Coming August 28
Anthology: The Silver-Voiced Irish Tenor gives a thorough career retrospective of one of the early industry’s most important performers. A former carpenter, Belfast-born George J. Gaskin was plucked from the vaudeville stage in early 1890 and planted in front of a recording horn at the New York Phonograph Company, which was trying desperately to satisfy demand for nickel-in-the-slot entertainment in public spaces. He shone: at a time when singers had to shout into the horn with no feeling in order to be heard clearly, Gaskin’s records displayed a rich emotional expressiveness—and his were the earliest recordings of many now-standard Tin Pan Alley hits. Despite being one of the most popular phonograph singers of the ’90s, Gaskin found himself on the wrong side of legal wrangling by the emerging record labels and got vindictively frozen out. Undeterred, he went into talent management and staged one last recording comeback in the mid-1910s, fittingly honoring his native land. The 32 selections here are restored to remarkable fidelity and are accompanied by an 80-page booklet with a definitive biography.
List price: $21.99
OVERVIEW
- Catalogue number: ARCH 5509
- UPC:884400528711
- Original release date: August 28, 2026
- Running length: 78:08 / 32 tracks
- Notes & packaging: Digipak with an 80-page full-color booklet
- Tracks recorded: 1890-1905 and 1915
- Contains racially derogatory language
- In Archeophone’s Anthology series
| Tracklist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jack Won’t Forget You | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1890 | |
| 2. | We Were Shipmates, Jack and I | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1891 | |
| 3. | Going Back to Dixie | Manhansett Quartet | ca. 1892 | |
| 4. | The Bowery Grenadiers | George J. Gaskin | 1892 | |
| 5. | March of the Black Knight Templars | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1893 | |
| 6. | Two Little Girls in Blue | George J. Gaskin | 1893 | |
| 7. | After the Ball | George J. Gaskin | 1893 | |
| 8. | The Chimes of Trinity | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1895 | |
| 9. | Sweet Marie | George J. Gaskin | 1895 | |
| 10. | Henrietta! Have You Met Her? | George J. Gaskin | 1896 | |
| 11. | Just Tell Them that You Saw Me | Manhansett Quartet | 1896 | |
| 12. | The Little Old Red Shawl My Mother Wore | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1896–97 | |
| 13. | Dear Robin, I’ll Be True | George J. Gaskin | 1896 | |
| 14. | Lucky Jim | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1896–97 | |
| 15. | A Little Piece of String Around His Neck | George J. Gaskin | 1896 | |
| 16. | Beautiful Star Medley | Mozart Quartet | 1896 | |
| 17. | The Sunshine of Paradise Alley | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1896–97 | |
| 18. | I Loved You Better Than You Knew | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1895–97 | |
| 19. | The Wedding of the Lily and the Rose | George J. Gaskin | ca. 1896–97 | |
| 20. | Mack’s Swing Song | George J. Gaskin | 1897 | |
| 21. | Sweet Rosie O’Grady | George J. Gaskin | 1897 | |
| 22. | Break the News to Mother | George J. Gaskin | 1898 | |
| 23. | On the Banks of the Wabash | George J. Gaskin | 1899 | |
| 24. | My Wild Irish Rose | George J. Gaskin | 1899 | |
| 25. | A Picture No Artist Can Paint | George J. Gaskin | 1899 | |
| 26. | Vaudeville Specialty | George J. Gaskin | 1901 | |
| 27. | Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill | George J. Gaskin | 1902 | |
| 28. | Every Body Has a Whistle Like Me | George J. Gaskin with Joe Belmont | 1902 | |
| 29. | The Bassoon | George J. Gaskin | 1903 | |
| 30. | Navajo | George J. Gaskin | 1904 | |
| 31. | If a Girl Like You Loved a Boy Like Me | George J. Gaskin | 1905 | |
| 32. | Come Back to Erin | George J. Gaskin | 1915 | |
The Earliest Known Recording by George J. Gaskin
posted: August 5, 2026
An 1889 Phonograph Concert by Charles Marshall, featuring J. W. Myers
posted: June 18, 2026