ADA JONES: Ada Jones (1873–1922) was an extremely popular singer who recorded between 1905 up until early 1922, just months before she passed away.

Born in the United Kingdom, her family moved to Philadelphia in 1879. She started performing on stage, but moved to recording in 1904-1905, lending her strong contralto first to Edison Cylinders, and also recording for Victor and Columbia also. She is easily the most popular female singer of the pre-1920 era.

She recorded several duets with Billy Murray and Len Spencer. The duets with Murray were often light-hearted and conversational, the two singing to the other, often in the voices of characters with accents and dialects. The appeal of the recordings made Ada and Billy perhaps the most popular female-male in recording history so far.

BILLY MURRAY (1877-1954) was one of the most popular singers in the U.S. in the early decades of the 20th century. He received star billing on vaudeville and is best known for his prolific work in the recording studio for a