DESCRIPTION:
Victor 17036 - Peerless Quartet - Jimmy Valentine 1911 (Lookout For Jimmy Valentine) (Peerless Members - Henry Burr , Albert Campbell , Arthur Collins , John H. Meyer) Music & Lyrics by Gus Edwards , Edward Madden. Recorded 12-11-1911.
The Peerless Quartet was an American vocal group that recorded in the early years of the twentieth century. They originally formed to record for Columbia Records, where they were credited as the Columbia Quartet or Columbia Male Quartet. From about 1907, when they began to record for labels other than Columbia, they were more widely known as the Peerless Quartet. The Peerless Quartet was the most commercially successful group of the acoustic era, and made hundreds of recordings, including popular versions of songs such as "Sweet Adeline", "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", and "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)". The group continued to record until 1928, with many changes of personnel. They were led until 1910 by Frank C. Stanley, and thereafter by tenor Henry Burr.
O. Henry story "A Retrieved Reformation", which was turned into the 1910 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong.
he play toured in travelling production companies making it extremely popular. It was revived on Broadway in 1921.
Jimmy Valentine is the alias of an infamous safe cracker who has just been sentenced to prison for four years for his crimes. He does not stay locked up for long, though, as he is released after ten months.
Lyrics:
When stars above are blinking
And the house is dark and still
And a sound comes click-click-clicking
From a nearby windowsill
Now, if you see a figure crouching
In the ghostly pale moonshine
And the bullseye gleam through your startled dream
Then it's Jimmy Valentine
Look out, look out, look out for Jimmy Valentine
For he's a pal of mine
A sentimental crook with a touch that lingers
In his sandpapered fingers
He can find the combination of your pocketbook
Look out, look out, for when you see his lantern shine
That's the time to jump right up and shout 'HELP!'
He'd steal a horse and cart
He'd even steal a girlie's heart
When Jimmy Valentine gets out