Character Studies--Roger Harding(c.1858-1901)

 "I don't know Freddy, I'll join ya." is what Roger Harding must have said hesitantly when he became a part of Fred Hylands' first failed publishing firm.

Roger Harding was a funny little man, and must have been a real riot, since he ran with Fred Hylands' gang of publishers in 1899 and 1900. This group included(other than Hylands and his wife Marie), Len Spencer, Burt Green, Roger Harding, Steve Porter, Rollin Wooster, Barney Fagan, George Gaskin, and a few more of Fred's composer friends.  Harding was right in the mix of these wild young souls, but he must have wanted to be, since it was a real commitment to do this. Harding was one of the older members of the young staff at Columbia, being the same age as Billy Golden, it was not as easy to keep up with all the wild means of the young staff members, who were out partying and drinking almost every night. Harding was born in 1857 or 1858, out in Ireland, and where in that country has not ever been specified. As I have said before on this blog, Harding probably moved to the United States when he was very young, younger than George Gaskin when he came out here, which was between age 14 and 17. Harding's Gaelic dialect had completely faded by 1896, unlike Gaskin's. 

Harding was a peculiar little man. At just about five feet tall, he could sometimes be missed in the enormous crowds of the exhibitions, but surely you'd find him from his glasses, and dark eyes full of expression. He was always thinking of humor no matter where he was in the studio rooms of Columbia and Edison as well. He liked the Edison people, but made his best good with the Columbia crowd. For some reason, in 1896, Len Spencer took a liking to Harding, and wanted him to be featured on his "Imperial Minstrels" series. Once Spencer got him, Harding was part of the gang of recording fiends that Spencer was building up in 1896 and 1897. Unaware fully of the community he was getting into, Harding became a regular in the studios, and also in creating new small companies and writing music. Harding had a knack for writing music, as he oftentimes sat at the piano at home after the recording days and played to his singing for hours, playing old songs, and creating new ones. This interest got him curious about the music publishing business. He had to find someone in this crew of eccentrics who was also on this slight tangent. It took him a while of asking around from Vess Ossman to Cal Stewart, but it came to Fred Hylands. Harding and Hylands were also a duo for the ages, much like Hylands and Burt Green(or Len Spencer even), they went out to drink together, but also were addicted to the adrenaline rush of the risks involved in the music publishing business. It was a risky business, and this is why Harding must have been hesitant when he joined Fred Hylands in his firm of February of 1899. Harding, being the voice of full reason and focus in this firm, found Hylands' selfish and overly-ambitious means the reason that this firm only lasted two months. He was wild running that firm. Harding was desperately trying to keep Hylands tamed, and when the Hylands, Spencer and Yeager firm came along, Harding had to still tame the boys whose names are in the logo. Harding was basically the fourth name in this firm, after the three names came Harding, as he was in the most often to do the paperwork, manage exhibitions at his own phonograph parlour, and make records for the companies. He was a busy man in 1899, and Hylands didn't take this into consideration when Harding was all over the place, and was getting ill so often. Harding was often getting all sorts of maladies, varying from the winter grippe, to something as serious as influenza. He was often out for weeks at a time when he became ill, which was something that enraged Hylands, and got all the rest of the firm fired up. Harding wasn't a well built character, clearly he was plagued with those impulses to stay away from anything dirty, which can become a habit full of terrible consequences. Harding hadn't much hope, as by 1900, he was weary from the illnesses, and the friendship with Hylands and Spencer, which would certainly wear out any normal person if they had to deal with them for two years. Harding still wrote some music, and without Hylands, he got it all published by the bigger firms that Hylands hated with all his heart. He also turned out some great records in 1901, including a fun batch of Victor records. Harding was still that funny and loud little man with a great sense of humor, and a great mimic still. His skills of mimicry had improved greatly since he entered in that community of eccentricities in 1896. He got another one of those maladies in later 1901, just months after he made those Victors, but he never returned. All the staff at Columbia were in tears, and mourned him almost just as much as the many who came to Frank Banta's funeral in 1903. 

Here are some of Harding's records:
 His great and hilarious sketch "A Coon in Love" from 1901 on a Victor.

His sketch and song with Fred Hylands, "Ive Been Down in Old Kentucky", also on a Victor from 1901.

And here's his big solo here on one of Spencer's Imperial Minstrels records, it has him singing "Upon the Golden Shore" and also being the minstrel of focus. 

Harding could have been a wonderful executive of any of the big record companies, which I have a feeling he would have become if he'd have lived longer. Those wild men Hylands and Spencer were too much for him. 

I hope you enjoyed this! Sorry it's been quite a few days, I've had many projects tap this week.