902 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with piano | lyricist, composer | |
Columbia | 3634 | 10-in. | between January and May 1907 | Sing me those pretty songs again | J. W. Myers | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Columbia | 77769 | 10-in. | 4/13/1918 | Say "au revoir" but not goodbye | Charles Harrison | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Columbia | 79036 | 10-in. | 3/9/1920 | Hush, don't wake the baby | Frank Kamplain | Male vocal solo (yodeling), with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
OKeh | 9010 | 10-in. | Mar. 1925 | A flower from my angel mother's grave | Charles Nabell | Male vocal solo, with guitar | composer, lyricist | |
OKeh | W400345 | 10-in. | 2/25/1928 | Flower from my angel mother's grave | Elond Autry ; Charles Winters | Male vocal duet, with fiddle (violin) and guitar | composer, lyricist | |
Brunswick | E5018-E5019 | 10-in. | 5/11/1927 | A flower from my angel mother’s grave | McGee Brothers | Male vocal solo, with guitar and mandolin | composer, lyricist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kennedy, Harry," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111072.
Kennedy, Harry. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111072.
"Kennedy, Harry." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Harry Kennedy (songwriter)
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Kennedy, Harry, -1894 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no98082372
Wikidata: Harry Kennedy (songwriter) - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5670228
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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