Helen Clark | |
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Background information | |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1910-1930 |
Labels | Victor, Columbia, Edison, Berliner |
Helen Clark was an American contralto and soprano singer, known for her recordings of popular songs such as " I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles."
Clark was born in Rochester, New York. [1] She began singing in church choirs at the age of nine. [1] She moved to New York City at seventeen and studied under Madame Jaeger of the Metropolitan Opera House. She had several small parts in operas at that time. [1]
Clark began her career in 1910, recording with Zonophone and moved to the Victor label where she mostly recorded through 1930. [2] [3] Clark had an early success on Victor with "My Trundle Bed." [4] She was also an early recording artist on the Edison label, being recorded on both cylinders and discs. [5] She would perform live accompanying her own recorded voice on a New Edison phonograph as a promotion for the device. [6] [7] [8]
Clark charted four times as a singer.
Clark was notable for her pairings with many male baritones singing romantic duets in the late 1910's. [4] She recorded duets with baritone Joseph Phillips on the OKeh label and Walter VanBrunt and Henry Burr on Victor. [9] [10] She also sang duets with Bruce Wallace, Lewis James, Charles Hart and Roy Roberts in the 1920s. [11] She had a lull in recordings and then in 1924 made what Record Research called "a spectacular comeback" recording with Elliot Shaw and Lewis James and again becoming a leading popular recording artist. Her solo career was mainly wrapped up by the late 1920s and she sang mainly in group and orchestral arrangements after that. [4]
Clark also recorded under the names Grace Woods, Emma Johnson, May Meredith, Rose Collins, Sallie Collins, and Jane Collins, and possibly under the name Ruth Lenox. [12] [13] [14] She was a prolific artist, listed on nearly 500 recordings, her career spanning the time period between acoustic and electronic recordings. [14] She was a member of the Victor Light Opera Company, the Trinity Choir, and the Royal Stenographers Orchestra where she was a soloist. [15] Her voice was said to be "admirably suited to radio broadcasting." [16]
Little is known about her personal life. She was said to have married twice, the first time to "a son of C.B. Haynes" and the second time to Evan Cameron. [17]