Herbert Reynolds

Michael Elder Rourke (14 July 1867 – 26 August 1933), who assumed the pen name Herbert Reynolds in 1913, was an Irish-American lyricist.

Reynolds wrote the lyrics to Jerome Kern's first big hit, "They Didn't Believe Me", interpolated into the 1914 American version of The Girl from Utah, produced by Charles Frohman. The show had a successful run of 140 performances at the Knickerbocker Theatre, opening on August 14, 1914. Frohman had hired the young Kern to write five new songs for the score together with Reynolds to strengthen what he felt was a weak first act. Julia Sanderson and Donald Brian starred in the production.

He shared the lyric writing with P. G. Wodehouse in Miss Springtime (1916), with additional music by Kern.

Reynolds went on to collaborate with Kern and several other lyricists in the Broadway musical Very Good Eddie with a book by Guy Bolton and Philip Bartholomae, and again in Rock-a-Bye Baby (1918).

Birth and Death Data: Born 1867, Died 1933

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1914 - 1947

Roles Represented in DAHR: lyricist, songwriter

Notes: M. E. Rourke changed his name to Herbert Reynolds in 1913.

See Also: Rourke, M. E.

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

Recordings (Results 26-39 of 39 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh 80150 10-in. 10/1/1926 Half a moon is better than no moon Araby Gardens Orchestra Jazz/dance band songwriter  
Brunswick E20203-E20204 10-in. 9/18/1926 Half a moon (Is better than no moon) Ray Perkins Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20235-E20236 10-in. 9/23/1926 Half a moon (Is better than no moon) Ray Perkins Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20324-E20325 10-in. 10/2/1926 Half a moon (Is better than no moon) Ray Perkins Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E20850-E20852 10-in. 12/1/1926 Half a moon (Is better than no moon) Ben Bernie ; Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Brunswick E30712-E30713 10-in. 8/27/1929 They didn‘t believe me Five Pennies ; Red Nichols Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take G) lyricist  
Edison 4117 10-in. 9/15/1915 Auf Wiedersehn Helen Clark ; Reed Miller Female-male vocal duet and mixed vocal trio, with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 4123 10-in. 9/16/1915 They didn't believe me Gladys Rice ; Walter Van Brunt Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 4124 10-in. 9/17/1915 Waltz of the season George Wilton Ballard ; Frederick J. Wheeler Vocal duet (tenor and baritone) and vocal ensemble, with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 4196 10-in. 10/15/1915 Auf wiedersehn Burton Lenihan ; Gladys Rice Vocal duet (soprano and tenor) and mixed vocal trio, with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 5056 10-in. 10/10/1916 A little bid for sympathy Gladys Rice ; Walter Van Brunt Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 5057 10-in. 10/10/1916 In the garden of romance Gladys Rice ; Frederick J. Wheeler Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra lyricist  
Edison 11220 10-in. 9/27/1926 Half a moon (Is better than no moon) Johnny Marvin Male vocal solo, with ukulele songwriter  
Gramophone 0B1124 10-in. 10/1/1931 They didn't believe me Ambrose Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and female vocal trio lyricist  
(Results 26-39 of 39 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Reynolds, Herbert," accessed March 23, 2023, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112132.

Reynolds, Herbert. (2023). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112132.

"Reynolds, Herbert." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2023. Web. 23 March 2023.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112132

External Sources

Wikipedia: Herbert Reynolds (lyricist)

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Reynolds, Herbert, 1867-1933 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2003039770

Wikidata: Herbert Reynolds (lyricist) - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5735372

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/21829920

MusicBrainz: Herbert Reynolds - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/bc3aa5cf-c3a9-46ae-bde9-e3ba9ec58a99

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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