The Billy Murray Story
About this episode
The episode celebrates the life and career of Billy Murray on what would have been his 149th birthday, featuring three significant songs from his career.
Today would have been his 149th birthday, and we are marking the occasion by telling the story of Billy Murray — the Denver Nightingale, the Phonograph King, the Irish-American kid from Colorado who talked his way into a New York recording studio in 1903 and never really left. We open with a song he recorded on his own birthday in 1922, a comic gem that catches him at the height of his powers and right on the edge of the upheaval to come. From there we travel back to one of the defining recordings of the acoustic era — a love song to the automobile that became so embedded in American culture it outlasted practically everything around it. And we close with the song that proved he still had it, a Jazz Age novelty that put him back on the charts at 47, even as the industry was quietly pulling the rug out from under the technique that had made him famous. Three songs, three decades, one remarkable career — happy birthday, Billy. Lyrics I Certainly Must Be in Love Mamey McShane was a dumb, dizzy dame that lived over on Hoist Avenue. She couldn’t be beaten for dancing and eating those two things was all that she knew. She met Jimmy Peter, a nifty cake eater, one night at the gasp at a…
People in this episode
Hosts: Boneapart, Yulia
Topics covered
- Billy Murray
- music history
- acoustic era
- American culture
- recording industry
- birthday tribute
Keywords
- Billy Murray
- Denver Nightingale
- Phonograph King
- music history
- acoustic recordings
- American culture
- Jazz Age
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Denver Nightingale, Phonograph King
Books & works: I Certainly Must Be in Love, Mamey McShane, Jazz Age novelty
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