Lena Guilbert Ford
Lena Guilbert Brown Ford, middle name sometimes listed as Gilbert, (1870 – March 7, 1918) was a lyricist, best known for "Keep the Home Fires Burning" which she wrote during the First World War. She was born Lena Guilbert Brown in Venango County, Pennsylvania and attended Elmira College, graduating in 1887. She married physician Harry Hale Ford and settled in Elmira, later divorcing him and relocating, with her mother and son, to London, England, where they would remain for twenty years. During World War I, Ford opened her home to soldiers and took care of them. While in Britain she met Ivor Novello, with whom she collaborated to produce "Keep the Home Fires Burning" in 1914. It was the first major success for Novello and the only one for Ford. Among Ford's other published musical works are "When God Gave You to Me", "We Are Coming, Mother England", and "God Guard You" (with Westell Gordon). Ford and her thirty-year-old son Walter were the first United States citizens to become fatalities of a German air raid on London, their home in Warrington Crescent, Maida Vale being hit by one of eighteen bombs that fell on the city on the night of 7/8 March 1918. Mrs. Brown, Ford's mother, was only hurt in the bombing. Their remains were returned to and interred in the United States. |
Birth and Death Data: Born 1870 (United States of America), Died March 7, 1918
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1915 - 1942
Roles Represented in DAHR: 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-16626 | 10-in. | 10/8/1915 | Keep the home-fires burning till the boys come home | Frederick J. Wheeler | Male vocal solo, with drum and orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-20017 | 10-in. | 6/7/1917 | Keep the home-fires burning ('Til the boys come home) | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-22087 | 10-in. | 8/12/1918 | Camp songs medley, part 2 | National Camps Song Leaders | Vocal chorus, with cornet and piano | lyricist | |
Victor | B-22416 | 10-in. | 11/13/1918 | Až se vrátís zaš | František A. Pangrác | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | BS-074381 | 10-in. | 5/27/1942 | Keep the home-fires burning | Bob Chester Orchestra ; Rhythm Aires | Jazz/dance band, with female and male solos and mixed vocal ensemble | lyricist | |
Columbia | 46135 | 10-in. | 10/21/1915 | Keep the home fires burning till the boys come home | Reed Miller ; Frederick J. Wheeler | Male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 77409 | 10-in. | 10/4/1917 | War song hits | Columbia Quartette | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 48820 | 12-in. | 6/14/1916 | Keep the home fires burning | Maggie Teyte | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 49300 | 12-in. | 1/23/1918 | Keep the home fires burning | Columbia Stellar Quartette ; Oscar Seagle | Baritone vocal solo and male vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 49585 | 12-in. | 1/31/1919 | Keep the home fires burning (till the boys come home) | Columbia Stellar Quartette ; Rosa Ponselle | Soprano vocal solo and male vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Columbia | 35720 | 10-in. | approximately 1915 | Till the boys come home | Geo. F. Murray | Male vocal solo and vocal chorus, with orchestra | lyricist | |
OKeh | 128 | 10-in. | ca. May 1918 | Keep the home fires burning | Joseph A. Phillips | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Brunswick | 919 | 10-in. | approximately mid-1917 | Keep the home fires burning | Joseph A. Phillips | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 4170 | 10-in. | 10/5/1915 | Keep the home fires burning | Frederick J. Wheeler | Baritone vocal solo and vocal ensemble, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 5951 | 10-in. | between 1/1/1918 and 1/7/1918 | Keep the home fires burning (Till the boys come home) | Christine Miller | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 6227 | 10-in. | between 6/13/1918 and 6/14/1918 | Keep the home-fires burning | Ida Gardner | Contralto vocal solo and mixed vocal ensemble, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 6309 | 10-in. | between 8/4/1918 and 8/12/1918 | Keep the home fires burning | Homestead Trio | Female vocal trio, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Edison | 6368 | 10-in. | 9/18/1918 | Keep the home fires burning | Carolina Lazzari | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Ford, Lena Guilbert," accessed November 2, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111713.
Ford, Lena Guilbert. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/111713.
"Ford, Lena Guilbert." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Ford, Lena Guilbert - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2002021879
Wikidata: Lena Guilbert Ford - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6522106
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/66134463
MusicBrainz: Lena Guilbert Ford - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fcd17b70-5489-4d1e-9cc8-1322d0c26247
ISNI: 0000 0000 4194 9838 - http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000041949838
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