Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn

Oscar F. Jones and Martin S. Peake 1915

Let’s have one of the composers begin the story of this song. Here’s an excerpt from a 1949 letter by O. F. Jones to International Secretary Carroll P. Adams, when Jones was a member of the Dallas Chapter, later to become the Big D Chapter.

“Back in 1915 I was located in Meridian, Miss., and four of us young fellows were doing a bit of quartette work. Our lead singer, Martin S. Peake, was quite a piano player, and we spent our spare time picking out new chords and arrangements. . . . Circumstances caused me to move to Birmingham, Ala., so I lost track of Martin for several years. In the meantime our song was picked up by other quartettes, the war came on, and it was taken overseas. Several years later I heard it used all over the country, the tune a little different and the words a little mixed.

“I made a trip last year to Montgomery, Ala., to see Martin, whom I had not seen in 32 years, and he showed me the original papers of our composition.”

Although the song had been sung widely for a long time before, it was popularized in the 1940s by the Dallas quartet Polka Dot Four. Clarence Giesen was tenor, Joseph E. Lewis (Society president, 1957-58) was lead, Lee Myers was bass and Oscar Jones, one of the composers, was baritone.

“Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn” was the first official Society arrangement of a barbershop quartet song, in 1941. The arranger was Phil Embury, arranger for the Buffalo Bills and Society president 1944-46. Much to the chagrin of the Society, Mills Music, Inc., included the song in “Barbershop Harmony” in 1942 and copyrighted the arrangement, “as sung by the Mound City Four, the Okie Four and the Misfits.” Oscar Jones’ letter above was in response to the Society trying to copyright the words and melody, which happened.

Society president Frank Thorne, unaware that a complete melody already existed, wrote a second melody in 1948. When Oscar Jones found out about

Thorne’s melody, he wrote lyrics which he called “Twilight.” Neither Thorne’s melody nor Jones’ lyrics became popular, nor has the original verse written by Jones and Peake.

Floyd Connett, the Society’s first field man, did a new arrangement and copyrighted it in 1959. This is the Barberpole Cat song we sing today.

—published in "The Big D Bulletin," July, 1999, Grant Carson, editor; material from the archives of Big D Chapter and research by Tom Pearce, University of Virginia

HR

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