DESCRIPTION:
ALWAYS - Tenor with Orchestra
(Irving Berlin)
Henry Burr
Victor 19959-A, 1926.

I was delighted to find, the other day, this Henry Burr recording of "Always" in my collection of 78s. I hadn't listened to it for years and had forgotten it was there! Henry Burr's sincere singing style and his sweet voice seem just right for this poignant love song. Poignant, because Irving Berlin's first wife had died in 1912, shortly after they were married ("For the longest while, I'd forget to smile"), and now, in 1925, he was about to marry again ("Then, I met you"). "Always" was written that year. The marriage lasted and remained a happy one— "always." Henry Burr's rendition of the song was recorded electrically in February 1926.

From the 1930 Victor record catalog:
"Henry Burr, is of Canadian birth, but most of his studies were pursued in the United States. He has sung both on the stage and in choir; but he has chosen as his particular field the popular sentimental ballad . . . He has made records with the Peerless Quartet, in which his voice may easily be recognized. Henry Burr's admirers are numbered in the millions."

You can find several earlier Burr recordings on this channel: "Hindustan" (1918), "It's Always Orange Day in California" (1916), and "California and You" (1914).

"Everything went wrong,
And the whole day long
I'd feel so blue.
For the longest while
I'd forget to smile.
Then, I met you.
Now that my blue days have passed;
Now that I've found you at last . . .

I'll be loving you — always,
With a love that's true — always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand, always.

Days may not be fair — always.
That's when I'll be there — always.
Not for just an hour;
Not for just a day;
Not for just a year,
But, always."

The illustrations are taken from two books, "City People" by James Montgomery Flagg (1909) and "The Gibson Book" by Charles Dana Gibson (1907), both of which belonged to my great-grandparents.