Harry B. Smith
Harry Bache Smith (December 28, 1860 – January 1, 1936) was a writer, lyricist and composer. The most prolific of all American stage writers, he is said to have written over 300 librettos and more than 6000 lyrics. Some of his best-known works were librettos for the composers Victor Herbert and Reginald De Koven. He also wrote the book or lyrics for several versions of the Ziegfeld Follies. Smith was born in Buffalo, New York to Josiah Bailey Smith (born 1837) and Elizabeth Bach (born 1838). According to his autobiography First Nights and First Editions (Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), Smith's actual name at birth was Henry Bach Smith. He married twice. His first wife was Lena Reed (born August 21, 1868), whom he married on October 12, 1887 in Chicago, Illinois. They had a son named Sydney Reed Smith (born July 15, 1892). Smith's second wife was the actress Irene Bentley (c. 1870 – June 3, 1940). They married on November 23, 1906 in Boston, Massachusetts, after she had been divorced on June 12, 1906 by her first husband James Thomas Sothoron, Jr. (1867–1913). Bentley retired from the stage in 1910 and died at Allenhurst, New Jersey. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, NY. While on a brief holiday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on New Year's Day in 1936, Smith died of a heart attack in his room at the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel. Smith worked on many of the famous musical theatre productions of his time. His younger brother Robert Bache Smith (June 4, 1875 – November 6, 1951) was also a successful lyricist. Harry Smith's archive is largely held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. |
Birth and Death Data: Born December 28, 1860 (Buffalo), Died January 1, 1936 (Atlantic City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1894 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: lyricist, arranger, songwriter, author
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 76-100 of 278 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | C-10245 | 12-in. | 5/1/1911 | Gems from The fortune teller | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-10392 | 12-in. | 6/5/1911 | Gems from The wizard of the Nile | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-10401 | 10-in. | 5/15/1911 | Gypsy love song | Reinald Werrenrath | Male vocal solo, with violin, harp, and orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | BVE-10401 | 10-in. | 11/24/1926 | Gypsy love song | Reinald Werrenrath | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-10600 | 12-in. | 6/27/1911 | Gems from The spring maid | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-10959 | 12-in. | 9/14/1911 | Gems from Rob Roy | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-10977 | 12-in. | 9/18/1911 | Hm! She is the one girl | Raymond Dixon | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-11069 | 10-in. | 10/10/1911 | The melody of love | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-11139 | 12-in. | 10/26/1911 | To the land of my own romance | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-11139 | 10-in. | 11/14/1911 | To the land of my own romance | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-11228 | 10-in. | 11/10/1911 | Wallflower sweet | Harry Anthony ; Inez Barbour | Female-male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | B-11229 | 10-in. | 11/10/1911 | Music caressing of violins | Inez Barbour ; John Young | Female-male vocal duet | lyricist | |
Victor | C-12109 | 12-in. | 6/12/1912 | Gems from Robin Hood | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | CVE-12109 | 12-in. | 8/24/1926 | Gems from Robin Hood | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-12746 | 10-in. | 12/24/1912 | The armorer's song | Wilfred Glenn | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-13450 | 10-in. | 6/18/1913 | Song of the brown October ale | Earl Cartwright | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra and chorus | lyricist | |
Victor | C-13605 | 12-in. | 7/17/1913 | Who can tell me where she dwells | Frank Pollock ; Henrietta Wakefield | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-13741 | 10-in. | 9/9/1913 | If we were on our honeymoon | Elsie Baker ; Frederick J. Wheeler | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-13777 | 10-in. | 9/15/1913 | Come on over here | Helen Clark ; Billy Murray | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-13857 | 12-in. | 9/25/1913 | Gems from The doll girl | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-14270 | 12-in. | 1/6/1914 | Gems from Oh I say | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-14475 | 10-in. | 2/17/1914 | You're here and I'm here | Olive Kline ; Harry Macdonough | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-14567 | 12-in. | 3/12/1914 | Gems from The laughing husband | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | C-15183 | 12-in. | 9/11/1914 | Gems from The girl from Utah | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist | |
Victor | B-15309 | 10-in. | 10/28/1914 | The sparkling Moselle | Lyric Quartet | Mixed vocal quartet, with orchestra | lyricist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Smith, Harry B.," accessed May 3, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103588.
Smith, Harry B.. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 3, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103588.
"Smith, Harry B.." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Harry B. Smith
Discogs: Harry B. Smith
Allmusic: Harry B. Smith
Grove: Harry B. Smith
IMSLP: Harry B. Smith
RISM: Harry B. Smith
IMDb: Harry B. Smith
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Smith, Harry B. (Harry Bache), 1860-1936 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82051119
Wikidata: Harry B. Smith - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5667065
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/42023885
MusicBrainz: Harry B. Smith - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/0e23e321-6877-4a04-ba63-dd449f8cd89b
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.