Lewis Lyman James (July 27, 1892 – February 19, 1959) was a

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and among the most active of recording artists 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 ...

from 1917 through much of the 1930s. He was a member of The Shannon Four, The Revelers, and The Criterion Trio. He had many Top Ten hits during that time, including " My Baby Boy", " Till We Meet Again", "

What'll I Do "What'll I Do" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It was introduced by singers Grace Moore and John Steel late in the run of Berlin's third '' Music Box Revue'' and was also included in the following year's edition."American Classics ...

", " All Alone)" and " Pal of My Cradle Days", among others.

Biography

He was born in Scio, Michigan, on July 27, 1892. He recorded extensively as a soloist, duet partner, and quartet lead singer. His first recording with the Shannon Four (aka the Shannon Quartet) was the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

chestnut, "All Aboard For Home Sweet Home." Like many of his colleagues, he proved exceedingly versatile in recording love ballads, hymns, children's songs, and the more sophisticated early jazz harmonies of the Revelers with whom he made several successful European tours. The Shannon Four, Revelers, Crescent Trio, and Merrymakers consisted mostly of the same singers, with occasional substitutes. His sweet melodic tenor is immortalized on Victor, Columbia, and Edison recordings, mostly from 1917 through 1927. He died on February 19, 1959, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

References

External links

Lewis James 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 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Lewis 1959 deaths 1892 births 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers Johnny Hamp's Kentucky Serenaders members Columbia Records artists Victor Records artists Pathé Records artists Edison Records artists Okeh Records artists