Will F. Denny - The Shadows On The Door (1898)

Will F. Denny sings "The Shadows On The Door" on Berliner disc 0123, recorded on May 2, 1899.

I view Will F. Denny as the Billy Murray of the recording industry at the century's turn--that is, before Murray himself became a regular in East Coast recording studios by late 1903. Denny, like Murray, was prolific, upbeat, adroit, interesting.

Will F. Denny was born around 1860. He was a native of Boston. The tenor performed on vaudeville stages and recorded prolifically in the first decade of the commercial recording industry, specializing in comic numbers.

He began recording in 1890. An article titled "Famous Record-Makers and Their Work" in the December 1891 issue of The Phonogram states, "Mr. W.F. Denny, who has been employed by the New England Phonograph Company for over a year, early developed a talent for popular music, and appeared first as a public singer at the Academy of Music, where he sang with great success the then popular song 'The Pretty Red Rose.'"

The New England Phonograph Company was established in 1890 in the Boylston Building in Boston. The 1891 article, duplicated in the Fall 1971 issue of Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal, also states, "After the termination of Mr. Denny's contract with this company he began to 'star,' visiting all the best theatres and music halls in the country. Mr. Denny's voice is a tenor of pure tone and much pathos, and his articulation is extremely wonderful. As a vocal record maker it is claimed he has no equal in this country, and although his services have been sought by others, he has devoted his spare time entirely to the New England Phonograph Company."

He was best known for performing topical and "coon" songs, able to sing at a fast pace with words remaining distinct. He also recorded parodies, such as "Parody on 'Because'" (Edison 7379). He rarely recorded the standard or sentimental numbers covered by such colleagues as George J. Gaskin, Harry Macdonough, and Albert Campbell.

In the early 1900s he may have viewed Billy Murray as a rival comic tenor, both singers notable for versatility and clear enunciation. Denny's recording career was in decline when Murray began working for Edison, Victor, and Columbia in 1903.

Most of his pre-1900 recordings are Edison and Columbia cylinders. He began recording for Columbia in 1897 or early 1898 (he is not in the June 1897 catalog). Columbia's 1898 catalog lists a few dozen Denny titles, many with a British flavor, such as "A Pity To Waste It" (6325) and "What Ze English Call Ze" (6351).

An 1899 catalog of cylinders duplicates an agreement dated May 1, 1898, indicating that Denny, along with more than a dozen others who signed the agreement, was exclusive to Columbia. The arrangement lasted a year.