Harry Tally

thumb|Singer and recording artist Harry Talley

'''Harry Lee Tally''' (June 30, 1866 – August 16, 1939) was an American tenor singer of popular songs, who recorded between 1902 and 1917.

==Biography== He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and began performing in a popular vaudeville act, the Empire City Quartet.<ref name="whitburn memories"/> Described as "a sweet-voiced tenor",<ref name=loc/> he first recorded as a solo singer in late 1902, and thereafter recorded prolifically for several labels, particularly Columbia, Victor, and Edison. He recorded a wide variety of material, from sentimental to comic.<ref name=gracyk>[http://www.gracyk.com/harrytally.shtml Tim Gracyk, ''Harry Tally'', Tim's Phonographs and Old Records]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Retrieved 15 May 2013</ref>

Among his most commercially successful songs were "Seminole" (first recorded in 1903), "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" (1906) – which he may have been the first to record<ref name=loc>[https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/artists/detail/id/1147/ Library of Congress: National Jukebox]. Retrieved 15 May 2013</ref> – and "Take Me Back To New York Town" (1907).<ref name="whitburn memories">{{cite book| last1 = Whitburn| first1 = Joel| title = Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin| publisher = Record Research, Inc.| year = 1986| pages = [https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/416 416]| isbn = 0-89820-083-0| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/416}}</ref> Several of his songs were inspired by new technological innovations, including "On An Automobile Afternoon" (1906), "Let's Go Into A Picture Show" (1909) — one of the first songs to mention this new form of entertainment — and "Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine" (1911). Tally also recorded duets, in the Edison Diamond Discs series, with another member of the Empire City Quartet, Harry Mayo, which have been described as "finely tuned performances combining expert harmonization with hilariously unrelated nonchalant banter."<ref name=loc/> He also wrote songs with Harry Mayo, including "That's a Mother's Liberty Loan".<ref>Gaskill, Clarence, Harry Mayo, and Harry Tally. ''That's a Mother's Liberty Loan''. New York : M. Witmark & Sons, 1917. {{OCLC|20120409}}</ref>

He continued to perform his songs in vaudeville, and made his last recordings in 1917.<ref name=gracyk/><ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/harry-tally-mn0000667659 Biography by Rovi at Allmusic.com]. Retrieved 15 May 2013</ref> In 1918, he retired from the music business, and set up a cigar store in Ocean Park, California. He died in 1939 at the age of 73.<ref name=allmusic/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/101000 Harry Tally recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tally, Harry}} Category:1866 births Category:1939 deaths Category:Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee Category:American tenors Category:Victor Records artists Category:Pioneer recording artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Zonophone Records artists Category:American male songwriters Category:Songwriters from Tennessee