Edward M. Favor "How Can They Tell I'm Irish?" Edison cylinder 10345 Clarence Wainwright Murphy song

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• published: 05 Jul 2014
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Edward M. Favor sings "How Can They Tell I'm Irish?" on Edison Standard Record 10345 (1910). The song is by Clarence Wainwright Murphy. Edward M. Favor lived from August 29, 1856 to 10 January 10, 1936. He enjoyed his first success in the early 1890s as a Broadway comedian during the long run of E. E. Rice's 1492 at Wallack's Theater. Around 1893 he recorded "The King's Song" (Columbia cylinder 6544), a popular number from this hit musical. From another show of this period, Ship Ahoy, he cut "The Commodore Song" (North American 772). The record opens with this announcement: "Edison Record 772, The Commodore Song from Ship Ahoy as sung by the original commodore Mr. Edward M. Favor, now of Rice's 1492 Company." These are probably the first "creator" records, or records featuring songs from musical shows as sung by an original cast member. He was principal comedian with Klaw and Erlanger, the Shuberts, and other prominent managers. The team of Favor and his wife, known professionally as Edith Sinclair (presumably her maiden name), were in vaudeville and musical comedies. By the late 1890s, Favor was among the most popular recording artists. He made records at a dollar a "round" between periods of filling vaudeville dates, working for virtually all companies. Billy Murray told Jim Walsh that he had seen Favor, in 1897, sing into eight cylinder phonographs at the headquarters of Bacigalupi Brothers, Edison wholesale distributors for the Western states. Favor, who was then appearing at the Orpheum Theater, made an indelible impression on Murray. The veteran recording artist cupped his hands behind his ears to determine whether the tone was hitting the horn straight in the center. He possessed a high Irish voice, and his records include many Irish songs and nonsense ditties, many of the latter taking the form of limericks. Favor was among the first around 1899 to make records sold by Frank Seaman's National Gramophone Corporation (3 and 5 West 18th Street in New York City), a subsidiary of the Universal Talking Machine Company. Its Zon-o-phone discs would soon compete with Berliners in the disc market. Favor began his association with Victor when it was called the Consolidated Talking Machine Company, his first session for Eldridge R. Johnson's new company taking place on July 26, 1900. He had a Victor session as late as 1911. In a 1968 interview with researcher Leo Kimmett, a former Edison employee named Clarence Ferguson recalled his friendship with Favor: "One time Edward Favor spent about two hours at my home listening to his own records. He had never heard them after they had been made." Ferguson also recalled Favor saying he earned $50 from Edison for singing for a cylinder "but the same song for Victor or the Columbia disc he would get from $150 to $200...Singing for a disc record he had to shout to the top of his voice to record on the disc." Favor's career as a recording artists was in decline before double-faced records were introduced in 1908. Newspaper clippings establish that at some point, perhaps in 1906, Favor and his wife entertained in South Africa and Australia. In 1906 they also appeared in "Hogan's Flat," a farcical sketch, not a full show. They were successful entertainers, clearly able to satisfy a vaudeville crowd, but they were not Broadway stars. Among his last two records were Blue Amberols featuring "My Best Girl and Me" (1510), from the musical comedy My Best Girl, and Gillen's "If They'd Only Move Old Ireland Over Here" (2391), from the Blanche Ring vehicle When Claudia Smiles. The latter number, his final Edison record, was issued in September 1914. Favor was far more important to Edison as an artist during the era of brown wax cylinders and Standard Records. He did not make Diamond Discs. Around 1914 he also recorded "On The 7:28," a train song issued on Rex 5251 (the song was written by Stanley Murphy and Henry I. Marshall, who soon afterwards wrote "On the 5:15"). Rex issued "Indoor Sports" (5254) at the same time, and this was probably Favor's last record. He remained active in theater through the early 1930s. In 1933 he was grocer James Caesar in a production of John Ferguson at New York City's Belmont Theater. He was Amos Gashwiler, a country storekeeper, in the Broadway production of Merton of the Movies. Favor died in Brooklyn on January 10, 1936. His daughter, Bessie, was 82 when she died in October 1959, which suggests that Edward Favor married Edith Sinclair at least by 1877. Edith died in November 1942. Some sources report that he was born Edward M. Le Fevre but the Favor family bible establishes that he was named Edward Addison Favor. It is also the source of his birth date: August 29, 1856. The Favors' ashes are in the Evergreens Cemetery at Bushwick Avenue and Conway Street in Brooklyn.