The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-03-09
COMIC SONGS AND SINGERS.
Salaries of Singers and Few of thei
Peculiarlties--Somethi very Personal.

| Salaries of Singers and n Few of their
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. very Personal.
An exchange gives the following incl
dents about comic singers: Poor prices
are paid for comic songs. Harrigan, or
Williams, or Poole, will charge from
$40 to $50 for song-words aud music
according to its merit, but then they
are the regulars in the business. The
amateurs may deem themselves lucky if
they get s5, and from that low figure the
price runs down to the point at which
The comic singer deems himself doing
favor to the author by singing his
| bantling.
The music is generally old or slightly
changed from some well known dance
air or already popular melody. "The
Whereabouts of Tweed" for instance,
is set to the old English song, "Per-
haps she's on the railway" "Thd Pin
and Needle Peddler music is adapted
from the "Jolly Brothers " galop, etc.
Harrigan, although not versed in music,
has very nice appreciation of melody,
and gets up his own airs, whistling or
singing them to a musical transcriber,
who notes down and arranges them.
Song writer's are generally expected to
| furnish music for their words. Frank
Lewis has produced number of origi-
nal airs of no mean merit, and SO has
Sinclair.
Copyright on comic songs is little
valued or thought of by their owners,
not that it might not be defended, but
because little is to be gained by legal
proceedings against fellows who have
nothing from which to pay damages.
| nopoo1roptlu ,,r,,r;oforu ,iobt &c n.
tically registered as soon as a song Is
sung in pablo. There is not one Of
Tony Pastors, Harrigan's, or Williams
songs, which, if good, will not be sung
in half dozen variety shows, concert
halls, and free and easys about town be-
fore it is forty eight hours old. Some
times this pilfering goes to the extent
of publication with avowed authorship,
but there it is seldom as successful, as
the publishers may be reached by law.
Queer blunders occurin this way. Once,
for example, two parties, one famous
negro minstrel, now dead, stole song
of Poole's, the popular Finnegan's
Wake" and published it, dividing tho
honors of authorship, one taking credit
for the words, and the other for the
music but, as it happened, the music
was an old Scotch air, and-to quote a
comic song" that's what gave them
away" Strange to say, few airs are
taken from what would seem to be a
rich mine, the songs of the minor thea
ters and cafes chantant of Paris.
The salaries of professional singers of
comic songs, provided they have reputa-
tion already, are very large, ranging
from $75 to $3.50 week. Tony Pastor,
if singing under engagement, would get
$3.50. Gus Williams commands 5000 n
week by the season. Pat Rooney gets
5000 week, Courtright $3.50, and Ker-
nell 1925. Then, in addition to this,
they make considerable amounts from
the sale of rights Of publications and the
sales of song books, music publishers
paying a royalty of generally about ten
per cent. on their sales of sheet music
and proportionately on books. Some.
times rights are sold out and out, but
not frequently if the songs are good for
anything, and since Harrigan foolishly
threw away n little fortune by selling
the "Mulligan Guards" to Pond 4
Go. for $50 cash down, such transactions
will no doubt be rarer in the future.
The English comic singers who have
achieved reputation in this country have
been not many more in number than the
native singers mentioned. There was
Horace Lingard, famous once as "Cap
tain Jinks," who now confines himself
to comedy acting, except when he enters
a village too small for dramatic com
pany, and then he does his ole
sketches" as well as ever; Harry
Richards, whose popularity as Brown
the Tragedian," in the song of tina
title, has won for him re-engagemen
in the Olympic Theater, to which house
he will soon return from England; Joll,
Nash, who is doing his Laughing )
song out in California; Fred Foster, th'
original " Piccadilly;" J. II. Milburn
great as "The Dancing Barber" Harr,
Munroe, who wrote his own songs, ant
will be best remembered by his "Swel
with the Carrotty HAIR" and Gal
among the Clover;" Victor Listor ans
Guy Linton, the latter of whom il
travelling somewhere in this country.