Edward Farren Morton (May 15, 1870 – April 11, 1938), Notes on "Don't Take Me Home", Archeophone Records
. Retrieved 6 June 2013 was an American singer and comedian who recorded during the

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

era. Known as "The Singing Cop", he has been described as "one of the most extraordinary performers of the early recording industry."''Eddie Morton: The Sound of Vaudeville'', Archeophone Records
Retrieved 6 June 2013

Biography

Eddie Morton was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the son of actor C.H. Morton, who was in the original cast of ''

The Black Crook ''The Black Crook'' is a work of musical theatre first produced in New York City with great success in 1866. Many theatre writers have cautiously identified ''The Black Crook'' as the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a mu ...

''. Anthony, Walter (8 December 1912)
A Policeman on a New Beat and a Fighter in a Strange Arena
''

The San Francisco Call ''The San Francisco Call'' was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called ''The San Francisco Call & Post'', the ''San Francisco Call-Bulletin ...

'' From about 1898 until about 1905, he worked for the

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the law enforcement agency, police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police a ...

, leading to his later billing as "The Singing Cop". Library of Congress, ''Ed Morton''
Retrieved 6 June 2013 He then became a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

performer, and in 1907 appeared at the Madison Square Roof Garden in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the cast of ''The Maid and the Millionaire'', a

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. The following year he toured as part of M. M. Thiese's Rollickers

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

show, and then became a popular attraction in the vaudeville shows run by

Benjamin Franklin Keith Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville. Biography Early years Keith was born in Hillsboro Bridge, New ...

and Sylvester Z. Poli. He first recorded, as a gruff-voiced comic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, in 1907, and over the next few years recorded for

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, Columbia, Edison,

Zonophone Zonophone (early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone) was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey, by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company but was applied to records and machines sold by Seaman's Universal Talki ...

and other companies. His successes included "That's Gratitude", "Just a Friend of the Family", "In The Right Church, But The Wrong Pew", "You Ain't Talking To Me", "The Party that Wrote ‘Home, Sweet Home' Never Was a Married Man", "What's the Matter with Father?", and "Oceana Roll", first released in 1911 on the flip side of "

Alexander's Ragtime Band "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911 and is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little sync ...

" by

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

and Harlan. As a

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

song plugger A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

", many of his songs also featured in the repertoires of rival performers Arthur Collins and

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being ...

, including "

coon songs Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they we ...

". He also wrote some of his own comic material. Morton did not record after 1917, but continued as a popular vaudeville attraction until 1926. He then retired to run a

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...

and a restaurant, ''Ed Morton's Little Bit of Broadway'', at

Wildwood, New Jersey Wildwood is a city in Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area and is a popular summer resort destination along the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's year-ro ...

. He died of a heart attack in 1938 at the age of 67.

Legacy

A compilation CD of Morton's recordings between 1907 and 1910, ''The Sound of Vaudeville'', was issued by

Archeophone Records Archeophone Records is a record company and label founded in 1998 to document the early days of America's recording history. It was started by Richard Martin and Meagan Hennessey, a husband and wife who run the company in Champaign, Illinois. Ar ...

in 2003. A second CD compilation, ''Ed. Morton's "Bit of Broadway"'', was released by Archeophone in 2012. ''Ed. Morton's "Bit of Broadway"'', Archeophone Records
Retrieved 6 June 2013 "I'm A Member Of The Midnight Crew", one of the songs by Eddie, was discovered by

Toby Fox Robert F. Fox (born October 11, 1991), known professionally as Toby Fox (previously Toby "Radiation" Fox), is an American video game developer and video game composer. He is known for developing the role-playing video games ''Undertale'' and ...

and used in the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

Homestuck ''Homestuck'' is an Internet fiction series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie in the first half of the 2010s. The fourth and best-known of Hussie's four ''MS Paint Adventures'', it originally ran from April 13, 2009 to April 1 ...

'', containing the group of mobsters coincidentally named the Midnight Crew, who were previously used in a previous webcomic called Problem Sleuth. This use inspired covers by fellow Homestuck music team members David Ko and Michael Guy Bowman.
I'm a Member of the Midnight Crew (Post-Punk Version), Homestuck Vol. 9

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Eddie 1870 births 1938 deaths Vaudeville performers Pioneer recording artists American baritones Victor Records artists Columbia Records artists Musicians from Philadelphia