Joseph Paul Skelly, also abbreviated J. P. Skelley, (29 July 1850 — 23 June 1895) was a composer of music. He arranged the music for songs published as sheet music. For other songs he composed the words and music. The

Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music consists of over 29,000 pieces of American popular music spanning the years of 1780 to 1980 and is maintained by Johns Hopkins University as part of Special Collections at the Milton S. Eisenhower Lib ...

at Johns Hopkins University has sheet music for many of the songs he composed. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

has several of his works in its collection. Skelly was born in Ireland and died in New York City. He wrote more than 1,000 songs. His song "Little Darling, Dream of Me" was recorded by the Climax Quartet on Climax Records (an early Columbia Records label). He wrote the song "A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother". It was sung by William Raymond of Thatcher, Primrose and West's Minstrels.

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...

recorded the song at Columbia Records in 1925. He wrote the 1876 comical Irish musical sketch ''The Hash Brigade''. Various artists including Ernest Pike and Elizabeth Spencer recorded his songs on cylinders in the decades after his death.

Recorded works

*"I Isn't a Marrying Man" *"Fifth Avenue George" *"My Pretty Red Rose" (1877) *"Why Did They Dig Ma's Grave So Deep?" (1880) *"Goldilocks, Grandpa's Darling. Ballad." (1880) *"The Dandy Coon's Parade" (1880) *"Keep the Horseshoe Over the Door" 1880 *"Are You Going to the Ball This Evening?" (1881) *"Baby's Empty Cradle" (1881) *"The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill" (1881) *"Far From the Old Home!" *"She Gave Me A Pretty Red Rose" (1883) *"A Boy's Best Friend is His Mother" (1884) *"The Picture With Its Face Turned to the Wall" (1891) *"The Picture With Its Face Turned to the Wall" (1891) *"The Laughing Coon" (1891) *"Little darling, dream of me"

References

1850 births 1895 deaths {{more cats, date=August 2021