In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree (I)

DESCRIPTION: "The oriole was sweetly singing" over the lovers. Chorus: "In the shade of the old apple tree, Where the love in your eyes I could see... With a heart that is true, I'll be waiting for you, In the shade...." The girl dies and is buried under the tree
AUTHOR: Harry H. Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne (Source: Jon W. Finson, _The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song_, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 112)
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love death burial
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 252, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (notes only)
Roud #10242
RECORDINGS:
Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (Decca 5129)
Haydn Quartet (Harry Macdonough, vocalist), "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (Victor 4337, 1905)
Kentucky Thoroughbreds, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (Broadway 8128)
Uncle Dave Macon, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (Vocalion 5149)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maggie Jones" (parody of this piece)
cf. "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (parody of this piece)
cf. "Eve" (lyrics_
SAME TUNE:
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree (II) (File: EM277)
'Neath the Crust of the Old Apple Pie (File: Paro093)
In the Shade of the Old 'Arris Mill (File: MHFL078)
So I Climbed Up the Old Apple Tree (Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 146)
In the Shade of the Green Apple Tree (cf. Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 252)
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree ("In the shade of the old apple tree Sat yount Tom and his sweetheart Marie") (Harbin-Parodology, #386, p. 94)
NOTES [60 words]: Roud lumps the Williams/van Alstyne original with the bawdy parody, but I would consider them clearly separate songs.
Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 269, estimates that this was the most popular song in America in 1905, peaking at #1 in April 1905. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: JWF112

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