Edward Meeker "O'Brien Has No Place To Go" Edison Gold Moulded Record 9870

• published: 02 Nov 2014
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Dinny O'Brien has three daughters fine, The prettiest girls on the block; And 'twict you and me, every night after tea, The boys to O'Brien's they flock. Young Marty Clancey stepped in to see Nancy, Tim McCann calls upon Rose; And when Maddy Kelley drops in to see Nell, With a plea to her father she'd go. Don't go into the front room, Dad, Nancy's in there with her caller; Daddy dear, won't you stay out here? Rose has her friend in the parlor. Don't go into the kitchen, Dad, I'll be out there with my beau; Since each of his girls have got steady young men, Sure O'Brien has no place to go. Saturday night, O'Brien got tight, And says to himself, now we'll see; If three young galoots, dressed up in dude suits, Make a wandering fool out of me. So out went McCann on O'Brien's brogan, Mickey Kelley and Clancey got sore; Flipped over the stoop like an acrobat's troupe, Now O'Brien will hear this no more. Don't go into the front room, Dad, Nancy's in there with her caller; Daddy dear, won't you stay out here, Rose has her friend in the parlor. Don't go into the kitchen, Dad, I be out there with my beau; Now, since all of his girls have got steady young men, Sure O'Brien has no place to go. Lyrics by Stanley Murphy; music by George Evans, 1908. Edward Meeker lived from January 22, 1874, to April 19, 1937. This baritone was an accomplished comic singer and became known for Irish and Negro dialect humor, but Meeker might be best known today as the distinctive announcer on Edison cylinders. From the beginning of the phonograph industry up to around 1905, most record companies begin a selection with a spoken preface. Announcements were needed at first since titles were not originally embossed on cylinder rims, and a few companies continued announcing selections even after they developed ways of identifying artist and title on the record itself. Edison continued with announcements long after Victor and Columbia stopped using them. But Thomas A. Edison came to dislike inconsistency in voices announcing songs and decided that only one voice should make such announcements at the beginning of Edison cylinders. He chose Edward Meeker for this job. The circumstances behind the hiring of Meeker as Edison's announcer were recalled by Bill Hayes, an Edison recording technician, as told to John L. Norton: "Ed Meeker was a workman at the Edison plant. One day he was painting window casings near the recording room and carrying on a conversation with another workman in a very loud voice. They needed someone for an announcer, as [Arthur Collins, who sometimes announced for Edison] wasn't always available, so they brought Meeker in, gave him a few tests and his [laboring] days were over." His surname was ironic since Meeker had a loud voice. For years, buyers of two-minute Edison cylinders heard his voice without knowing it was Meeker making the announcements. Providing this specialized service required his constant presence in the recording studio until spoken announcements were abandoned by Edison's National Phonograph Company in 1908. A typical Meeker lead-in announces Standard 10049, recorded around October 1908 and issued in January 1909: "Rainbow. Indian love song. Sung by Ada Jones and Billy Murray. Ed-i-SON rec-CORD!" His speaking voice could be heard even after 1908. Jim Walsh reports in the February 1946 issue of Hobbies, "When cylinders were made to provide music for dancing lancers and quadrilles, [Meeker] called the figures." He was also a sound effects specialist from the early years of the century to the 1920s. He gives mathematics "lessons" on educational Blue Amberols numbered 1687 through 1710. With the curious exception of one title for Victor, Meeker recorded exclusively for Edison. During the 1930s he performed as a singer and entertainer in nightclubs. He died from stomach ulcers at his home, 195 Main Street, in Orange.