“Allah’s Holiday”
George McMurphey And His Orchestra
(Columbia 1498 D mx 146459) June 19, 1928
“Poor Butterfly”
George McMurphey And His Orchestra; Kenneth Allen, vocal
(Columbia 1498 D mx 146452) June 18, 1928
From the Edward Mitchell collection, here is one of only two records made by a nice-sounding band based out of Eugene, Oregon.
These recordings were made on June 18 and 19, 1928 in Seattle, Washington on one of Columbia’s regular field trips that sent their mobile equipment to various parts of the USA to record regional talent for which travel to their New York recording studios would have been cost-prohibitive.
During those two days, the band recorded a total of four sides, the other two being “Trumpet Sobs” and “Alice Blue Gown” which were issued on Columbia 1526-D
Both of the songs here were already over a decade old when the band recorded them.
“Allah’s Holiday” is a Rudolf Friml composition from the 1915 Broadway production Katinka. A lot of ragtime renditions of the song were recorded during the late 1910s.
“Poor Butterfly” was composed by Raymond Hubbell with lyrics by John L. Golden for the 1916 musical revue The Big Show at the New York Hippodrome. The song has been recorded by many artists over the decades A 1954 recording of the song by The Hilltoppers climbed to number 15 on the Billboard best-selling music charts.
-Dismuke