Jean Havez, who wrote "The Darktown Poker Club" (a hit for Bert Williams and, later, Phil Harris) and would later serve as one of Buster Keaton's writers during the shooting of his silent film classics (such as "Sherlock Jr." in 1924), wrote this slice-of-true-life
in 1908. It was an instant hit that year. Ed Meeker recorded this song twice: once for an Edison cylinder, and this version for Victor disc recorded on February 25 of 1909. The second verse is where the "meat and potatoes" of the lyrics are, describing as it does
the strong-arm tactic that President Teddy Roosevelt took with financial trusts that backfired and put the U.S. into a financial depression. It can now can be appreciated as a history lesson set to music. Ed Meeker, who was the first artist to record "Take Me Out
To The Ballgame" (for an Edison cylinder, also in 1908), was at the top of his form and gives a flawless performance here. The disc from which this was sampled was kicked around quite a bit, though after an undamaged part of the groove was found it sounded pretty
good. Noise reduction tamed the remaining groove hiss and occasional tic. (More info about Jean Havez can be found at the Internet Movie DataBase.)
