Joseph P. Skelly

Joseph P. Skelly
Born(1850-07-29)29 July 1850
Ireland
Died23 June 1895(1895-06-23) (aged 44)
New York City, New York, U. S.
OccupationComposer
"The Laughing Coon" sheet music, a coon song

Joseph Paul Skelly, also abbreviated J. P. Skelley, (29 July 1850 – 23 June 1895) was a composer of music.[1][2] He arranged the music for songs published as sheet music. For other songs he composed the words and music. The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection at Johns Hopkins University has sheet music for many of the songs he composed.[3] The Library of Congress has several of his works in its collection.[4]

Skelly was born in Ireland and died in New York City. He wrote more than 1,000 songs.[5]

His song "Little Darling, Dream of Me" was recorded by the Climax Quartet on Climax Records (an early Columbia Records label).[6] He wrote the song "A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother".[7] It was sung by William Raymond of Thatcher, Primrose and West's Minstrels.[8] Vernon Dalhart recorded the song at Columbia Records in 1925.[9]

He wrote the 1876 comical Irish musical sketch The Hash Brigade.[10][1] Various artists including Ernest Pike and Elizabeth Spencer recorded his songs on cylinders in the decades after his death.[11]

  1. ^ a b "Skelly, J. P. 1853-1895 (Joseph P.) [WorldCat Identities]".
  2. ^ "Joseph P. Skelly". Discogs.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference levy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Search results from Notated Music, Available Online, Spear". Library of Congress.
  5. ^ Brooks, William (2001). "Skelly, Joseph P(aul)". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.46892. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  6. ^ Posted to YouTube as of January 2020
  7. ^ "Dalhart, Vernon - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu.
  8. ^ "136.028 - The Immensely Popular Song. A Boy's Best Friend is His Mother. | Levy Music Collection". levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu.
  9. ^ Record posted to YouTube as of January 2020
  10. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (June 17, 1918). "Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 ..." U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Results for "" | Alexandria Digital Research Library".