What is the correct name and who was the first artist to record a song
known to me only by "Alice in Blue Gowns"? My grandfather, who was
born in 1899, used to sing me to sleep with this song and I can't
remember the words.

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 07 Feb 2005 11:14 PST

Hello i12bsane,

Do these lyrics seem familiar?

I once had a gown, it was almost new, 
Oh, the daintiest thing, it was sweet Alice blue, 
With little forget-me-nots placed here and there, 
When I had it on, oh, I walked on the air! 
And it wore, and it wore, and it wore, 
'Til it went, and it wasn't no more. 

In my sweet little Alice blue gown, 
When I first wandered down into town, 
I was so proud inside, 
As I felt every eye, 
And in every shop window I primped, passing by. 

A new manner of fashion I'd found, 
And the world seemed to smile all around. 
'Til it wilted, I wore it, 
I'll always adore it, 
My sweet little Alice blue gown! 

If you think that this is the song, I can provide you with the name of
the song, the artist and recording date.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 07 Feb 2005 11:21 PST

You can listen to the melody here.
http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/midis/alicebluegown3.mid

Is this the song you remember?

Bobbie7

i12bsane --

I am certain that the song you remember was "Alice Blue Gown," which
was written in 1919 by Joseph McCarthy (lyrics) and Harry Tierney
(music) for a New York musical show called "Irene."  I am very
familiar with the song and with early American popular music in
general, and I am confident that there are no other songs that meet
the description you provided.

Here are the complete lyrics to the song (two verses and two choruses):

"I once had a gown, it was almost new, 
Oh, the daintiest thing, it was sweet Alice blue, 
With little forget-me-nots placed here and there, 
When I had it on, oh, I walked on the air! 
And it wore, and it wore, and it wore, 
'Til it went, and it wasn't no more. 

"In my sweet little Alice blue gown, 
When I first wandered down into town, 
I was so proud inside, 
As I felt every eye, 
And in every shop window I primped, passing by. 

"A new manner of fashion I'd found, 
And the world seemed to smile all around. 
'Til it wilted, I wore it, 
I'll always adore it, 
My sweet little Alice blue gown! 

"The little silk worms that made silk for that gown, 
Just made that much silk and then crawled in the ground, 
'Cause there never was anything like it before, 
And I don't care to hope there will be any more! 
And it's gone, 'cause it just had to be, 
Still it wears in my memory. 

In my sweet little Alice blue gown, 
When I first wandered down into town, 
I was so proud inside, 
As I felt every eye, 
And in every shop window I primped, passing by. 
A new manner of fashion I'd found, 

"And the world seemed to smile all around. 
So it wouldn't be proper 
If made of silk were another, 
My sweet little Alice blue gown!"

Heptune: Alice Blue Gown
http://www.heptune.com/lyrics/aliceblu.html 



While I am very familiar with the song, I was not familiar with the
1919 show "Irene," in which it was first performed, so I was
particularly interested in your question as to who initially recorded
the song.  It turns out that the first recording was made in 1920 by
the star of that stage show, Edith Day, at virtually the same time
that the show was appearing in New York.

Amazingly enough, that 1920 recording has been reissued on a
budget-priced CD that is available for purchase online.  Here is a
link to the ordering page from Amazon.com, where you can also hear an
audio clip of that 1920 recording:

Amazon.com: Nipper's Greatest Hits - The 20's 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002W36/102-6933422-8622561?v=glance


Finally, here is a fascinating Web page devoted to the life and career
of Edith Day:

Indie London: Edith Day
http://www.indielondon.co.uk/theatre/t_recordfeat_edithday.html


Additional Information:

Here is a link to a page that purports to list all of the many artists
who have recorded "Alice Blue Gown":

Lyrics Playground: Alice Blue Gown
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/alicebluegown.shtml


Search Strategy:

As I noted, I am familiar with the song, so my research and drafting
focused mainly on finding the information about the 1919 play and the
virtually contemporaneous recording by Edith Day.  This search was
particularly useful:

"alice blue gown" first recording
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLB,GGLB:1969-53,GGLB:en&q=%22alice+blue+gown%22+first+recording



I am confident that this is the information you are seeking.  If
anything is unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the
answer.


markj-ga

In case anyone may be wondering what an "Alice blue gown" might be, I
found the answer to that bit of trivia many years ago. I was curious
because I had a 78rpm record of the song. I did some sleuthing at my
local library (this was in the days before the Internet).

"Alice blue" is a pale, slightly greyish shade of blue that was named
after Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt.
So an "Alice blue gown" is simply a light blue gown. The wearer need
not be named Alice. ;-)