Recording pioneer Joe Natus was the first singing partner for Arthur Collins, before Byron G. Harlan replaced him and they went on to become one of the most prolific recording duos of the acoustic era. Natus had been a stage
veteran since the early 1890s, appearing alongside the likes of Lottie Gilson and Edward Favor (according to this 1893 clipping from the
New York Times), and he began recording his first cylinders around the same time. He continued recording
solo after 1905, though he gradually faded out of the catalog like Russell Hunting, Dan Quinn, George Gaskin, and others of the earliest recording pioneers. This particular recording was done for Victor on April 25 of 1905, about a year after he
appeared in a New York production of "The Good Old Summertime" (see the IBDB for details). The famous songwriting pair of George Evans and Ren Shields
(also wrote "Come Take a Trip in my Airship" and "In the Merry Month Of May") penned this one, adding to their impressive resume. The record itself is noisy, as early Victors tend to be, and noise
reduction has helped to bring the music out from behind the groove hiss. (For further samples of Natus' work, check out the Archeophone CD titled "The Pink Lambert" that features two recordings with Joe Natus - hear samples of them at
Archeophone.com.)
