Monday, July 20, 2020

Everyone Blogs But Father - A Tribute to a Vaudeville Staple, ca 1905

In "An Evening With Groucho," the aged Mr. Marx performed a few songs from his earliest days in vaudeville.  One was "Everyone Works but Father," by Jean Havez.  He performed a German version as well to prove its popularity.

So among the archives I found four examples based on the tune, which even had a sequel in 1906.  Since mp3s are not something the folks at Blogger allow, they are presented here in the most boring mp4 format I could muster - plainly titled with just the songs.  Here they are!

The Original Hit from 1905
The composer, Jean Havez, later went on to work with Buster Keaton on "Our Hospitality" and "Seven Chances" before dying in 1925 at the age of 52.  His widow married Edward Sedgwick, who later directed Keaton at MGM.

It Inspired Variations on a Theme - a "Humoresque" from 1905

....and a sequel, "Uncle Quit Work Too," in 1906


...and was common enough to use as bumper music and parody...
"They're everyone's jokes but father's"
Edison's "At the Minstrel Show #5" from 1906



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