Henry Thomas Fahey (22 May 1878 – 4 September 1956) was an English singer and comic entertainer who recorded popular songs between the 1900s and late 1920s under a variety of names, including Harry Fay, Fred Vernon, Arthur Norton, Jack Hay, and Harry Carlton.
Biography
He was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
into a family of Irish origin. He performed on stage in
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
s, before making records, starting no later than 1906 and continuing through the 1910s and 1920s.
[Dick Weindlin and Marianne Colloms, ''Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek: West Hampstead's Musical Heritage Remembered'', History Press, 2003]
/ref> As Harry Fay, he recorded for Zonophone Records. The 1919 catalogue for the record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
lists him as a "comedian", with over 60 songs recorded as a solo performer, as well as several duets with 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 ...
singer Stanley Kirkby
Stanley Kirkby (born James Baker; 1878 – 30 October 1949) was an English baritone singer and Variety Show, variety artist of the early 20th century. He sang ballads and popular songs of the Edwardian era, the World War I, First World War and th ...
. Among the popular songs he recorded were "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
"Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?", with music and lyrics by C. W. Murphy and Will Letters (1908), is a British music hall song, originally titled "Kelly From the Isle of Man". The song concerns a Manx woman looking for her boyfriend during a visit ...
", " By the Light of the Silvery Moon", " Lily of Laguna", "It's a Long Way to Tipperary
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed.
It ...
", " Alexander's Ragtime Band", and " Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend?". For the Columbia-Rena label, he recorded "Let's All Go Down the Strand
"Let's All Go Down the Strand" is a popular British music hall song of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, written by Harry Castling and C. W. Murphy. It was first performed by Castling, and was published in 1909. It was inspired by the S ...
", one of his biggest successes, in 1910. He also recorded for many other labels, using different pseudonyms, and continued to record comic and other songs until at least 1929.[
He died in hospital at ]Barnet, Hertfordshire
Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...
, in 1956.["Henry Thomas Fahey", National Probate Calendar, 1956, p.184]
References
External links
*
1878 births
1956 deaths
Music hall performers
{{UK-comedian-stub