ABSTRACT
American popular singer, born in Grape Lawn, Virginia. He served in the Civil War, then became a drugstore owner. Although himself white, Polk organized a quartet of Black singers around the turn of the 20th century, named the “Old South Quartette” (as the name was spelled on their recordings). This was probably due to the popularity of blackface minstrelsy and the craze for so-called “coon songs”; Miller was offering a more “authentic” group to appeal to those who enjoyed hearing the blackface “re-creations” of this music. Miller and his group made Edison cylinders in 1910; those listed in Koenigsberg [1987] are “Rise and Shine” (#10332), “Old Time Religion” (#10333), and “Jerusalem Mournin’” (#10334). Miller played banjo with the quartet, of which James L. Stamper, bass, and Randall Graves are the only identified members. Miller died in Richmond, Virginia. [Koenigsberg 1987; Walsh 1960/1; 1962/10.]
American tenor, born in Anderson, South Carolina. He was “the finest oratorio singer of his day” [Walsh 1958/3], with records for the major labels. Miller’s earliest recordings were made in 1904 for Zonophone, under the name of James Reed; the first was “Teasing” (#6035). His first Edison cylinder was “Birds in Georgia Sing of Tennessee” (#9658; 1907). He went to Victor in 1910, and Columbia in 1914 (an excerpt from Elijah). Opera arias, in English, were among his 27 Edison Diamond Discs of 19131921: “Vesti la giubba”/“Siciliana” (#82031). He also made duets with Fred Wheeler, and sang with the Stellar Quartet and the Frank Croxton Quartet. His recording ceased after 1921. Miller’s wife, Nevada Van der Veer, was a contralto who also made early records. He died in New York.
