Tim Gracyk | "Flee As A Bird" Corinne Morgan on Victor 4835 (1906) sacred hymn Flee as a bird to your mountain @timgracyk | Uploaded October 2024 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
"Flee As A Bird"
Corinne Morgan
Victor 4835
1906
Flee as a bird to your mountain,
Thou who art weary of sin.
Go to the clear flowing fountain,
Where you may wash and be clean.
Fly, for th’avenger is near thee.
Call, and the Saviour will hear thee.
He on his bosom will bear thee,
Thou who art weary of sin,
O thou, who art weary of sin.
He will protect thee for ever.
Wipe ev’ry falling tear.
He will forsake thee O never,
Sheltered so tenderly there.
Haste, then, the hours are flying.
Spend not the moments in sighing.
Cease from your sorrow and crying.
The Savior will wipe ev’ry tear.
The Savior will wipe ev’ry tear.
Corinne Morgan was born Corinne Morgan Welsh in 1875 in Columbus, Ohio, to John and Rachael Welsh.
Under her real name of Corinne Welsh she sang for churches and appeared in concerts.
The contralto used only her first two given names for phonograph work. At that time, church and concert singers generally made up new names when making records--church singing could bring prestige to a singer but records did not.
Her association with Frank C. Stanley in church singing (she knew him by his real name, William Stanley Grinsted) led to recordings.
She worked for Edison from 1902 to 1905.
She was among the first female singers to record regularly.
In announcing the release of Standard 8427, featuring "The Lord's Prayer" and "Gloria" sung by a quartet featuring two male voices (Frank C. Stanley and George M. Stricklett) and two female (Morgan and one Miss Chapell, who Walsh said was Edith Chapman), the June 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly frankly admitted the difficulty of recording females: "It has always been a difficult matter to make successful Records of female voices, and after months of careful experimentation our Record Department has succeeded in getting perfect results in quartettes and duets. It is now at work on solos, and expects before long to list some very good songs by female voices."
When the September 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly announced the October release of Morgan's debut as a solo artist, it again acknowledged that the female voice was difficult to record: "A fourth feature for October is the listing of one of the best Records ever made by a woman's voice. It is No. 8499, 'Happy Days,' and is sung by Miss Corrinne [sic] Morgan, with violin obligato...It is sung by Miss Morgan with entire absence of all objectionable features of Records made by women's voices..."
She was "Helen Haydn" on six G & T discs and "Ethel Clarke" for two performances issued on the British Zonophone label.
She made her first Victor recording on October 13, 1903 but this performance of "Down on the Farm" was unissued. The first Victor discs featuring Morgan were duets also featuring Stanley.
Morgan's first solo recording on a Zon-o-phone disc, "Bonnie Sweet Bessie" (6033), was issued in February of 1904. Like other Zon-o-phones issued in early 1904, this was a nine-inch disc (by 1904 no more seven-inch Zon-o-phones were issued, and ten-inch Zon-o-phone discs were not issued until December of 1904).
Zon-o-phone was a Victor subsidiary at that time. Morgan and Stanley were not paired on Zon-o-phone records. Instead, Morgan sang duets with James F. Harrison (a pseudonym for Frederick J. Wheeler). Walsh speculates this is because Harrison was paid one fee ($1400) for a year of exclusive service to Zon-o-phone, so Zon-o-phone executives viewed the Morgan-Harrison duet as cheaper than a Morgan-Stanley pairing.
She stopped recording for Zon-o-phone around late 1905.
Morgan and Stanley made Victor records after the final Edison date, sometimes as members of the Lyric Quartet.
Stanley's widow believed that the Morgan and Stanley partnership ended during an Edison session. A recording director told Stanley to inform Morgan that she was singing flat. When Stanley repeated the words, she stormed into the director's office to ask if he had really said such a thing, and the director denied saying anything about flat notes, eager to avoid an altercation. Morgan accused Stanley of lying, and their association ended.
When making Victor discs, Morgan was often accompanied by Charles D'Almaine on Stroh violin, which had a metal horn attached for amplification. Other recordings include "Toyland" (with the Haydn Quartet, Victor 2721, 1904), "Dearie" (Victor 4396, 1905), and "So Long, Mary" (Victor 4590, 1906). Recorded on October 31, 1905 with the Haydn Quartet and issued on Victor 4532, "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?" is among the first discs to feature a Jerome Kern melody (Billy Murray also recorded it around this time for Zon-o-phone and other companies).
Morgan made few records after 1908.
After more than a dozen years of making no records, the contralto in 1921 cut "Just A-Wearyin' For You" for Emerson 10464. She was identified for the first time on a label by her full name, Corinne Morgan Welsh.
"Flee As A Bird"
Corinne Morgan
Victor 4835
1906
Flee as a bird to your mountain,
Thou who art weary of sin.
Go to the clear flowing fountain,
Where you may wash and be clean.
Fly, for th’avenger is near thee.
Call, and the Saviour will hear thee.
He on his bosom will bear thee,
Thou who art weary of sin,
O thou, who art weary of sin.
He will protect thee for ever.
Wipe ev’ry falling tear.
He will forsake thee O never,
Sheltered so tenderly there.
Haste, then, the hours are flying.
Spend not the moments in sighing.
Cease from your sorrow and crying.
The Savior will wipe ev’ry tear.
The Savior will wipe ev’ry tear.
Corinne Morgan was born Corinne Morgan Welsh in 1875 in Columbus, Ohio, to John and Rachael Welsh.
Under her real name of Corinne Welsh she sang for churches and appeared in concerts.
The contralto used only her first two given names for phonograph work. At that time, church and concert singers generally made up new names when making records--church singing could bring prestige to a singer but records did not.
Her association with Frank C. Stanley in church singing (she knew him by his real name, William Stanley Grinsted) led to recordings.
She worked for Edison from 1902 to 1905.
She was among the first female singers to record regularly.
In announcing the release of Standard 8427, featuring "The Lord's Prayer" and "Gloria" sung by a quartet featuring two male voices (Frank C. Stanley and George M. Stricklett) and two female (Morgan and one Miss Chapell, who Walsh said was Edith Chapman), the June 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly frankly admitted the difficulty of recording females: "It has always been a difficult matter to make successful Records of female voices, and after months of careful experimentation our Record Department has succeeded in getting perfect results in quartettes and duets. It is now at work on solos, and expects before long to list some very good songs by female voices."
When the September 1903 issue of Edison Phonograph Monthly announced the October release of Morgan's debut as a solo artist, it again acknowledged that the female voice was difficult to record: "A fourth feature for October is the listing of one of the best Records ever made by a woman's voice. It is No. 8499, 'Happy Days,' and is sung by Miss Corrinne [sic] Morgan, with violin obligato...It is sung by Miss Morgan with entire absence of all objectionable features of Records made by women's voices..."
She was "Helen Haydn" on six G & T discs and "Ethel Clarke" for two performances issued on the British Zonophone label.
She made her first Victor recording on October 13, 1903 but this performance of "Down on the Farm" was unissued. The first Victor discs featuring Morgan were duets also featuring Stanley.
Morgan's first solo recording on a Zon-o-phone disc, "Bonnie Sweet Bessie" (6033), was issued in February of 1904. Like other Zon-o-phones issued in early 1904, this was a nine-inch disc (by 1904 no more seven-inch Zon-o-phones were issued, and ten-inch Zon-o-phone discs were not issued until December of 1904).
Zon-o-phone was a Victor subsidiary at that time. Morgan and Stanley were not paired on Zon-o-phone records. Instead, Morgan sang duets with James F. Harrison (a pseudonym for Frederick J. Wheeler). Walsh speculates this is because Harrison was paid one fee ($1400) for a year of exclusive service to Zon-o-phone, so Zon-o-phone executives viewed the Morgan-Harrison duet as cheaper than a Morgan-Stanley pairing.
She stopped recording for Zon-o-phone around late 1905.
Morgan and Stanley made Victor records after the final Edison date, sometimes as members of the Lyric Quartet.
Stanley's widow believed that the Morgan and Stanley partnership ended during an Edison session. A recording director told Stanley to inform Morgan that she was singing flat. When Stanley repeated the words, she stormed into the director's office to ask if he had really said such a thing, and the director denied saying anything about flat notes, eager to avoid an altercation. Morgan accused Stanley of lying, and their association ended.
When making Victor discs, Morgan was often accompanied by Charles D'Almaine on Stroh violin, which had a metal horn attached for amplification. Other recordings include "Toyland" (with the Haydn Quartet, Victor 2721, 1904), "Dearie" (Victor 4396, 1905), and "So Long, Mary" (Victor 4590, 1906). Recorded on October 31, 1905 with the Haydn Quartet and issued on Victor 4532, "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?" is among the first discs to feature a Jerome Kern melody (Billy Murray also recorded it around this time for Zon-o-phone and other companies).
Morgan made few records after 1908.
After more than a dozen years of making no records, the contralto in 1921 cut "Just A-Wearyin' For You" for Emerson 10464. She was identified for the first time on a label by her full name, Corinne Morgan Welsh.
