This is one of the BEST things I've seen on TH-cam in years. THANK YOU for posting this. Marion Harris is one of my top 5 favorite singers, and it is wonderful not only to hear her in high fidelity, but also see her perform. Marvelous!
Because her pre-1925 recordings were made acoustically, she was not able to vary the dynamics of her singing the way she could after the microphones and amplifiers of the electrical-recording process replaced the recording “horn” of the acoustical process in late-1925.
Marion Harris is the best example I can cite of a singer who completely refashioned her style from vaudeville to jazz. Her performances in all styles are some of the best in the first third of the twentieth century, bar none.
@stahrmonroe Granted she came before Etting but by the time this film was made Etting was the big name. Compare this selection with Marions earlier work and you will see she modified her style to something more like Etting's. Even in some of Kate Smith's early recordings you can see that she was emulating Etting's style. Guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Moe Snyder, Florenz Ziegfeld, Ben Selvin and Columbia's New Electrical Recording Process and the advent of radio boosted Ruth Etting's career skyrocket in 1926
Ruth Etting became popular overnight in 1926 because of Moe Snyder, Florenz Ziegfeld, Ben Selvin, Columbia's New Electrically Processed Records and radio.
How does this song relate to the better-known song "She's Funny that Way," which has the same tune but different (though similar) lyrics? Is it a special rewrite to make it appropriate for a woman singer?
It's the same exact song... she just changed the lyrics a bit to make it more appropriate for a lady singer. Many other vocalists of the same period did the same thing (although some didn't do this, and so some men ended up singing love songs about other men, and some women about other women!)
Ruth was good but not as good as Marion. Marion ranks as probably the most talented female of this era, in this genre. I think if you listen to her recordings, which I own about all of them, you will see her style evolve. I like her 1930's recordings, maybe her best work. Belle Baker would run a close second to Marion, both were able to make a song their own.
In a long interview I conducted with Rudy Vallee, with Gus Haenschen present, Vallee said that the one singer who influenced him the most was Marion Harris, whose “woodwind vibrato” (his phrase), flawless diction, and intimate phrasing profoundly affected him.
Marion Harris is so great I love her singing so much, I even have her autograph.
I bet she could have been a star even today!
This is one of the BEST things I've seen on TH-cam in years.
THANK YOU for posting this. Marion Harris is one of my top 5 favorite singers, and it is wonderful not only to hear her in high fidelity, but also see her perform. Marvelous!
Delectable! She certainly as a great singer.
Thank you for sharing.
Absolute masterpiece.
I adore this ❤️
Marion Harris recorded in 1930 for Brunswick, around the time this short was made.
Her WWI era recordings are lovely, but listening to her 30s recordings shows how much microphones improved. And what a really lovely voice she had.
Because her pre-1925 recordings were made acoustically, she was not able to vary the dynamics of her singing the way she could after the microphones and amplifiers of the electrical-recording process replaced the recording “horn” of the acoustical process in late-1925.
She was gorgeous ♥
Marion Harris is the best example I can cite of a singer who completely refashioned her style from vaudeville to jazz. Her performances in all styles are some of the best in the first third of the twentieth century, bar none.
@stahrmonroe Granted she came before Etting but by the time this film was made Etting was the big name. Compare this selection with Marions earlier work and you will see she modified her style to something more like Etting's. Even in some of Kate Smith's early recordings you can see that she was emulating Etting's style. Guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
@robbie19371 Possibly the other way around. Marion Harris was making records several years before Ruth Etting and lost favor as Ruth became popular.
Moe Snyder, Florenz Ziegfeld, Ben Selvin and Columbia's New Electrical Recording Process and the advent of radio boosted Ruth Etting's career skyrocket in 1926
Ruth Etting became popular overnight in 1926 because of Moe Snyder, Florenz Ziegfeld, Ben Selvin, Columbia's New Electrically Processed Records and radio.
How does this song relate to the better-known song "She's Funny that Way," which has the same tune but different (though similar) lyrics? Is it a special rewrite to make it appropriate for a woman singer?
It's the same exact song... she just changed the lyrics a bit to make it more appropriate for a lady singer. Many other vocalists of the same period did the same thing (although some didn't do this, and so some men ended up singing love songs about other men, and some women about other women!)
Ruth was good but not as good as Marion. Marion ranks as probably the most talented female of this era, in this genre. I think if you listen to her recordings, which I own about all of them, you will see her style evolve. I like her 1930's recordings, maybe her best work. Belle Baker would run a close second to Marion, both were able to make a song their own.
In a long interview I conducted with Rudy Vallee, with Gus Haenschen present, Vallee said that the one singer who influenced him the most was Marion Harris, whose “woodwind vibrato” (his phrase), flawless diction, and intimate phrasing profoundly affected him.
Ruth had 2 highlights in her career, 1929, 1930 and the mid 1930s, until her retirement in 1937.
She sings this "Torch Song" from the heart it seems.......Way before "Womens' Lib."
Lovely! She seems to have been influenced by Ruth Etting's style.
Other way around, actually.
She preceded Ruth Etting, and according to Etting had a very different voice that suited her (Harris’s) more intimate phrasing perfectly.