Research Guide Songs

The first step when searching for any information is to try Google. Songs are often available online, sometimes downloadable without charge. Although, be aware that sometimes the information is not always accurate and some song lyrics can differ from the original lyrics. A good example of this is the 1944 film Champagne Charlie where the lyrics to the eponymous title song sung by Tommy Trinder are not the same as those sung in the original version by George Leybourne. However, Google is a good place to start and can often reveal some surprises.

There are a range of places and websites (as well as commercial sheet music sellers) that might be able to help you locate that song that perhaps you remember from your childhood or an ancestor may have sung. Here are a few suggestions:

Newspapers and Magazines

As with the information contained in our Research Guide for Artistes, newspapers can be an invaluable source of information for locating songs. Newspapers can be very useful to find out who wrote, composed and sang a song and when it was first published – The Era is particularly useful for this information. Searching the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) can turn up contemporary reviews of the sheet music or performances. Sometimes you find unexpected, interesting facts about a song – like “Fall in and follow me” becoming the anthem of the schoolchildren’s strike of 1911.

However, perhaps less well-known are the thousands of songs that were published in newspapers available through the BNA in the period during and immediately after the “copyright wars”. The following periodicals published songs regularly in the period indicated and they can, with careful searching, be found within the BNA:

• Empire News & The Umpire 1906-11
• Weekly Dispatch 1903- 1917
• The People 1905 -29
• Reynold’s News 1923-1930

Although the BNA is free to search, you do have to subscribe to view the pages. Many local libraries offer BNA access too, particularly through their Ancestry or Find My Past packages.

The British Music Hall Society

The Society has a wide range of sheet music in our archive covering the Music Hall and Variety eras. The cost of research is free to members (although this depends on the project and how many items are requested). For non-members there is a minimum donation of £10 (payable in advance) although again this depends on the project and the number of items requested. There will be a charge for any items posted.

For more information please e-mail contact@britishmusichallsociety.com

British Library

Check the online catalogue to see if your song title is listed and you can request delivery to the Reading Rooms at either at St Pancras, London or Boston Spa, Yorkshire. Pre-registration as a Reader is required. Details are available on their website.

There is also a service providing digital copies if you are unable to travel to the Reading Rooms, there is a charge for this.

As well as sheet music, the British Library also has 3 million sound recordings via their Sound and Moving Image Catalogue and music hall recordings are held there. Some are available online.

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has an outstanding collection of Music Hall songs. These can be searched on the online catalogue (https://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/) which contains detailed descriptions including first lines and first lines of choruses.

You can apply for a Bodleian Reader Card (see https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/join-the-libraries/apply) to view the songs in person. It is usually permissible to take digital photographs for private use, subject to copyright and conservation considerations.

You can also ask for digital scans or paper copies to be sent to you. There is a charge for this service.

For more information please contact the Music Section on music@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or 01865 277062.

Monologues – Music Hall

This collection is particularly useful for song lyrics and has been put together by a group of friends and music hall enthusiasts. The lyrics of many songs popular between the years 1860-1920 can be found here. Sheet music for 100 song titles is free to download as a PDF file.