ABSTRACT
American popular singer and ukulele player, born in Hannibal, Missouri, in 1895. He sang in saloons in St. Louis, then at the Palace Theater there. Edwards was a narrator in movie houses showing silent films. In Chicago he became a regular performer, and earned his nickname, “Ukulele Ike,” as he sang and accompanied himself on the ukulele. Edwards appeared in several motion pictures in 1929 and the 1930s, and was on Rudy Vallee’s radio show. He also went to Britain and sang in London music halls. He had a false start at recording in 1919-1920, making some discs that were rejected by Columbia. Then he was successful with Gennett, beginning in 1922 with “Virginia Blues” (#4853), in which he did “vocal effects” for an ensemble. He sang with his ukulele for Pathé Actuelle in 1923, doing “Old Fashioned Love” (#021097), then worked for other labels to 1927. He was with Columbia in 1928-1930, making a famous record of “Singing in the Rain” (Columbia 31869-D; 1929). Then he recorded for Brunswick, Vocalion, and others. Edwards was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio (1938), and made a chart record of “When You Wish upon a Star” from the soundtrack (Victor 26477; 1939). He died in Hollywood. Edwards’s early recordings in a blues-hokum style were reissued on Yazoo LP 1047, I’m a Bear in a Lady’s Boudoir. Vintage Recordings (Take Two 419), offers a nice selection of early and mid-period recordings from the 1920s through the 1940s, and Singin’ in the Rain (ASV/Living Era 5313), is a good compilation of his biggest “hits” of the late 1920s-early 1930s. [Kiner 1987.]
American popular singer, born in New York; niece of Gus Edwards. She was a radio and hotel vocalist, and was with Paul Whiteman from 1938 to 1940. She was the featured female singer on the radio program Your Hit Parade, costarring with Barry Wood. She and Wood had a hit record in “Ti-Pi-Tin” (Victor 27865; 1942); and her solo rendition of “All the Things You Are” was one of the finest made of that masterpiece (Victor 27866; 1942).
