Samuel N. Mitchell Explained

Samuel N. Mitchell (1846–1905) was an American song lyricist and newspaperman who wrote lyrics for a number of popular songs in the 1870s.[1] [2] [3]

Songwriter

Mitchell wrote lyrics for many hundreds of songs, and collaborated with a number of composers. One of his most popular songs during his life was Just Touch the Harp Gently, My Pretty Louise, first published in 1870. An 1890 profile of Mitchell in the Boston Globe reported that an astounding (and surely exaggerated) four million copies of the song had been sold.[4] Mitchell claimed to never have received any payment for the song, however, as the lyrics were "stolen bodily" from him and brought to London, where Charles Blamphin set them to music. It became popular in England, and eventually theatrical producer Lydia Thompson brought it back to America in the play Bluebeard, and it became popular in the United States as well. Not making a living on his creations, Mitchell was toiling in a newspaper mailroom despite his lyrical successes.[4] [5] [6]

Perhaps Mitchell's most enduring song is Put My Little Shoes Away, which he wrote with Charles E. Pratt in 1873.[7] A mournful ballad where a dying child tells her mother to put her shoes away to save for her infant brother, it reportedly sold over 100,000 sheet music copies.[8] But its popularity long survived in rural America and became a staple among bluegrass performers. It was first recorded by Riley Puckett in 1926,[7] and later by the "Father of Bluegrass" Bill Monroe (1956),[9] the Everly Brothers (1958),[10] Girls of the Golden West,[11] Woody Guthrie, Dolly Parton, and others.[12]

Personal

Mitchell was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1846, and served during the Civil War in the 11th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment.[4] [13] He was also reported in the news to have served with the Irish Brigade.[4] He died in Providence on November 7, 1905.[14]

Notable songs

Songs with William A. Huntley

Many of Mitchell's songs were set to music by William A. Huntley, a fellow citizen of Providence, Rhode Island his own age. LOC are scores preserved at the Library of Congress.

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=4WUKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22samuel+n.+mitchell%22 Americana
  2. http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%202/Skaneateles%20NY%20Democrat/Skaneateles%20NY%20Democrat%201905-1909.pdf/Newspapers%20Skaneateles%20NY%20Democrat%201905-1909%20-%200005.PDF Story on Mitchell
  3. (28 November 1905). Songs and Their Writers, Boston Evening Transcript (New Bedford Standard article, more readable copy)
  4. (11 December 1890). A Composer of Songs: He Wrote Sweet Ballads, But Others Got The Ducats, The Day (reprinted from the Boston Globe)
  5. (21 February 1891). Songs of the People, The Illustrated American
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=mTxVAAAAYAAJ&q=%22samuel+n.+mitchell%22 Books at Brown, Volume 21
  7. Erbsen, Wayne. Rural roots of bluegrass: songs, stories & history, p. 138 (2003)
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=94wPAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Put+My+Little+Shoes+Away%22&pg=PA242-IA1 Something About Popular Songs
  9. Erbsen, Wayne. Backpocket Bluegrass Song Book, p. 12 (2007)
  10. Strong, Martin C. The essential rock discography, p.375 (2006)
  11. Britton, Alan John. Uncle Art, p. 83 (2010)
  12. Rosenberg, Neil V. * Charles K. Wolfe. The music of Bill Monroe, p. 96 (2007)
  13. Leavitt, Michael Bennett. Fifty years in theatrical management, p. 178 (1912) ("Samuel N. Mitchell, the writer of hundreds of songs sung on both continents, now dead, was one of my life-long friends. He and William A. Huntley could put a song together — Mitchell the words, Huntley the music — in thirty minutes.")
  14. (8 November 1905). Old Time Song Writer Dead, Boston Globe
  15. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?mussm:1:./temp/~ammem_A38l:: Sadie Ray / by J. Tannebaum (sheet music)
  16. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?mussm:3:./temp/~ammem_qizo:: When the whipporrwill is calling / by E. N. Catlin (sheet music)
  17. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/mussm:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28sm1873+09439%29%29 My love sleeps under the daisies / by Geo. W. Persley (sheet music)
  18. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/mussm:@OR%28@field%28TITLE+@od1%28Speak+to+me+kindly++%29%29+@field%28ALTTITLE+@od1%28Speak+to+me+kindly++%29%29%29 Speak to me kindly / by Ernest Leslie (sheet music)
  19. https://books.google.com/books?id=xMYiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Amber+Tresses+Tied+In+Blue%22 A history of popular music in America
  20. https://books.google.com/books?id=MaFYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Amber+Tresses+Tied+In+Blue%22+1874 JEMF quarterly, Volume 18
  21. http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/levy-cgi/display.cgi?id=132.011.000;pages=4;range=0-3 Amber Tresses Tied In Blue - Sheet Music
  22. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/mussm:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28sm1876+11306%29%29 When my love comes home to me / by Chas. E. Prior. (sheet music)
  23. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/mussm:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28sm1876+08807%29%29 Little bright eyes at the window / by H. P. Danks (sheet music)
  24. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/mussm:@FILREQ%28@OR%28@field%28TITLE+@od1%28Maggie+with+the+soft+brown+hair++%29%29+@field%28ALTTITLE+@od1%28Maggie+with+the+soft+brown+hair++%29%29%29+@FIELD%28COLLID+sm1870%29%29 Maggie with the soft brown hair / by H. P. Danks. (sheet music)
  25. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?mussm:2:./temp/~ammem_0fYi:: The Sweet, sunny smile of my darling / by H. P. Danks (sheet music)
  26. http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/memorial-day-celebrations-1890-1899 Memorial Day Celebrations (1890-1899)
  27. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/mussm:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28sm1881+04984%29%29 My dear Savannah home / by H. P. Danks (sheet music)
  28. Web site: Mitchell . Samuel N. . loc.gov. When silver locks replace the gold . J. L. Peters. New York . 1875 .
  29. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Addie Alleen . J. L. Peters . New York . 1871 .
  30. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Come sing to me Addie again . C. H. Ditson & Co. . New York . 1871 .
  31. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Bring the absent back to me . Oliver Ditson & Co. . New York . 1871 .
  32. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Goodbye, Dear Mother . J. L. Peters . New York . 1871 .
  33. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Oh Nixie, that's too thin . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1871 .
  34. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Oh Nixie, that's too thin . Cory Brothers . Providence, Rhode Island . 1871 .
  35. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. The angels are calling me, Mother . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1871 .
  36. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. They are calling me to join them . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1871 .
  37. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. When the moon is rising, Allie . White, Smith and Perry . Boston . 1871 .
  38. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Bring the absent back to me . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1872 .
  39. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Mother and I have been waiting . Brainard & Sons . Cleveland . 1872 .
  40. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. When the song bird says good night . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1872 .
  41. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Close the door softly, for mother's asleep . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  42. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Down beside the crimson meadow . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  43. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Down the vale where Lillie sleeps . Lee and Walker . Philadelphia . 1873 .
  44. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Just try it once for luck . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  45. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Let me kiss him ere I go . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  46. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Mamma, come sing me to sleep . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  47. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. My button hole boquet . Oliver Ditson & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  48. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Neath the rose leaves on the hillside . Brainard & Sons . Cleveland . 1873 .
  49. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Under the buttercups . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  50. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Under the buttercups . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1873 .
  51. Web site: Huntley . William A. . imslp.org. Hush, My Little Darling (Huntley, William A.) . Lee and Walker . Philadelphia . 1874 .
  52. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Oh just you wait and see (Huntley, William A.) . H. N. Hempsted . Milwaukee. 1874 .
  53. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. We met by chance, sweet Jenny . G. D. Russell & Co. . Boston . 1874 .
  54. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. When the purple lilacs blossom . Lee & Walker . Philadelphia . 1875 .
  55. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Our Willie died this morning . W. F. Shaw . 1878 .
  56. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. I'm going home to Clo . W. F. Shaw . 1879 .
  57. Web site: Huntley . William A. . levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu. I'm Going Home to Clo. Song & Chorus. Box 025, Item 052 . W. F. Shaw . 1879 .
  58. Web site: Huntley . William A. . loc.gov. Come and meet me, Rosa darling . W. F. Shaw . 1880 .

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