John W. Myers (c. 1864 – c. 1919?), who was usually credited as J. W. Myers, was an American

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer, who recorded widely in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

between the early 1890s and early 1917. His recordings, including "Two Little Girls in Blue" (1893), "

The Sidewalks of New York "The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 by vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) with lyrics by James W. Blake (September 23, 18 ...

" (1895), "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me" (1895), " When You Were Sweet Sixteen" (1901), "On a Sunday Afternoon" (1902), "Way Down In Old Indiana" (1902), and "

In the Good Old Summer Time "In the Good Old Summer Time" is an American Tin Pan Alley song first published in 1902 with music by George "Honey Boy" Evans, George Evans and lyrics by Ren Shields. The song is in the public domain. Background Shields and Evans were at first ...

" (1902), were among the most popular of the period.

Biography

Little is known of his life, although he is believed to have been born in Wales and emigrated to the US at the age of 12 in the 1870s. He worked at various jobs before becoming a theatre manager in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. By 1892, he was identified as an already seasoned recording artist, suggesting that he may have first recorded as early as 1890.Biography by Uncle Dave Lewis at Allmusic.com
Retrieved 9 May 2013Myers, J.W., at Last.fm
Retrieved 9 May 2013 His first successful recordings were in 1892. He became regarded as "the foremost baritone ballad singer of his era", and over his career he recorded probably hundreds of songs for many

phonograph cylinder Phonograph cylinders (also referred to as Edison cylinders after its creator Thomas Edison) are the earliest commercial medium for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their heyda ...

recording companies, including New Jersey Phonograph (later known as the United States Phonograph Company), Edison, Columbia,

Berliner Berliner is most often used to designate a citizen of Berlin, Germany Berliner may also refer to: People * Berliner (surname) Places * Berliner Lake, a lake in Minnesota, United States * Berliner Philharmonie, concert hall in Berlin, Germany ...

, and Victor. In 1895 he resigned from his position in the theatre in order to join a touring

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, and in 1896 set up his own short-lived cylinder company, the Globe Talking Machine Company. Many of his recordings after 1900 were for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. He also continued to record for Victor, Edison and Leeds & Catlin. Several were of songs made popular in

Broadway musicals Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

, such as "In the Good Old Summer Time" from ''The Defender'', while others such as "Come Take A Trip In My Air-Ship" referenced modern technology. After 1907, Myers' recording activity diminished. He invested in another recording company, the U.S. Everlasting Cylinder Company of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and recorded three cylinders for them, released in the first half of 1912. The listings refer to his recent concert tour, Canadian tour and eastern US vaudeville tour. He recorded at least four vertical discs for Rex Records in 1913-14. His last record for Columbia, Along the Yukon Trail, was issued in December 1914. In 1916-17 he recorded four titles for Victor H. Emerson's new Emerson records. He must have known Victor Emerson back in the early 1890s when he was head of the New Jersey Cylinder recording studio. The last known recording is 'War Song Medley'. His life after that time is unknown; researcher Jim Walsh suggested that he may have died around 1919, although it is also possible that he returned to Wales.

References

External links

J. W. Myers recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. * Audio of Myers
disc records
via the Library of Congress' National Jukebox * Audio of Myers
cylinder recordings
via the UC Santa Barbara Cylinder Audio Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, J. W. 1860s births 1919 deaths Columbia Records artists Pioneer recording artists American baritones 19th-century American male singers 19th-century American singers