comic

"Even a woman can do it!!"

Ada Jones (Ada Jane Jones) (1873-1922) was a popular singer who made her first recordings in 1893 on Edison cylinders. She is among the earliest female singers to be recorded. "She was born in Lancashire, England but moved with her family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of six in 1879. She started performing on stage, including juvenile roles in the 1880s. "She sang in a contralto, learning songs by ear, and lacked the ability to read music or play an instrument. Her repertoire included ballads, ragtime, vaudeville, and comedy in a variety of dialects. During 1893–1894, she recorded for Edison Records on wax cylinders, making her among the earliest female singers to be recorded. She sang with Billy Murray, Billy Watkins, Cal Stewart, Len Spencer, the American Quartet, and with her 12-year-old daughter Sheilah. Touring was made difficult due to epilepsy. "In 1893 or 1894 she recorded some musical performances for the North American Phonograph Company, including "Sweet Marie" and "The Volunteer Organist". But the demise of this company interrupted her recording career and it was not until 1905 that she returned to recording, after a few years doing performances at such locations as Huber's 14th Street Museum in New York City. "Ada Jones recorded "The Yama Yama Man" in 1909 for the Victor Light Opera Company. The lyrics for verse two and three were changed from the original, verse two being more bawdy. It was the most popular song of her career, spending five weeks at number one." [1] There are several other photographs of Ada Jones in the Bain Collection of the Library of Congress that were first identified by swanq and Jonathan Morse. You can see those by clicking on this tag.

Great!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Ritchie
"Adele Ritchie (December 21, 1874 – April 24, 1930), was an American prima donna of comic opera and star of Edwardian musical comedies and vaudeville. Her career began in the early 1890s and continued for nearly twenty-five years. Her life would end tragically in a murder-suicide involving a close friend."

Evening public ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), 02 Feb. 1916. Page 9, column 4
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1916-02-02/ed-...
reveals that Ritchie, who had just been granted a divorce, and Guy Bates Post

would marry. They would divorce in 1929 after a near three year separation.

Thanks so much for your research swanq. What a tragic end to her story. We'll add the information about her second marriage to the record the next time we update.