Will Oakland (January 15, 1880 – May 15, 1956) was an American

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a ...

famed for his exceptionally high vocal range. He was born Herman Hinrichs in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, to

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

parents. Oakland began his musical career after leaving the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1905, joining

Lew Dockstader Lew Dockstader (born George Alfred Clapp; August 7, 1856 – October 26, 1924) was an American singer, comedian, and vaudeville star, best known as a blackface minstrel show performer. Dockstader performed as a solo act and in his own popula ...

minstrels A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enterta ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. He began recording for

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important and successful company in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by ...

in 1908, soon after Richard Jose's retirement. In addition to appearing as a solo performer, Oakland recorded

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

s with Billy Murray, sometimes singing the female part in love songs. He often sang woeful, sentimental songs that contrasted with Murray's usually upbeat repertoire. From 1912 to 1914 Oakland recorded in the Heidelberg Quintet, joining the members of the American Quartet. He recorded the song "As I sat upon my dear old mother's knee" by Joseph P. Skelly.

References

External links

*
Collected Works of Will OaklandCollected Works of Billy Murray and Will OaklandCollected Works of Heidelberg Quintet with Billy Murray

In the Gloaming
The American Quartet with Will Oakland (1910)
Just Before the Battle, Mother
, Will Oakland and Chorus (1912)
Will Oakland recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

.
Will Oakland cylinder recordings
from the

UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive The Cylinder Audio Archive is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library with streaming and downloadable versions of over 10,000 phonograph cylinders manufactured between 1893 and the mid-1920s. The ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

Library. 1880 births 1956 deaths American tenors American male pop singers Blackface minstrel performers American people of German descent Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey American vaudeville performers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers {{US-pop-singer-stub