When listening to acoustic era recordings, some performers will usually turn people off right away, one of these performers is Billy Golden. He specialized in black American songs and imitations, which understandably may not be for everyone. Oftentimes his recordings present a more unusual look into what midwestern ragtime and music sounded like long before 1890. While we don’t know very much about him, he is still quite interesting.
He was born William Shires in Cincinnati in 1858 (or around that year), at a time when the city was a hotbed for music and culture. Some ragtime historians actually debate whether Cincinnati might indeed be the city where the genre originated, or at least the region around it. He initially was working as an assistant to a local gauger by 1870 (age 12 or so). Also at that time, he was living with who, based on my research, was likely a cousin of his named Imogene, who worked as an actress. It is very possible that she was partially responsible for his entrance into performance. According to the 1911 book Monarchs of Minstrelsy, by 1874 he was performing in the Ohio valley area.
He began his 50-plus year career as a dancer, and this would prove clear upon listening to his later recordings. He likely performed there and in the Pennsylvania area for a few more years until he settled in Washington DC by around 1878. Around this time he also met his future wife May, whom he soon married and had two children. The date of 1878 corresponds to the 1900 census that indicated his daughter Daisy was born there around that time. He was likely living there most of his time by 1880. He likely met May while working in DC, as she was also a performer. Later his daughter Daisy would also be a performer.
He happened to be in the right place to become one of the earliest recording artists. Washington is where Columbia and later Berliner were founded. His first recordings were of course done by Columbia, and because of his performance style, he proved to record very well on the technology of the time. Even by 1890, he was recognized in the theatrical world as the performer who reintroduced “Turkey in the Straw” to the masses. This soon became one of the half-dozen songs that he frequently recorded.
Other than his solo records consisting of a minimal repertoire, he also sang in the Brilliant Quartette. This group is rather unknown to collectors today, but they were among the first vocal quartets to ever make records. The other members are very difficult to determine, and therefore remain unknown to us today, but Golden stuck out like a sore thumb. These recordings are some of the oldest of his that survive. A transfer of an early syncopated shout, “Blind Tom,” has been online for years now, and Golden is the lead singer on it. The recording dates to around 1893 (though it might be older). It would have been wonderful to hear him perform in his earlier years, as his pitch slightly diminished as he aged. He had nearly perfect pitch, and perfect rhythm, things that often didn’t go hand in hand on acoustic recordings.
In 1894, he became one of the first to make Berliner discs. Berliner came to the United States the previous year and had officially set up shop in Washington. Pianist Fred Gaisberg remembered Golden, George Gaskin, and Russell Hunting as being some of the first performers he worked with there. His full account of the process was recalled in his book The Music Goes Round. He described how rather than using regular old horns to capture the sound, Berliner used long tubes with leather straps. This seemed very odd to Gaisberg and others at the time, but it proved to be genius, because it allowed the sounds to be caught in an extremely concentrated space with minimal interruption, and optimized catching a wide range of tones. Edison actually later experimented with long tubes like this in the late 1910s. It is why the earliest Berliners, including Golden’s, sound incredible for their age. When in good condition, they can sound electrically recorded.
By the late 1890s he was among the most popular recording artists. By 1897 and 1898, his records were being praised in trade magazines like The Phonoscope. What is really fun about some of his recordings is that he recorded so many takes of “Turkey in the Straw,” but each take is different. He recorded literally hundreds of different takes of it, and each one has unique and often very syncopated accompaniments. When hearing a different take of it, you can never be sure how the piano will be. This is also the case for the other few songs he recorded many times.
While he continued recording into 1900 and a little into 1901, he actually left the recording world for a few years. In that year he decided to open up a restaurant in New York. Several 1900 issues of The Phonoscope mentioned this new business. According to them, he ran this place with his wife and daughter, and guests were treated to performances by Billy practically each night. Finding the specifics of this place is difficult, but he kept this place going for at least a few years.
He returned to recording full time again in 1904. He had done occasional sessions between then, but by the middle of 1904 he was back. It was at that time that he had officially teamed up with another popular minstrel performer, Joe Hughes. Golden was, after this point, most often performing with Hughes, but sometimes he worked with others, another being James Marlowe, a much older, but arguably as talented, performer as Golden (however he was dead by the end of 1917). What Marlowe added to Golden’s act was banjo. Their records have a wonderfully archaic sound, with Marlowe’s folksy banjo style, they are incredibly charming. You wouldn’t expect something like it from the late 1910s. His playing is somewhat similar to listening to Uncle Dave Macon. They recorded for several labels, Edison, Columbia, Victor, and Pathé.
Even as Golden’s voice was clearly aging, he continued to make records into his sixties. He lived just long enough for two very important inventions; electric recording, and sound films. He was still considered a treasure in the theatrical world, so in 1925 and 1926 he participated in both of these. He also was part of some very early radio broadcasts, likely because of Fred Hager, who by 1923 had become something of a radio wizard. By 1925, he had actually recorded “Turkey in the Straw” electrically. Around this time he also was said to have made an early sound film. At some point before his death he made a Vitaphone short. To this day it is not known if a copy of the record or the film survives. If either of these were to be discovered, this would be a monumental find. Seeing any acoustic recording artists on film is incredibly rare, and a real treat when encountered.
Golden however, was dead by the end of 1926. It almost seemed like he was about to have a bit of a comeback at the time, but this was cut short. He certainly left us with plenty of recordings to enjoy and to study. Listening to his records is a great study in what some of the earliest syncopated music sounded like here in the United States, and what the Cincinnati regional style truly sounded like. Maybe someday that Vitaphone short of his will turn up.
R. S. Baker has appeared at several Ragtime festivals as a pianist and lecturer. Her particular interest lies in the brown wax cylinder era of the recording industry, and in the study of the earliest studio pianists, such as Fred Hylands, Frank P. Banta, and Frederick W. Hager.
