Edward Meeker (January 22, 1874 – April 19, 1937) was an American singer and performer, best known for his appearances on the recordings of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

both as an announcer and singer, performing songs such as " Chicken Reel", "Go Easy Mabel", " Harrigan" and most notably, "

Take Me Out to the Ball Game "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 waltz song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game before writing the song. The song' ...

". Original music by Meeker includes, "That Railroad Rag" released in 1911. Shortly before the enactment of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, in 1919, he released an anti-prohibition song, "Every Day Will Be Sunday When The Town Goes Dry". As well as reading

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

skits and providing sound effects throughout the remainder of his career.

Personal life

Edward Meeker married Margaret Wood Meeker in 1895. Meeker was born in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

, on January 22, 1874, and died in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

, on April 19, 1937, at the age of 63. He had 3 children, one son and two daughters.

In Popular Culture

Meeker's Rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" can be heard on the radio in '' Slender: The Arrival''. Meeker's appearance on Thomas Edison's cylinder recordings can be found on Apple Music.

References

External links

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Edward Meeker recordings
from UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive 1874 births 1937 deaths American male singers Musicians from East Orange, New Jersey Pioneer recording artists Singers from New Jersey {{US-singer-stub