By The Beautiful Sea: A Song History

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"By the Beautiful Sea" came out of New York in 1914, with music by Harry Carroll and words by Harold R. Atteridge, and Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. published the sheet music that year.[1][2] At the time the two men were bound by contract to the Shuberts, the Broadway producing family, as writers of their musicals and revues.[1] The lyric follows a young couple, Jane and Joe, on a day trip to the shore, and a second verse adds some comic deflation about who they really are.[1] The copy held at Mississippi State University carries a cover by Edward H. Pfeiffer showing women dancing at the water's edge.[2]

Pastel of a wide beach under a blue, cloudy sky, with women in long dresses sitting beneath parasols near the water

Eugène Boudin, Beach Scene, pastel on gray wove paper mounted on card, ca. 1882–83. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). A French beach, shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.

Record companies moved quickly: Victor recorded the Heidelberg Quintette in Camden on May 28, 1914, with Billy Murray, Will Oakland, Steve Porter, Robert D. Armour and William F. Hooley as its singers, and released it as Victor 17560.[3] On June 5 Columbia recorded Ada Jones and Billy Watkins singing it as a duet in New York, issued as Columbia A1563.[4] On June 30, back in Camden, the Victor Military Band cut it as a medley one-step, paired with "Off with the Old Love, On with the New," on Victor 17615.[5]

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Sources

  1. Library of Congress, In the Muse: "By the Sea".
  2. Mississippi State University Libraries, Templeton Sheet Music Collection: "By The Beautiful Sea" by Harry Carroll.
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-14911. By the beautiful sea / Heidelberg Quintette".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix 39437. By the beautiful sea / Ada Jones ; Billy Watkins".
  5. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-15026. By the beautiful sea / Victor Military Band".