Arthur Collins

Arthur Collins
Born	Arthur Francis Collins February 7, 1864
Died	August 31, 1933
Occupation	Singer

Arthur Francis Collins (February 7, 1864 – August 3, 1933) was an American singer who recorded a significant number of early records. With tenor singer Byron G. Harlan, Collins recorded the first song to refer to "jazz": "That Funny Jas Band from Dixieland," copyrighted on November 8, 1916, recorded on January 12, 1917, and issued on Victor 18235.^[1]

On October 20, 1921, Collins was seriously injured during an Edison Tone Test demonstration. Collins exited the stage in the dark so the audience could guess whether the singing heard came from the singer himself or an Edison Diamond Disc machine, and he fell through a trap-door accidentally left open.

After a recovery period, he made a solo recording for Gennett—"I Ain't Got Enough For To Pass Around" (4866), issued in June 1922—and more recordings with Harlan for Edison, but heart ailments coupled with lingering effects from the fall prompted him to retire to Florida in 1926.

Discography

1890s

1899

• "I'd Leave Ma Happy Home For You"
• "All Coons Look Alike To Me"
• "I Guess I'll Have To Telegraph My Baby"
• "Kiss Me, Honey Do"
• "Mandy Lee"
• "Hello! Ma Baby"

	Hello! Ma Baby "Hello! Ma Baby" sung by Arthur Collins in 1899.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

1900s

1900

• "My Sunflower Sue" with The Metropolitan Orchestra, Victor's house orchestra
• "You're Talking Rag Time"
• "I Ain't Seen No Messenger Boy" E.Berlinger Gramophone Record # 0876J

1901

• "Every Darky Had A Raglan On"
• "Ain't Dat a Shame"
• "I Dreams About You"
• "Coon, Coon, Coon"

1902

• "All Coons Look Alike To Me" (w.m. Vess L. Ossman)
• "Any Old Place I Can Hang My Hat Is Home Sweet Home To Me"
• "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home"
• "Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill"
• "Helen Gonne"
• "Just Kiss Yourself Goodbye"
• "They Were All Doing The Same" (w.m Byron G. Harlan) - on Edison Records No. 8255

1903

• "Any Rags?" (w.m. Thomas S. Allen) - on Edison Records
• "Good-bye, Eliza Jane" (w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer) - on Edison Records
• "I'm A Jonah Man" (w.m. Alex Rogers) - on Edison & Victor
• "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" (w.m. Frank Fogerty, Matt C. Woodward & William Jerome) - on Victor Records & Edison Records

1904

• "The Preacher And The Bear"
• "Have You Seen My Henry Brown?"
• "Hannah, Won't You Open That Door"

1905

• "Johnny Morgan"
• "Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown"
• "My Irish Molly O"
• "Nobody"
• "What You Going To Do When The Rent Come's 'Round"

1906

• "Abraham Washington Jefferson Lee"
• "Bill Simmons"
• "Jessamine"
• "Pretty Desdamone"
• "Won't You Fondle Me"
• "When A Poor Relation Comes To Town"

1907

• "Bake Dat Chicken Pie" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Whats The Use Of Knocking When A Man Is Down"
• "Dixie Dan"
• "Scissors to Grind"
• "Rag Babe"
• "If I'm Going to Die, I'm going to Have Some Fun"

1908

• "The Meanest Man in Town"
• "I Think I See My Brother Coming Home"
• "Rag Babe"
• "The Ghost of the Banjo Coon"

1909

• "Abraham Lincoln Jones, or, The Christening"
• "A Possum Supper At The Darktown Church"
• "Down At The Huskin' Bee" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)
• "Everybody's Picken' On Me"
• "Strawberries"
• "No One Loves A Fat Man"
• ""That's A Plenty""

1910s

1910

• "Casey Jones" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Contribution Box"
• "Temptation Rag"

1911

• "Alexander's Ragtime Band" #1 for 10 weeks
• "Play That Barbershop Chord"
• "Chicken Reel"
• "Railroad Rag"
• "Steamboat Bill"
• 'The Barn Dance" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)

1912

• "I'm Goin' Back to Dixie" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "In Ragtime Land"
• "Rum Tum Tiddle"
• "Somebody Else Is Getting It"
• "The Ragtime Goblin Man"

1913

• "Row! Row! Row!"
• "Minstrel"
• "On the Old Fall River Line"^[2][3]

1914

• "Ragtime Dreams" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Aba Daba Honeymoon" (co-written with Walter Donovon)
  • Used in the film King of Jazz

1915

• "Auntie Skinner's Chicken Dinner" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)
• "Cotton Blossom Time" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)
• "Kentucky Home" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)

1916

• "The Kid Is Clever" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)
• "Pretty Baby" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Emancipation Handicap" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Honest Injun" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Two Key Rag" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "If You've Got a Little Bit"
• "That Funny Jas from Dixieland" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "In Huneysuckle Time" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "On the Hoko Moko Isle" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "My Lovin' Lou" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "All Aboard for Chinatown" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Johnny Get A Girl" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "When I'm a Sargent Man" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "At the Old Plantation Ball" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "I'm Savin' Up the Means to Get to New Orleans" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)

1917

• "Oh Lady" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Buzzin' the Bee" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Everybody's Jazzin' It (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Night Time in Little Italy" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "They're Wearing 'em Higher in Hawaii" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Come Along to Caroline" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "The Ghost of Saxophone" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Lily of the Valley" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Three Pickaninnies" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Mammy Blossom's possum Party (w.m Byron G. Harlan)

1918

• "The Old Grey Mare" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Everybody's Crazy 'bout the Doggone Blues" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "If You Saw All That I Saw in Arkansas" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Darktown Strutters' Ball" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Sweet n' Pretty" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "I've Got Em'" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "When Tony Goes Over The Top"
• "Down in the Jungle Land" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Everything is Hunky Dory" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)

1919

• "On the Ozark Trail" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Climbing Up the Golden Stairs"
• "Sipping Cider Through a Straw" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Every Day's A Holiday in Dixie" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)
• "Suicide Blues"

1920s

1920

• "The Argentines, the Portuguese and the Greeks"

1922

• "Ham & Eggs" (w.m. Byron G. Harlan)
• "I Want a Jazzy Kiss" (w.m Byron G. Harlan)

Resources

• Arthur Collins cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Rare Arthur Collins Recordings, from [Archive.org]
• http://wfmu.org/Playlists/TE/collinsE6630TAEAPRT21.jpg
• The Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Sheet Music at Baylor University

Notes

External links

Biography portal

• Arthur Collins (singer) at Find a Grave
• Discography of Arthur Collins on Victor Records from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR)