Wallie Herzer

Wallie Herzer (né Walter Henry Herzer; 15 April 1885 San Francisco – 15 October 1961 Redwood City, California) was an American composer of popular music, music publisher, and pianist. Herzer flourished in music prior to and during World War I.

The Columbia recording of his 1912 composition, "Everybody Two-Step" — performed by ragtime pianist Mike Bernard on December 2, 1912, in New York City — is the first recording of ragtime music. It became a hit and coincided at the start of a renewed craze for ragtime and dance — fifteen years after William Krell's "Mississippi Rag" had been published, the first known published music with "rag" in the title.

Herzer composed three other hits — a 1913 piano rag, "Tickle the Ivories" – which also became hit as a vocal arrangement; a 1914 foxtrot song, "Get Over, Sal"; and a 1916 Hawaiian waltz song, "Aloha Land". Other compositions — including his 1908 piano ragtime two-step and barn dance, "The Rah-Rah Boy", and his 1913 rag turkey trot, "Let's Dance" — were internationally distributed.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 15, 1885 (San Francisco), Died October 15, 1961 (Redwood City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1912 - 1929

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-12340 10-in. 9/6/1912 Everybody two-step American Quartet Male vocal quartet composer  
Victor B-12685 10-in. 12/10/1912 Everybody two-step Sousa's Band Band composer  
Victor B-12779 10-in. 1/9/1913 Everybody two-step Victor Military Band Band composer  
Victor B-20614 10-in. 8/10/1917 Aloha land Athenian Mandolin Quartet ; Louise and Ferera Guitar duet (Hawaiian), with mandolin quartet composer  
Columbia 38435 10-in. 11/22/1912 Everybody two-step Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 38467 10-in. 12/2/1912 Everybody two-step Mike Bernard Piano solo composer  
Columbia 77254 10-in. 8/14/1917 Aloha land Louise and Ferera Steel guitar and guitar duet (Hawaiian) composer  
Columbia 79347 10-in. 7/16/1920 Aloha land Ferera and Franchini Steel guitar duet (Hawaiian) composer  
Columbia W148284 10-in. 4/15/1929 Everybody two step Roane County Ramblers Instrumental quartet composer  
OKeh S-7532 10-in. Aug. 1920 Aloha land Ferera and Franchini ; George Hamilton Green Guitar duet, with xylophone (Hawaiian) composer  
Brunswick [Br cat 5213-b] 10-in. approximately Mar. 1918 Aloha land Louise, Ferera, and Greenus Instrumental ensemble (Hawaiian) composer  
Brunswick 6393-6395 10-in. approximately Sept. 1921 Everybody step Benny Krueger’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Brunswick E26489-E26490 10-in. 2/14/1928 Aloha land Royal Hawaiians Vocal and instrumental ensemble composer  
Edison 6229 10-in. 6/17/1918 Aloha land Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Herzer, Wallie," accessed April 23, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105879.

Herzer, Wallie. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105879.

"Herzer, Wallie." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 23 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105879

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