My Wild Irish Rose: A Song History
"My Wild Irish Rose" is a stage song by Chauncey Olcott, the Buffalo-born singer and actor who wrote both its words and its music.[1][2] A 1908 theatrical reference records that he started out in 1880 as a ballad singer with a minstrel troupe, sang tenor parts with the Duff Opera Company and spent two years in light opera in England, and after W. J. Scanlan's death succeeded him as a star of Irish musical plays.[3] He introduced the song in his new production A Romance of Athlone, and M. Witmark & Sons published it in 1899 under a title page grouping it with the other songs he sang in the show.[1] The play, a romantic Irish drama by Olcott's manager, Augustus Pitou, opened in New York at Haverly's 14th Street Theatre on January 9, 1899; the New-York Tribune announced that engagement as its first showing in the city.[4][5]
Goodwin & Company, Wild Rose (Rosa Lucida), from the Flowers series for Old Judge Cigarettes, commercial color lithograph, 1890. Shown for the song’s title; the card has no connection to the song.
Recordings soon followed: Albert Campbell sang it for a seven-inch Berliner disc on March 22, 1899.[6] Olcott himself recorded it for Victor on January 5, 1906, although the Discography of American Historical Recordings lists that take's status as unknown.[7] John McCormack's recording, made in Camden, New Jersey, on April 6, 1914, was issued as Victor 64426.[8]
Olcott died in Monte Carlo in 1932, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted him in 1970.[2] In 1947 Warner Bros. released a film about him titled My Wild Irish Rose, directed by David Butler and starring Dennis Morgan as Olcott; the AFI Catalog says it was based on Rita Olcott's 1939 book Song in His Heart and that Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner were nominated for an Academy Award for its musical score.[9] Judy House includes the song in Jam Across America, a 178-page jam book for mountain dulcimer clubs that she publishes herself; she chose its tunes by surveying club playlists from around the country, and every arrangement is in DAD tuning.[10]
Sources
- The New York Public Library Digital Collections: "My wild Irish rose".
- Songwriters Hall of Fame: "Chauncey Olcott".
- Internet Archive: "Who's Who on the Stage, 1908".
- BroadwayWorld: "Shows at the Haverly's 14th Street Theatre".
- Library of Congress, Chronicling America: "New-York Tribune, January 8, 1899".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Berliner matrix 0139. My wild Irish rose / Albert Campbell".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-2985. My wild Irish rose / Chauncey Olcott".
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-14667. My wild Irish rose / John McCormack".
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: "My Wild Irish Rose (1947)".
- Judy House: "Jam Across America".
- Image: Goodwin & Company, Wild Rose (Rosa Lucida), from the Flowers series for Old Judge Cigarettes, commercial color lithograph, 1890. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.