RISQUE 1927 KITTY O'CONNOR Girl BARITONE Barnacle Bill the Sailor Knocking up

$

35

A series of great  JAZZ Records from early Ragtime to Beb-Bop on 78 rpm Victrola Records

More great Jazz and Vocal Records in my other listings!

 

KITTY O CONNOR The Girl BARITONE MALE IMPERSONATOR

If you've collected records long enough, you might have occasionally seen the name of Kitty O'Connor and her curious nickname "The Girl Baritone" turn up on black/gold Viva-Tonal Columbia discs of the late 1920s. If you've listened to any of her sides, you will have heard her unusual, slightly androgynous voice singing. A very odd sounding voice – but she could certainly belt out a song.   I especially enjoy the “hot jazz” studio band that accompanies her.

In a song like Barnacle Bill the Sailor without Barnacle Bill:

Who's that knocking at my door

My mother father brother sister
The butcher baker postman

No its my sweetheart, come in come in



Kitty O'Connor – I'm Walkin' On Air / Who's That - Knockin' At My Door?
Label: Columbia – 1174-D

A  I'm Walkin' On Air
B  Who's That - Knockin' At My Door?


Orig Viva tonal Columbia  10" 78 rpm 

CONDITION: EXCELLENT PRISTINE faint scuffs, plays E+ Exceptionally quiet 
A SUPERB COPY

Virtually no information about KO'C can be found online other than from her main years of activity. She toured in vaudeville during the 20s, made a Victor test on 17 Feb. 1925, then recorded for Columbia from March 1925 through May 1928 with a total of 23 issued sides. Her biggest success was a six-month Broadway run in Take the Air during the 1927-28 season in which she portrayed the role of Broncho Liz. In his column "This Week in New York", Gilbert Swan wrote of her in the 18 Dec. 1927 issue of The Pittsburgh Press:
Kitty O'Connor, found by Gene Buck for his "Take the Air," grabs her moments with a husky cowgirl number that works like a traffic cop, insofar as the audience is concerned [i.e. it stops the show, which was the theme of his column that day].
Before hitting Broadway, she performed with her sister, as evidenced by this 24 Dec. 1926 write-up from the Niagara Falls Gazette:
Certainly the name Kitty O'Connor sounds feminine enough and the owner of the name, Kitty herself, is feminine enough. That is[,] she is feminine in all respects except vocal. Vocally she is a baritone. If her voice were heard without her being seen, most everyone would be sure it was a man's singing. Kitty O'Connor has made innumerable phonograph records. For that reason she is frequently called "The Columbia Girl." In vaudeville she is assisted by her sister, Pat. Pat is feminine even unto her voice. The two are harmony singers. The blend of voices and the girls themselves are both very pretty.
I've discovered very little other information about Kitty. There was a Kitty O'Connor who appeared in two Broadway productions in 1919-20, but it's hard to say whether it's the future Girl Baritone, and references to her pretty well disappears after 1928.