Murray, Billy (actually, William Thomas)

Murray, Billy (actually, William Thomas), pervasive American singer of the acoustic recording era; b. Philadelphia, Pa., May 25, 1877; d. Jones Beach, N.Y., Aug. 17, 1954. The most successful American recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century, Murray had a penetrating tenor voice, good enunciation, comic enthusiasm, and rapid-fire patter delivery that were well suited to the low-fidelity acoustic recording medium.

Murray was the son of Irish immigrants Patrick Murray, a blacksmith, and Julia Kelleher Murray. The family moved to Denver when he was an infant. He showed an early interest in entertainment and joined his first theatrical touring act, Harry Leavitt’s High Roller’s Show, at 16. He made his first recordings with his partner Matt Keefe in San Francisco in 1897, but the recording industry was just beginning, and he continued his career on the stage, joining the Al G. Field Minstrels. Field dubbed him “Billy,” a more appropriate name for a comedian than William.

Murray made his first solo recordings in 1903, singing for Columbia, Victor, and Edison. His first major hit came in 1904 with “Bedalia,” from the Broadway musical The Jersey Lily, and thereafter his hits included ”Navajo” (1904), “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904), “Alexander” (1904), “Come Take a Trip in My Air-Ship” (1905), “In My Merry Oldsmobile” (1905), “Everybody Works but Father” (1906), “Under Any Old Flag at All” (1908), “Carrie (Carrie Marry Harry)” (1910), “I Love a Piano” (1916), “Pretty Baby” (1916), and “That Old Gang of Mine” (1923) (with Ed Smalle).

With his recording of “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1905), Murray became the most noted interpreter of the songs of George M. Cohan on record. He also made hits out of “Give My Regards to Broadway” (1905), “The Grand Old Rag” (”You’re a Grand Old Flag”) (1906), and “Harrigan” (1907). Murray’s partnership with Ada Jones resulted in such duo hits as “Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk” (1907), “Wouldn’t You Like to Have Me for a Sweetheart?” (1908), “When We Are M-A-Double R-I-E-D” (1908), “Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine” (1908), “Shine On, Harvest Moon” (1909), and “Be My Little Bumble Bee” (1912). He also recorded with The Haydn Quartet, most successfully on “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908) and “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1910).

Murray was a founding member of The American Quartet, with whom he recorded the gold-selling “Casey Jones” (1910); “Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon” (1910) (with Jones); “Come, Josephine, in My Flying Machine” (1911) (with Jones); “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (1912); “Moonlight Bay” (1912); “Everybody Two-Step” (1912); “Rebecca of Sunny-brook Farm” (1914); “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1914); “Chinatown, My Chinatown” (1915); Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” (1917); “Over There” (1917) (Cohan’s standard of World War I); and “Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France” (1917).

With the addition of counter-tenor Will Oakland, The American Quartet became The Heidelberg Quintet for such hits as “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” (1912) and “By the Beautiful Sea” (1914). He also recorded with the Columbia Comedy Trio, Joseph C. Smith’s Orch., The Great White Way Orch., The International Novelty Orch., and the orchestras of Jack Shilkret and Jean Goldkette, among many others.

Murray’s was the first recorded voice to be heard on radio, in a test broadcast in 1907. In 1920 he signed an exclusive contract with Victor, but his bravura style was not appropriate to the electrical recording technology that came into use in mid-decade. His Victor contract expired in 1928, though he continued to record regularly until 1932. He became a radio actor in the 1930s, and enjoyed a brief comeback on records with Victor’s Bluebird subsidiary in 1940 before retiring due to a heart condition that eventually led to his death.

—William Ruhlmann