Recording Career
In April 1904 Pike made his first recording: "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes" (from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers) for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company (G&T); it was released as a gramophone record (disc) in August of that year. From 1906 many of his recordings were released on the Gramophone Company's Zonophone label but he also released on Columbia, Ariel and Duophone. In addition, he recorded 2-minute Edison cylinders in 1907 starting with "When the Berry's on the Holly", 4-minute Edison cylinders 1908–1910 starting with "Always", Sterling cylinders c. 1907 and Pathé discs in 1908 starting with "I'll Sing Thee Songs of Araby". After 1922 he ceased to record for HMV and recorded only for Columbia's budget Regal label.
Between the early 1900s and the mid-1920s Pike recorded more than 2,400 matrixes (takes) for HMV. Assuming an average of three takes per song, this would equate to approximately 400 double-sided 78rpm gramophone records for HMV alone. An estimate of the total count of all his recordings (discs and cylinders) has put the figure at well over 500. He has been called "England's most recorded tenor" with his records of popular ballads becoming favourites in thousands of homes. For a time his popularity was as great as that of Peter Dawson. By the First World War he had become the house tenor for HMV.
Pike used many different pseudonyms the greatest number being for his Zonophone recordings. These are listed as follows with associated record companies in brackets if used for companies other than HMV. Any variations in pseudonym are also shown in brackets: Herbert Payne (Zonophone, G&T and some Edisons), Harold Payne, David Boyd (shared with Harold Wilde), Arthur Brett, Eric Courtland (Columbia), Arthur Gray (or Arthur Grey), Alan Dale (or Allan Dale), Richard Pembroke, Jack Henty, Sam Hovey, Arthur Adams, Arthur Edwards (or Arthur Edwardes), Edgar Froome (Ariel), Charles Nelson, Billy Murray and J. Saunders. He was the Murray of "Murray & Denton", "Murray & Fay" and "Strong & Murray" and Cobbett in "Cobbett & Walker" (with Stanley Kirkby). He was Bernard Moss in some duets with Peter Dawson.
Read more about this topic: Ernest Pike
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