Richard Jose sings "We've Been Chums For Fifty Years" on Victor 31516, recorded on February 23, 1906.
The song is by Thurland Chattaway.
In a quaint old little cottage
By the fireside's gentle glow,
A couple old and grey sat hand in hand.
Many years they've strolled together
As they climbed the stairs of life
Till now they've almost reached the Golden Land.
As they sit there in the gloaming,
Their thoughts are far away.
They're dreaming of their happy wedding day.
Said the old man, "Rose, I'm thinking
Of the day when we must part,
So listen while there's something I would say:
We've been chums for fifty years, Rose,
And I've loved you all the while,
For there's music in your laughing,
And there's sunshine in your smile.
But perhaps we soon will part, Rose,
And it fills my eyes with tears,
But there's something sweet to know, Rose --
We've been chums for fifty years!"
Richard Jose was the first countertenor to make records, including brown wax cylinders in 1892, such as "Poor Blind Boy." He had the perfect voice for sentimental tunes and hymns.
The terms "alto" and "contra-tenor" were used more often in the 1890s than "counter-tenor."
Sheet music for Monroe R. Rosenfeld's "Remember Your Father and Mother" (1890) states, "Written for and sung by America's Most Famous Alto, Mr. Richard José."
Most of Jose's discs, including the earliest with Monarch and Deluxe labels (Victor used these words on early ten- and twelve-inch discs, respectively), identify him as "counter-tenor" though on some labels Jose is identified as "tenor." Jose was more often billed as a tenor than as a countertenor in minstrel shows.
A countertenor's pitch like a contralto's.
Whereas nearly all modern countertenors rely on falsetto, which is a "head voice" with little or no chest resonance. Jose achieved an unusually high range without reliance on falsetto, instead using full lung power.
Jose could color his voice's tone in a way that is difficult for anyone using falsetto. No singer relying on falsetto could have produced the volume needed to fill concert halls, as Jose did. Newspapers at the time insisted that Jose had the voice of a boy, which may have been true in terms of tone. But Jose could project his voice and be heard throughout an auditorium as no boy soprano could.
A book titled "Silver Threads Among the Gold in the Life of Richard J. Jose" was self-published by Grace M. Wilkinson. Copyright date is February 8, 1945.
Only once does Wilkinson refer to Jose as a countertenor: "His popularity in vaudeville as a contra-tenor was very much like that of Caruso in Italian grand opera." Jose's range is noted: "Mr. Jose's compass was from D above middle C to E above high C." The book also notes that when he sang "Goodbye, Dolly Gray," Jose's principle "working note was high 'D,' two half-steps above the sacred high 'C' of Italian tenordom."
