Arthur W. French
Arthur Wells French (1846–1916) was a journalist from Connecticut who was also a successful songwriter of sentimental songs in the 1870s and 1880s. Born in Monroe, Connecticut, he moved to Bridgeport as a young man. He was inclined to write, especially songs and poetry, "and this natural bent early led him into a newspaper career." His most successful work may have been "Little Sweetheart" sung by minstrel tenor Dave Wambold, which sold "several hundred thousand...copies" of sheet music. As a journalist in Bridgeport, French worked for The Leader weekly newspaper, The Morning News, The Morning Union, The Standard, The Post and Telegram, and in Monroe for The Telegram and The Farmer. His first song was printed in a newspaper. After that he sold songs to a "prominent composer" who adapted music to them and published them. In 1911, French estimated that he had written several hundred sheet music songs, and a similar number "for secular and sacred songbooks." He had kept track by making a continuous list of titles as he wrote them. He also wrote music to be performed in variety shows, minstrel shows, operettas and cantatas which were never published. |
Birth and Death Data: Born January 19, 1846 (Monroe), Died January 27, 1916 (Bridgeport)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1898 - 1928
Roles Represented in DAHR: lyricist, composer
= 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 | 3006 | 7-in. | 6/27/1898 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Roger Harding | Male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix C-]1329 | 12-in. | 6/10/1902 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]1329 | 10-in. | 3/17/1902 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]1329 | 7-in. | 3/17/1902 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | C-108 [Old series] | 12-in. | 2/9/1903 or 5/26/1903 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | A-1171 | 7-in. | 11/16/1904 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-1171 | 10-in. | 3/29/1904 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet, with piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-4056 | 10-in. | 11/22/1906 | Bye and bye you will forget me | S. H. Dudley ; Harry Macdonough | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-12936 | 10-in. | 2/20/1913 | By and by you will forget me | Elsie Baker ; Frederick J. Wheeler | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-17715 | 10-in. | 5/22/1916 | Some day I'll wander back again | Clarence Whitehill | Baritone vocal solo, with male vocal quartet and orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-17716 | 10-in. | 5/22/1916 | Take me back to home and mother | Clarence Whitehill | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | BVE-34527 | 10-in. | 2/5/1926 | After toiling cometh rest | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | BVE-35675 | 10-in. | 6/10/1926 | Bye and bye you will forget me | Kelly Harrell | Male vocal solo, with violin and guitar | lyricist | |
Columbia | 4507 | 10-in. | ca. 1910 | Trabbling back to Georgia | Carroll Clark | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 39176 | 10-in. | 1/8/1914 | Someday I'll wander back again | Harry McClaskey | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 37498 | 12-in. | 1/19/1916 | Some day I'll wander back again | Columbia Stellar Quartette ; Margaret Keyes | Female vocal solo and male vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | W147223 | 10-in. | 10/17/1928 | Bye and bye you will forget me | Robert Hoke ; Vernal Vest | Male vocal duet, with banjo and ukulele | lyricist | |
Columbia | 28266 | 10-in. | approximately 1912 | Barney, take me home again | William Thomas | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3265 | 10-in. | Aug.-Sept. 1914 | Bye and bye you will forget me | Helen Clark | Soprano vocal solo and vocal ensemble, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 7006 | 10-in. | 11/3/1919 | Bye and bye you will forget me | Helen Davis | Female vocal solo, with female-male vocal duet and orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 8435 | 10-in. | 4/27/1922 | Some day I'll wander back again | Carolina Lazzari ; Lyric Male Quartet | Female vocal solo, with male vocal quartet | lyricist | |
Edison | 8953 | 10-in. | 5/1/1923 | After toiling cometh rest | Betsy Lane Shepherd | Soprano vocal solo and male vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 9088 | 10-in. | 10/2/1914 | Bye and bye you will forget me | Anna Case | Soprano vocal solo and vocal ensemble, with orchestra | lyricist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "French, Arthur W.," accessed September 4, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/100212.
French, Arthur W.. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 4, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/100212.
"French, Arthur W.." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 4 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Arthur W. French
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: French, Arthur W. - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00114269
Wikidata: Arthur W. French - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q100153616
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/98877118
MusicBrainz: Arthur W. French - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/15a3f1c7-b57f-495f-9703-5204751d9986
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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