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Everyman's
McCormack:
A John Steel Bio-Discography
John
Steel and Grace Moore in Music Box Revue
of 1923 (Los Angeles Times) |
By
Allan Sutton
I found my first John Steel 78s in the
early 1970s. Being a typical new collector, with a lot more enthusiasm
than knowledge, I was convinced that I had discovered a John McCormack
pseudonym. Fellow collectors, including several who should have
known better, agreed.
I could not have been more
wrong,
of course.
John Steel was no John McCormack, although
he unapologetically emulated the great Irish tenor. He was, however,
a colorful personality and a major stage star of the 1920s whose
story is finally beginning to emerge. |
The date of John Steel’s birth is uncertain.
Several writers, including Brian Rust and Tim Gracyk, have given it as
1900, without citing a source. If that is correct, Steel would still have
been a minor at the time of his first successes on the stage. In
1923, he recalled of his early training,
I went to [vocal] teacher after teacher in the
vain hope of finding the right one. It is true that some of them helped
me, but mostly as regards correctness, accuracy, and general musicianship.
Interpretation—matters of real expression—must come from
within, not from without. I simply sing the songs I love, and I sing
my songs as I like them best. 1
| Steel’s
earliest reliably documented appearance was as a member of the Triangle
Trio, a vocal group that performed at the Brooklyn Academy in January
1917. 2 He quickly established a reputation as a sort
of working-class version of John McCormack, whose style he openly
emulated.
By 1918 Steel had landed his
first major Broadway role, the part of Lieutenant Rugini in The
Maid of the Mountains. A New York adaptation of a London hit
that opened at the Casino Theatre on September 11, 1918, the show
was not a notable success. It closed in New York after only 37 performances,
3 but it brought Steel to the attention of Florenz Ziegfeld
as well as the Victor Talking Machine Company, which signed him
to an exclusive contract in early 1919.
Steel was given a starring role
in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919, only to find himself embroiled
in that year’s Actors Equity strike. He sided with the strikers,
and on August 11, 1919, Ziegfeld obtained a court injunction against
Steel and all other Follies members, including the chorus girls.
As they entered the stage door that night, Steel and the others were served with a temporary injunction preventing their striking. 4
In response Steel, in the company of such greats as W. C. Fields
and Ethel Barrymore, sang on August 18 at a benefit in support of
the strikers at the Lexington Theater. 5 |
Steel
in a late 1920s Orpheum Theaters publicity photo
|
By the autumn of 1919, the strike was settled and
the rift with Ziegfeld was healed. Steel was given a starring role in
the 1920 Follies, introducing “Tell Me, Little Gypsy”
and “The Girls of My Dreams,” and “The Love Boat.”
A New York Times critic opined, “John Steel, whose voice
was one of the hits of last year’s show, again won the vocal honors,
even though he did sing so well as a year ago.” 6 Victor
lost no time in bringing Steel to the studio to record his new hits, all
of which sold well. But while Fannie Brice and other Ziegfeld stars enjoyed the status of blue-label artists, Steel was inexplicably left in Victor's lowly black-label series.
Steel had enjoyed his greatest success to date
in the 1920 Follies, but his career was about to be briefly derailed
by domestic problems. In August 1921, Steel’s wife—a minor
vaudeville performer known professionally as Sidonie Espero 7—sued
for divorce on the grounds of abandonment and cruelty, claiming that Steel
refused to speak to her, or even acknowledge her presence. In response,
Steel told the court that “she betrayed a desire to boss me, and
I told her that if she must be the man of the house, I would give her
the trousers and she could wear them.” “Marriage is a frost,”
Steel told the press. “It’s the bachelor life for me in the
future.” 8 At the trial, it was revealed that Steel earned
between $78,000 and $100,000 per year from his stage and recording work—a
vast sum for the period.
By September 1921, Steel’s former wife was
attempting to have jailed for failure to pay alimony. 9 Steel
denied the large income attributed to him, claiming that most of it went
to pay his creditors. The divorce litigation dragged on for more than
three years, with a final decree not issued until March 1925. Within days
of the final ruling, Steel married Mabel Stapleton, a Chicago pianist,
who would serve for a time as his accompanist in vaudeville. 10
Unlike Walter Van Brunt—another
pseudo-Irish tenor who suffered from similar bad publicity as the result
of a contentious and highly publicized divorce—Steel was able to
quickly put the publicity behind him and proceed with a highly successful
career. In 1922 he left Ziegfeld for Irving Berlin, starring in the 1922
and 1923 productions of the Music Box Revue. The latter, however,
would be his last appearance in a Broadway musical, and Victor did not renew him at the end of 1923. Steel was later scheduled to
appear in the 1925 edition of the Music Box Revue, but withdrew
at the last minute, leaving a young Wynn Bullock to fill his role. 11
In 1922, Steel had begun touring the country on
the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. In a 1923 interview with the Los Angeles
Times, Steel professed his preference for vaudeville over musical
comedy:
Vaudeville for mine! I enjoyed my work in the
Follies, but not like I do in vaudeville. In a production, one must
sing the songs allotted to the part, whether they satisfy one personally.
In vaudeville it is different—I choose my own songs and can sing
the melodies which the public likes... I was greatly surprised, upon
entering vaudeville, to find that the average audience really likes
the better class of music as well as jazz.... [Vaudeville] is the means
of singing to the masses... and I like it better than anything I have
done to date. 12
Steel, too, increasingly showed a preference for
the West Coast. Beginning in 1922 13
he spent the summer seasons headlining at Orpheum theaters in California,
Oregon, and Washington state. He particularly favored Los Angeles, where
he revealed another side of his personality, appearing as an amateur boxer
in staged matches at the Orpheum. 14 In return, Los Angeles
embraced Steel, showering him with publicity and hosting him as guest
of honor at meetings of the Music Trades Association of Southern California.
15 The Los Angeles Times devoted lengthy stories to
Steel’s appearances, as well as his opinions on singing (“Sing
songs in your natural voice and which are actually suited to your singing
ability, and God will take care of your voice” 16) and
the state of the theater.
Steel in the ring (left),
1922
(Los Angeles Times)
During the winter months of 1924–28, Steel
returned to New York to headline at the Hippodrome. His career was slowly
going into decline, however. By 1929 he was getting secondary billing
at the Riverside and other smaller New York houses. Then, in 1930, came
the news that Steel was once again being sued for divorce. On April 26
of that year, Mabel Stapleton charged Steel with desertion, making news
across the nation. In the end, it was a fairly amicable separation that
Stapleton shrugged off with the observation, “You know how it is
with people on the stage,” after reaching an out-of-court settlement
with Steel. 17
Steel had weathered his first divorce, but the
publicity surrounding his second marital crisis, combined with changing musical tastes
and the devastating effects of the Depression, nearly ended his career.
By 1931, he was a taking second billing in a vaudeville act that preceded the
screenings at the Los Angeles’ RKO-Hillstreet movie theater. 18
He carried on into the late 1930s, performing in dinner clubs and small-time vaudeville houses,
and making the occasional radio broadcast, but his days as a star were
over. In later years he worked as a vocal instructor before vanishing
entirely from the public's view. His death in New York on June 24, 1971,
went unnoticed; the New York Times did not even run an obituary.
Notes
1 “Exerting Voice Is Ruinous.” Los
Angeles Times (6/30/1923), p. I-19.
2 “Brooklyn Music.” New York Times (1/14/1917), p.
X5.
3 Norton, Richard C. A Chronology of American Musical Theater
(Vol. 2), p. 158. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
4 “Striking Actors Sued for $500,000 by the Shuberts; Ziegfeld Gets
an Injunction.” New York Times (8/12/1919).
5 Wollcott, Alexander. “The Play.” New York Times
(8/19/1919), p. 10.
6 “1920 Follies Huge and Fast Moving.” New York Times
(6/23/1920), p. 21.
7 “John Steel Marries.” New York Times (3/23/1925),
p. 14.
8 “Tenor Must Pay Alimony.” New York Times (8/26/1921),
p. 2.
9 “Tenor’s Wife Seeks to Have Him Jailed.” Los Angeles
Times (9/9/1921), p. I-19.
10 “John Steel Marries.” New York Times (3/23/1925),
p. 14.
11 “New York Tenor Will Appear at Metropolitan [Theatre].”
Los Angeles Times (6/20/1925), p. 7.
12 “John Steel Strong for ‘Two-a-Day.’” Los
Angeles Times (7/27/1924), p. B18.
13 "Playdom." Los Angeles Times (6/8/1922), p. I-11.
14 “A He-Man Tenor.” Los Angeles Times (8/3/1922),
p. III-2.
15 See, for example, “John Steel Guest of Music Trades Body.”
Los Angeles Times (6/21/1923), P. I-15.
16 “Exerting Voice Is Ruinous,” op. cit.
17 “Wife Divorces John Steel.” New York Times (4/27/1930),
p. 26
18 “Ina Claire Successful in ‘Rebound.’” Los
Angeles Times (9/27/1931), p. B13.
JOHN
STEEL DISCOGRAPHY
Note: John Steel is one of more than 400 actors,
vaudevillians, and musical comedy stars whose complete recordings are
detailed in The American Stage Performers Discography,
coming later this year from Mainspring Press.
New York: 1916
Note: Majestic 117 (“My Wild Irish Rose”) has been reported
anecdotally as a Steel recording, but copies seen to date are by Charles
Harrison, who was also credited for this number in Majestic's ads and
advance listings.
New York: August 22, 1918
Acc: Unknown
Unknown title
62388- Columbia special
Note: This is a private or trial recording. It is logged in the Columbia
files, but no further details are shown there.
Montreal, Canada: c. 1918–19
Acc: Studio orchestra
Roses
HMV-Victor (Canadian) 235000 (12”)
Someday I'll Come
HMV-Victor (Canadian) 235000 (12”)
Nirvana
HMV-Victor (Canadian) 235001 (12”)
Thora
HMV-Victor (Canadian) 235001 (12”)
Camden NJ: April 9, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Girl of My Heart
B-22677-1,-2 Victor unissued
A Rose, a Kiss and You
B-22678-1,-2 Victor unissued
Note: Both titles were remade on April 17, 1919.
Camden NJ: April 17, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Girl of My Heart
B-22677-4 Victor 18551
A Rose, a Kiss and You
B-22678-3 Victor 18551
Camden NJ: May 12, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
When She Gives Him a Shamrock Bloom
B-22845-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Thank God You're Here, Mother Dear
B-22846-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: Both titles were remade on May 20, 1919.
Camden NJ: May 20, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
When She Gives Him a Shamrock Bloom
B-22845-4–7 Victor unissued
Thank God You're Here, Mother Dear
B-22846-4,-5,-6 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: June 23, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23026-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Tulip Time (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23027-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: Both titles were remade on June 30, 1919.
Camden NJ: June 30, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23026-5 Victor 18588
Tulip Time (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23027-5 Victor 18588
Camden NJ: July 17, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Dear Heart
B-23077-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
My Baby's Arms (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23078-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: Both titles were remade on July 28, 1919.
Camden NJ: July 28, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Dear Heart
B-23077-4,-5,-6 Victor unissued
My Baby's Arms (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919)
B-23078-7 Victor 18611
Note: The first title was remade on August 4, 1919.
Camden NJ: August 4, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Dear Heart
B-23077-9 Victor 18606
The Hand that Rocked My Cradle Rules My Heart
B-23106-3 Victor 18611
Camden NJ: August 11, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Erin
B-23119-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
When Love Sings a Song in Your Heart
B-23120-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: The first title was remade on October 20, 1919.
Camden NJ: September 29, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
When Others Are Building Castles in the Air (I’ll Build a Cottage
for Two)
B-23176-4 Victor 18635
Give Me a Smile and a Kiss
B-23177-3 Victor 18623
Camden NJ: October 20, 1919
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Erin
B-23119-4,-5,-6 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: May 12, 1920
The Love Nest (Mary)
B-24106-2 Victor 18676
HMV
(English) B.1187
Camden NJ: July 13, 1920
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
The Love Boat (Ziegfeld Follies of 1920)
B-24317-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Tell Me, Little Gypsy (Ziegfeld Follies of
1920)
B-24318-3 Victor 18687
The Girls of My Dreams (Ziegfeld Follies of
1920)
B-24319-1,-2 Victor unissued
Note: The first and third titles were remade on July 27, 1920.
Camden NJ: July 27, 1920
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
The Love Boat (Ziegfeld Follies of 1920)
B-24317-5 Victor 18695
The Girls of My Dreams (Ziegfeld Follies of
1920)
B-24319-4 Victor 18687
Camden NJ: September 10, 1920
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Rose of My Heart
B-24458-2 Victor 18724
Whispering
B-24459-3 Victor 18695
HMV
(English) B.1187
Camden NJ: October 8, 1920
Acc: Studio orchestra (Joseph Pasternack, director)
Avalon
B-24617-1–4 Victor unissued
No Voice But Yours (No Hope, No Love, Save in
Your Dear Eyes)
B-24618-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
When I Look in Your Wonderful Eyes
B-24619-3 Victor 18724
Camden NJ: July 13, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Song of Songs
B-25394-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
If You Only Knew
B-25395-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
The World Can't Go ’Round Without You
B-25396-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: The second and third titles were remade on September 15, 1921.
Camden NJ: September 15, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
If You Only Knew
B-25395-5 Victor 18825
HMV
(English) B.1327
The World Can't Go ’Round Without You
B-25396-4,-5,-6 Victor unissued
I'll Forget You
B-25561-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: September 22, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Sally, Won't You Come Back?
B-25566-4 Victor 18813
Bring Back My Blushing Rose
B-25567-2 Victor 18813
Camden NJ: November 2, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Whisper to Me in the Starlight
B-25739-2 Victor 18836
Say It With Music (Music Box Revue)
B-25740-3 Victor 18828
HMV
(Engish) B.1320
Camden NJ: November 3, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Rose of My Soul
B-25743-2 Victor 18836
Love Will Return in the Spring
B-25744-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: December 21, 1921
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
I'll Forget You
B-25561-4 Victor 18844
HMV
(English) B.1359
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
B-25912-2 Victor 18844
HMV
(E) B.1359
Camden NJ: March 28, 1922
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Mother of Love
B-26183-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Only a Smile
B-26184-2 Victor 18934
Camden NJ: October 11, 1922
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
November Rose
B-27021-1–5 Victor unissued
Note: This title was remade on November 16, 1922.
Camden NJ: November 16, 1922
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
November Rose
B-27021-9 Victor 19015
Lady of the Evening (Music Box Revue)
B-27079-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: The second title was remade on November 28, 1922.
Camden NJ: November 28, 1922
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Lady of the Evening (Music Box Revue)
B-27079-7 Victor 18990
Will She Come From the East? (Music Box Revue)
B-27094-3 Victor 18990
Camden NJ: February 19, 1923
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
When the Gold Turns to Grey
B-27556-2 Victor 19089
Out Where the Blue Begins
B-27557-4 Victor 19053
Hope
B-27558-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: May 17, 1923
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
My Pal (Music Box Revue)
B-27958-2 Victor 19131
Just an Old Love Song (Music Box Revue)
B-27959-1,-2,-3 Victor unissued
Note: The second title was remade on June 1, 1923.
Camden NJ: June 1, 1923
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Just an Old Love Song
B-27959-6 Victor 19089
Camden NJ: October 22, 1923
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Little Butterfly
B-28680-2 Victor 19219
An Orange Grove in California
B-28681-1,-2 Victor unissued
Camden NJ: December 10, 1923
Acc: Studio orchestra (Rosario Bourdon, director)
Song of Songs
B-25394-5 Victor 19232
An Orange Grove in California
B-28681-5 Victor 19219
Take this Little Rosebud
B-29074-3 Victor 19232
Note: Steel later recorded in England. Those records
will be covered in a forthcoming revision.
Document History: First posting 4/17/2007.
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