Harry Champion
William Henry Crump (17 April 1865 – 14 January 1942), better known by the stage name Harry Champion, was an English music hall composer, singer and comedian, whose onstage persona appealed chiefly to the working class communities of East London. His best-known recordings include "Boiled Beef and Carrots" (1909), "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (1910), "Any Old Iron" (1911) and "A Little Bit of Cucumber" (1915). Champion was born in Bethnal Green, East London. He made his stage debut at the age of 17 at the Royal Victoria Music Hall in Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, in July 1882. He initially appeared as Will Conray and went on to appear in small music halls in the East End. In 1887 he changed his stage name to Harry Champion and started to perform in other parts of London where he built up a wide repertoire of songs. His trademark style was singing at a fast tempo and often about the joys of food. After more than four decades on the stage, Champion took early retirement after the death of his wife in 1928, but returned two years later to appear on radio, gaining a new, much younger audience as a result. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, music hall entertainment had made a brief comeback, and Champion, like other performers of the genre, returned to performing. By the early 1940s he was in ill health, and died just a month after being admitted to a nursing home in 1942. |
Birth and Death Data: Born April 17, 1865 (Shoreditch), Died January 14, 1942 (Tottenham)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1910 - 1922
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 48 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | 27175 | 10-in. | approximately 1910 | The natty little patch behind | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27176 | 10-in. | approximately 1910 | Don’t do it again, Matilda | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27177 | 10-in. | approximately 1910 | Ginger, you’re barmy | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27178 | 10-in. | approximately 1910 | Billy Green, P.C. | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27430 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Cover it over quick, Jemima | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27431 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | I’m Henerey the Eighth | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27432 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Let’s have a basin of soup | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27433 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Standard bread | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27456 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | The harem-scarem skirt | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27457 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | The funny little tie | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27808 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Timothy, let’s have a look | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27809 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Red, white and blue | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27810 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | Brown, Brown, sit down | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27811 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | The old dun cow caught fire | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27812 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | I’m getting ready for my mother-in-law | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 27813 | 10-in. | approximately 1911 | I’m proud of my old bald head | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28429 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | Hot meat pies, saveloys and trotters | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28430 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | The ragtime ragshop | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28431 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | While I was licking my stamp | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28432 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | As large as life in the harem | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28433 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | I was holding my coconut | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28434 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | I’m William the Conqueror | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28525 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | The old ham bone | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28526 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | Keep your hands in your trousers | Harry Champion | vocalist | ||
Columbia | 28527 | 10-in. | approximately 1913 | Nan, Nan, Nan | Harry Champion | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Champion, Harry," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104965.
Champion, Harry. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104965.
"Champion, Harry." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Champion, Harry, 1866-1942 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85162156
Wikidata: Harry Champion - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q349902
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/56800734
MusicBrainz: Harry Champion - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/dea238d0-dbb9-4990-b652-790c0fb40516
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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