Charles McCallon Alexander.
1867 – 1920.
Noted Evangelist, Singer and Composer.
There
are very many Internet references to Charles M. Alexander, but this one is rather
different. It tells the story of an investigation, which began by chance, and
led through fascinating historical by-ways, before it reached its conclusion.
It was full of coincidences.
But
I think that if you have a few minutes to spare to read on, you will not be
disappointed. Indeed, if you already know about the work of Alexander and the
world-wide Christian Evangelical Missions in which he took part between 1902 and
his death in 1920, I think I can promise you a pleasant surprise at the end of
this page.
In
1971 I worked in our family business in the centre of
I
can’t clearly recall what sort of items were in it, because my attention was
immediately drawn to some old 78 rpm records. There weren’t very many, perhaps
twenty or thirty. They were all very old, though. And they were also relatively
expensive: £1.50 each; that is, $2.75 in today’s money. At that time, one could
find many piles of old 78 records in second-hand shops – and even the less
‘up-market’ Antique shops – for around 20 or 25 pence… say 30 or 40 cents
apiece.
I
was primarily interested in Jazz and Dance Band records at the time; but also,
‘old and unusual’ 78s qualified too; so I bought this yellow label HMV ‘Private
Record’ by Charles Alexander, because HMV used the yellow label for their
‘Private Recordings’. This was by far the earliest HMV ‘Private Record’ I had
ever seen; and for that matter, it still is. I played it, dated it to ‘about
1905’ and filed it away.
33
years later (!) a casual Internet reference to the song ‘Tell Mother I’ll Be
There’ reminded me of the disc, so I checked its origin. The Internet made it
easy. It was written and published in the
The
next step was to find out more about Charles Alexander himself, which was
simple, and I found that Charles McCallon Alexander
was born at
However,
all was explained when it emerged that in 1904, he had married Helen Cadbury,
one of the daughters of Richard Cadbury, the head of the famous firm of
chocolate makers in Birmingham. She had gone with her mother Emma to one of the
Torrey-Alexander evangelical meetings at the Bingley Hall,
The photograph above shows CMA (as we shall call
him) with Dr. Torrey, singing at a meeting at
Oddly,
no mention of his making records seemed to occur on the ’net.
But
the ’net had given me much to go on; and knowing that the Birmingham Reference
Library had a good local history section, I went there. Almost the first book I
found was a biography of Richard Cadbury, written by Helen Cadbury Alexander
and published in 1906. It had been inscribed to a friend by Helen, and
subsequently given to the library. It was strange that I should so soon be looking
at the handwriting of someone who I had first encountered only a day or so
before! (Note 2)
Consulting
the library index revealed a key book: a 270-page biography of Charles Alexander,
written by his widow Helen Cadbury Alexander and J. Kennedy Maclean,
and dating from the early 1920s. Unfortunately, this book must have been put
into storage and was not currently readily accessible. (Note 3)
This
was a disappointment, but happily it proved quite easy to obtain my own copy:
again, via the Internet. All the sepia photographs on this page are borrowed
from that copiously illustrated volume. I also obtained a copy of a more
modern, smaller book by Simon Fox which well complemented the first one. Having
been written quite recently, it contained a short summary of the life of Helen
Cadbury Alexander Dixon subsequent to the death of Charles in 1920. (Note 4)
At
first she had no thoughts of marrying again, but nevertheless received a
proposal from Dr. Amzi Clarence Dixon. He too was an
evangelist, and had been a friend of CMA in the
From
the books, I knew that she and CMA had a fine new house, built for them by the
Cadburys. It was in Moor Green Lane, Moseley. They called this house
‘Tennessee’ in memory of Alexander’s home state. The rest of her life was long
and productive: she continued to live at ‘Tennessee’, receiving many guests,
and she was always involved with a number of Christian and evangelical
organisations, especially the Pocket Testament League. Helen died on 1st March
1969, at the age of 92, having thus survived her first husband by nearly 50
years.
She
bequeathed the house and its grounds to be redeveloped into accomodation
for elderly people. This was done, though it seems likely that the original
house was not readily adaptable to the purpose, and so brand new much larger
structure was put up. By the way, it is still called ‘
In
any event, items remaining in the original house must have been cleared. Many
of these would have been valuable or collectable, and probably donated to
suitable foundations, or sent for fund-raising auction. For example, I have
been told, since this page has been on the ’net, that his library is now housed
in suitable honour, in a Christian establishment near Meadow, Tennessee,
U.S.A., CMA’s birthplace. But some other items possibly considered of less
interest, I feel certain, were cleared from the house and put on sale, in that
rather unexpected Antique Shop I was telling you about way up near the top of
this page.
Remember,
I found the records in 1971; it must have taken some time, a year, eighteen
months – whatever – to make all the arrangements for the new ‘
The
point is that, astonishingly, I must have found some (or all?) of Charles
Alexander’s own record collection.
If
only I had bought them every one of them! But there remains just the one of
them. This, however, is a crucial one, because it contains the two songs
closely identified with C.M.A.: ‘Tell Mother I’ll Be There” and above all “The
Glory Song”.
These
Postcards are contemporary with the Torrey-Alexander
Missions, 1904 - 1905.
So
what do we know about C.M.A.’s records? I could find
no reference to them on the Internet, though of course there may be information
there somewhere.
Only
on page 149/50 of the book C.M.A. is reference made to recordings:
“A
striking instance of the way in which Alexander turned to account any opportunity
for bringing the Gospel-song messages to the notice of people occurred during
the great London Mission of 1905. As was often the case, malicious reports had
been industriously circulated that both Dr. Torrey
and Mr. Alexander were making a fortune out of their work.
Thanks
to the help of various discographers, all the recordings CMA made in 1905 for
The Gramophone Company are listed below. (Note
5), (Note 6)
Session 1. Monday, 20th February 1905.
Charles
Alexander. Choir of The Torrey
Alexander Mission. Piano acc. Robert Harkness.
1811 The Glory Song (Gabriel) G.C.-4804 (illustrated below)
1812 An incident in The Glory Song
(Alexander) G.C.-4805
1813 The Glory Song, with incident - the
story of the bootmaker* (Gabriel) G.C.-4806; Zono
X-44756
1814 Tell Mother I’ll be there (Alexander) G.C.-4807; HMV Private Record
(illustrated above).
* I think this might be a transcription
error for ‘bookmaker’: i.e., one who takes bets on horse races. I only say this
because Alexander’s biography is naturally full of examples of the conversion
of actors, entertainers, drinkers, and many other kinds of people then regarded
as inherently dissolute. On the other hand, a bootmaker
simply plied an ancient and humble craft. We may never know, unless we can
actually find a copy of this record.
Session 2. Monday, 17th April 1905.
Charles
Alexander. Piano acc. Robert Harkness.
1998 Conversion of a humorous entertainer
(Alexander) Zono X-44757
1999 Conversion of a humorous entertainer
(Alexander) G.C.-4808
2000 The old-time religion (Alexander) G.C.-4809
2001 The old-time religion (Alexander) Unissued
2002 The ninety and nine (Alexander) Unissued
2003 The ninety and nine (Alexander) G.C.-4810
2004 The sunbeam song (Alexander) G.C.-4811
2005 The
sunbeam song (Alexander) Broken
Charles
Alexander with The Minster Singers. Piano acc. Robert Harkness.
2006 The Glory Song (Gabriel) Unissued
2007 The Glory Song (Gabriel) G.C.-4812; HMV Private Record
(illustrated below).
Session 3. Tuesday 20th June 1905:
Charles
Alexander. Acc. unknown.
974 The Glory Song (Gabriel) Master destroyed
975 The
Glory Song (Gabriel) Master destroyed
976 Never lose sight Master destroyed
977 Never lose sight Master destroyed
2178 Incident of a conversion Master destroyed
(Explanations: The master numbers are
listed at the left. All are 10" (25cm) single-sided discs, except masters 974
– 977 which were 7" (18cm) single sided; however, none of those were ever
issued. The catalogue numbers appear on the right. The prefix ‘G.C.-’ stands
for ‘Gramophone Concert Record’. This was the main catalogue series of the Gramophone
Company, which later adopted the name ‘His Master’s Voice’. ‘Zono’ stands for Zonophone, a
subsidiary company, sold at a rather lower price. ‘Unissued’ means
here that two versions of the performance were recorded, and that the one
regarded as the better was selected for issue. The other version was still
retained for possible future use. ‘Broken’ means that the original recording
(which was made on a thick wax disc), had been accidentally broken while
removing it from the recording lathe, or in some subsequent handling of it. ‘Master
destroyed’ may mean that (a) there was a technical problem with the recordings,
and so they were non-viable; (b) the company decided not to issue those
recordings for some reason which we will
never know; (c) possibly CMA himself regarded them as unsatisfactory. It has
ever - or at least should be - the prerogative of the artist to veto the issue
of recordings which they themselves deem unsatisfactory. In any event, the
master recordings of these sides were seemingly discarded, as a deliberate
measure.)
So
there were nine single-sided Gramophone Concert Records of CMA issued at that
time. We have been looking for them since 2003, but have only found one so far,
a few months ago: see below. Interestingly, Zonophone
X-44757 is an alternative ‘take’ to the earlier version on G.G.-4808, so there
are in fact ten discs we need to find in order to make a complete
collection of the recorded output of Charles Alexander. (Note 7)
The
above photograph is of Robert Harkness, CMA’s regular
piano accompanist at this time; they met in Harkness’s
native Australia in 1902, and he played for CMA until 1914. We are therefore
pretty certain in identifying him on the records, especially as he used a
special, highly interactive style of accompaniment which may sound eccentric to
our modern ears, but was then innovative. Recently, a postcard photograph of
him has turned up and is shown here. (It had not been used).
Of
all the material that CMA performed, ‘The Glory Song’ probably made the greatest
impression. It was recorded by several artists for the Nicole, Odeon and
probably other record labels, and definitely entered what we might call the
‘popular religious culture’ of the period. It is mentioned in Robert Tressell’s book ‘The Ragged-Trousered
Philanthropists’, which was written around this time, though (as Tressell was an atheist) the reference is slighting. On the
other hand, the mother of a friend of mine, when I casually mentioned this
research to her, asked, with great interest: ‘How did the song go?’ I sang her
a few bars, and she instantly recognised it (she had suspected this from the
title), as a song she had heard in her youth, in the later 1920s. It had been
habitually sung by an elderly lady who always sang it as she walked around the
town doing her shopping. This lady was generally regarded as rather eccentric
for doing so; but we can see by this small example, what an immense influence
‘The Glory Song’ actually had in this country in the first decade of the 20th
century.
The
label of the recently-found (2010) CMA is shown above, alongside the same song
on the double-sided Private Record. In spite of the claim that many thousands
were sold, they have become, after 105 years, very scarce today. Incidentally,
these are different recordings of
that song. The original pressing on the left has the master number 1811, and so
is the very first recording CMA made here, on 20th February 1905. The version
on the right bears the master number 2007, and was made 20th June 1905. The
performances are very similar, and it is not known why they made it again, and still
less why both were issued at the time.
As
we have seen, in 1905 all Gramophone Company records were single sided, so the
double-sided yellow HMV must have been pressed later. Also, the trade-mark
picture is in sepia and not in full colour. This was a Great War economy
measure, in force between 1915 and ~1919, so the disc must have been produced
in that period. On December 16th 1914 Charles and Helen Alexander sailed for
the
That
the Alexanders used gramophone records in their work
is not specifically stated in the book ‘C.M.A.’, but may safely be inferred, as
the photograph you see here plainly shows the polished brass horn of a
gramophone on the upstairs balcony of ‘Tennessee’. The photograph dates from
1910, and is a group of Birmingham policemen and their wives. There is not
space to fully explain here, but Helen Cadbury was instrumental in forming the
original ‘Pocket Testament League’, and these police officers were members of
it.
Above
are seen Helen and Charles, not long after their arrival home. Alas, they were
not to enjoy a long and peaceful time together after their travels; indeed,
they were back in the
It’s
time to bring this long page to a conclusion: but first let me tell you
something of the follow-up research I made, after I had become fascinated by
this story which began by chance for me 40 years ago, and ended up encompassing
a period of one hundred and thirty-nine
years, 1867-2011.
My
first quest was to find the grave of C.M.A. You see it below in the centre of
the photograph from the book. The book is undated, but clearly was published
quite soon after his death; say ~1922, at a guess. (Certainly before 1924, when
Helen remarried and became Helen Cadbury Alexander Dixon). The Lodge Hill
Cemetery was opened around 1897, when the city of Birmingham was expanding at a
tremendous rate. It was open country at the time, and as you can see, the
trees, probably purposely planted, are still quite small in 1920. But today
they have had over a century in which to grow…
The
grave is next to that of Richard and Emma Cadbury, Helen’s parents, both of
whom died in tragic circumstances, but that is quite another story…
Here
is another photograph, from the book, of the headstone. The entire inscription
is given in the notes. (Note 8) The Cadbury family were Quakers, and a
Quaker Burial Ground is very much different from a Church of England cemetery;
but the municipal authorities of
Here
you see the Alexander and the Richard Cadbury graves as in the 1920s photograph
above. The additional grave between them is that of other family members:
Arnold E. Butler (1872-1949) and his wife Edith Cadbury 1872-1951. Edith was
the sister of Helen. CMA’s grave is in Plot B6, number 290.
Birmingham
– at least until the last 25 years or so – has always been a city of Industry:
metals, foundries, chemicals: manufacture of many things requiring the burning
of coal & producing disagreeable emissions. So the quality of the air, even
in a place several miles from the City Centre such as Lodge Hill, would have
been very poor for many years following 1920.
Accordingly,
the grave marker, though essentially in good condition, has suffered from
surface erosion, and is discoloured. And the inscriptions (which are intact,
being metal letters inlaid into the stone) are rather hard to read unless you
get close up.
Four
people are interred here. C.M.A. and Helen had one child, a boy, who died
within a few hours of his birth, in 1911. C.M.A. himself died on 13th October
1920.
My
initial visit to the grave had overlooked a curious fact, only rectified when I
returned to take more photographs. On the right hand side of the monument is
recorded the fact that also buried here is Robert Harkness,
the pianist who, as told above, had first met C.M.A. in Australia in 1902, and
who worked so well with Alexander that he remained his accompanist for twelve
years, travelling round the world in this capacity. He died in London on 8th
May 1961, aged 81, and being buried here, so rejoined his old master after a
space of forty-seven years.
Helen
Cadbury Alexander Dixon died on 1st March 1969, aged 92. Romans I : 16 reads:
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
Salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek”.
But
when the grave stones were replaced after her interment (or else following that
of Harkness, eight years before), the two side stones
were interchanged. You will see that in the original 1920s photo above, the
inscription to their infant son is on the right hand side, while now the
memorial to Harkness occupies that place. Whether
this was by design or chance we will doubtless never know…
In
his excellent book, Simon Fox tells us of Helen (p. 142): “She never lost her
youthful love of music and retained a fine singing voice well into her old age,
continuing to sing in one of the local choirs until she was ninety! She
especially loved to sing songs from the hymnals which Charles had published.
They brought back to her many happy memories of the fascinating and exciting
life she had led with him. She was always in love with him, and until her
dying day kept his Den, with its innumerable papers, books and lantern slides,
just as it had been when he was alive”. [My italics]
How
easily might this ‘old gramophone record’ have somehow been discarded or even,
accidentally broken, during the half-century between 1920 and 1969 unless it
had been looked after, with everything else, so lovingly?
If
you have received from reading this little essay some of the fascination and
excitement it exerted over me as I researched the story, my humble efforts will
have been well rewarded.
And
now it is high time to provide you with links to the mp3 audio files, so that
you can hear Charles Alexander at the height of his powers, with Robert Harkness and a chorus, performing these two famous songs as
they did all over the world. These recordings were made 106 years ago, so do
not expect high fidelity; and you may be surprised – even disconcerted – by the
stentorian vigour with which they are delivered by CMA. But of course, he sang
(often in the open air) to audiences numbering many thousands, and there was no
electrical amplification in 1905! Just click the link to hear each song.
The Glory Song. First recording, 20th February 1905. G.C.-4804
Tell Mother I’ll Be There. 20th February 1905. G.C.-4807
The Glory
Song. Second
recording, 17th April 1905. G.C.-4812
N.B. Unlike modern digital recordings which are immune to
pitch variation, analogue disc recordings were made at a certain number of rpm
– ‘revolutions per minute.’ It is obviously essential to replay such a
recording at the correct speed. If they are played too fast, the pitch will
rise and the performance will be shorter in length. If played below speed, the
pitch will be flattened, and the duration will be too long. Both of these are
distortions of the original performance. We know from published music that both
these tunes were written in the key of A flat. ‘Tell Mother’ does come out more
or less in A flat if played at 78 rpm; but many Gramophone Company recordings
around this time are known to have been made slower than 78 rpm. ‘The Glory
Song’ is nearer A major than A flat on the above mp3,
which tends to confirm this. We are here talking about ‘modern pitch’ – which
in
Notes.
-1 http://www.1timothy4-13.com/files/chr_vik/art01.html
-2 “Richard Cadbury” by Helen Cadbury
Alexander. Hodder & Stoughton. London, 1906.
Inscription copied by permission of Birmingham Reference Library.
-3 “Charles
M. Alexander: A Romance of Song and Soul-Winning” by Helen C. Alexander and J.
Kennedy Maclean. Marshall Brothers, Ltd. London,
undated. (Estimated date of publication 1922; not after 1924).
-4 “Helen Cadbury and Charles M. Alexander”
by Simon Fox. Marshall Pickering. London, 1989.
-5 Richard Taylor and Edward Parker of the
City of London Phonograph & Gramophone Society were most helpful here.
-6 Alan Kelly: HMV Matrix series, CD-ROM
MAT103. Gaisberg masters, 1903-1921. Get details
from: akark@dsl.pipex.com
-7 A Zonophone
listing (and many more publications) have been made by
the CLPGS. http://www.clpgs.org.uk
-8 The following is a transcription of the
writing on CMA’s headstone.
Charles M Alexander
II Timothy 2:15
Born at Meadow, Tennessee, U.S.A. on Oct.
24 1867.
Went home from “Tennesee”
Moor Green Lane, Birmingham on Oct 13 1920.
-
“When by the gift of his infinite grace
I am accorded in Heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on his face
Will through the ages be a glory for me.”
-
If we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him…
-
For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout… and the dead in Christ shall rise first : Then we which
are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them .. to meet the Lord
in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one
another with these words.
I Thessalonians IV 13-20.
All
the photographs in sepia were taken from the book in -3 above. Other
photographs were taken by the author in May 2004. The scans of record labels
are from the author’s collection.
Notwithstanding
any of the above, if any of this material be otherwise copyright, it will be
withdrawn upon request.
© Norman
Field, December 2009.
Revised
20th September 2006.
Revised
11th April 2009.
Revised 19th December 2009.
Revised 7th March 2011.