The other two entries can be found here:
http://miscellaneousmar.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-shadow-of-pines.html
http://miscellaneousmar.blogspot.com/2011/08/composer.html
Sheet Music cover for "In the Shadow of the Pines"
published by Legg Brothers Music, Kansas City, Missouri,circa 1895
“In the Shadow of the Pines” was recorded by several singers in the early 1900s. One copy of the song’s sheet music stated on the cover that it was “sung by J. H. McQuaid, Whitney Opera Co.” and included a photo of the singer. Recordings of the song by the performers Vernon Archibald and Royal Fish in 1913 and Byron G. Harlan and Frank C. Stanley in 1903 are available at the Donald C. Davidson Library at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Iconic country musicians, the Carter Family Singers recorded their own personalized version of “In the Shadow of the Pines” in 1937 on Decca and in 1939 Montgomery Ward label on 78 rpm records. The group modified the lyrics, changing some words and deleting some lines, so in their version the first letters of the first verse no longer spelled out “WABASH” which was the case in the original Lummis/Legg composition.
The sheet music for “In the Shadow of the Pines” can be found for sale on eBay. Musicians still record this 100-year-old song and you can hear several recent versions on YouTube.
A Kansas City newspaper reported in 1897 that sales of the song had broken the 100,000 mark but even with these record breaking sales the publisher of the sheet music, Legg Brothers Music Store, went out of business by 1898.
Kansas City Journal, August 27, 1897, Page 1, "Written as an AD."
Edward Legg’s father-in-law was a prominent Kansas City businessman, David S. Gordon. Mr. Gordon was a trustee for their music store. In 1898 a newspaper ad publicized a Trustee’s sale being held at the Legg Bros. Music Store with all the merchandise being sold at a discount of 66 2/3%.
Advertisement, Kansas City Journal, May 8, 1898
Other Connections and Coincidences
The Carter Family recorded a version of the popular folk song, “Wabash Cannon Ball” in 1929. “Wabash Cannon Ball” was a “descendant” of an older song, “The Great Rock Island Route!” The composer of the original version of this song was named J. A. Roff. The sheet music for this song was published in 1882. The publisher and copyright holder was the J. M. W. Jones Stationary & Printing Company, Chicago. Apparently this is the only song that Roff ever wrote; an internet search uncovered no other Roff compositions.
Sheet music cover for "Great Rock Island Route!"
Published by Jones Stationary and Printing Co., Chicago, Illinois, circa 1882
“Wabash Cannon Ball” has different lyrics than the song “The Great Rock Island Route!” but the refrains of both songs are very similar.
♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
Great Rock Island Route! By J. A. Roff
Now listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar,
As she dashes thro' the woodland, and speeds along the shore,
See the mighty rushing engine, hear her merry bell ring out,
As they speed along in safety, on the "Great Rock Island Route."
The Wabash Cannon Ball by Alvin P. Carter
Listen to the jingle the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodlands, through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear those lonesome hobos call
While travelling through the jungle on the Wabash Cannon Ball
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫ ♪ ♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
In 1882 when “The Great Rock Island Route!” was written, Sylvester Legg was about 25 years old and had played the piano since he was a child. He had a connection to the railroad since his older brother, Augustus, worked as a clerk for the railroad and possibly worked with C. S. Crane, the General Ticket and Passenger Agent for the Wabash Railroad.
One difference between the two songs is that J. A. Roff was both lyricist and composer of the music, while G. O. Lang, aka Sylvester Legg, only composed the music for “In the Shadows of the Pines” and Hattie Lummis wrote the lyrics. Legg did compose lyrics and music for some of his other songs. Another difference is the sheet music for “The Great Rock Island Route” was published in Chicago, while “In the Shadow of the Pines” was published in Kansas City by Mr. Legg. I have not found anything but circumstantial evidence that Sylvester Legg could have been original composer for the song “Wabash Cannon Ball” but I plan to keep searching for more information.
Sources, Links and Further Reading and Listening:
Newspaper article:
Library of Congress, Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers – Kansas City Journal, August 27, 1897, page 1, “Written As An AD.”
“In the Shadow of the Pines” Sheet Music:
Library of Congress Historic American Sheet Music Collection, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library –
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/dukesm:@OR%28@field%28AUTHOR+@band%28Lang,+G.+O.%29%29+@field%28OTHER+@band%28Lang,+G.+O.%29%29+%29
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/b/b07/b0732/
Recordings of “In the Shadow of the pines”:
University of California Library Recordings:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/4000/4283/cusb-cyl4283d.mp3
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Department of Special Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara -
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=IN+THE+SHADOW+OF+THE+PINES+&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1016
For Sale on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/In-Shadow-Pines/dp/B005MW5EDY
YouTube Old recording:
http://youtu.be/iqbkls6yGb0
YouTube Recent versions:
http://youtu.be/yEyUeeVMFuA
http://youtu.be/M3A9shOciJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIfEfGuczYg&feature=related
Carter Family Links:
YouTube "Wabash Cannonball"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMiU_aknPDA
Carter Family music CD with "In the Shadow of the Pines"
Interesting theory that there may be a connection to "The Great Rock Island Route." Is your belief that it was published in Chicago based solely on the copyright for J.M.W. Jones Printing and Stationary Co. in small print at the bottom of the cover page? Jones probably did the actual printing, but I do not believe they were in the music publishing business; their copyright was on the cover art. Their lithograph of the Chicago station appears on the covers of at least 3 compositions for Great Rock Island: "The Great Rock Island Route Song and Chorus", "A Famous Railway Line, Song and Chorus" (1883, also by J.A. Roff) and "The Great Rock Island Route Waltzes" (1880, by Fredrick B. Peakes.) Notations at the online Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection say no publisher is indicated for the 2 Roff compositions. The publisher of the Waltzes was Stewart Bros. of Ottumwa, IA.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great research!
Jaan,
DeleteThank you for your reply and information. I certainly made the wrong conclusion about the publisher being J.M.W. Jones Printing and Stationary Co. I don't have any knowledge of the music publishing business! It appears they were just the printers of the music. One thing I learned is that early music industry didn't have many rules about plagiarism or copyright.
I've done a little more research on J. A. ROFF and found another piece of music written by him: "God reigns! and the government at Washington lives!"
You can see copies of it at the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/item/sm1881.15846
Also at Baylor University:
http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/fa-spnc/id/21152/rec/906
The Baylor University copy has the publisher stamps of "Dalby and Roff Publishers, Council Bluff, Iowa" and "Fort Wayne Ind., W. D. Kyle, Publisher"
So it looks like J. A. Roff was his real name and my theory of a connection between "In the Shadow of the Pines" and "Great Rock Island Route" being written by Sylvester LEGG is incorrect.