When The Moon Plays Peek-a-boo 

Matt Redman harp guitar, harp guitar and mandolin trio. Recreation of Vaudeville act: Vardon, Perry and Wilber who toured worldwide 1904-1924 but never recorded. Appendix to Gregg Miner's book: The Curious Career of Vardon, Perry and Wilber(s)? A Vaudevillian Mystery, published 2020
harpguitars.net...
This video is dedicated to:
Frank A. Vardon (1877-1950) and Harry H. Perry (1882-1961) and the many performers who took the role of "Wilber" who made up their ensemble: "Vardon, Perry & Wilber".
Billed frequently as "Those Three Boys", they toured the musical stages of the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia, later joined by three female dancers as the "Ragtime 6" and then finally as the duo "Vardon & Perry". These acts covered the period 1904-1924.
The following video and multi-track recording recreates the "Vardon, Perry & Wilber" trio in the late 1900s and 1910s. It also celebrates this heyday of other such BMG, or banjo, mandolin and guitar-era and novelty Vaudeville acts who extensively toured but never recorded. For this I arranged "When the Moon Plays Peek-A-Boo". The trio were featured on the cover of the sheet music for this song when it was published in Chicago in 1907.
I was joined by Tom Carradine on lead, (fade in part 1 of 6 still photo as described below), Ben Scrivener on baritone, and I provided the tenor vocals, as well as the Gibson Style U harp guitar of Vardon, Gibson mandolin of Perry and Dyer harp guitar, for the Knutsen harp guitar of Wilber.
Further details and background information about this recording process can be found in Gregg Miner's book linked below, "The Curious Career of Vardon, Perry and Wilber(s)? A Vaudevillian Mystery", published in 2020, for which this recording acts as an audio-visual appendix. Kindly supported by the Harp Guitar Foundation.
Thanks for watching and do subscribe for more harp guitar videos, period, antique and vintage music, and other plucked string instrument videos.
THE HARP GUITAR FOUNDATION:
www.harpguitars...
HOW I APPROACH PLAYING 10-BASS GIBSON STYLE U HARP GUITAR IN THE STYLE OF THE DAY:
• Gibson Harp Guitar
THANKS TO:
Gregg Miner, David A. Williams, Martin Pleass, Tom Carradine, Ben Scrivener, Chuck Thompson, Nathan Goliher and Julio Pinho.
When the Moon plays Peek-a-boo
Words & Music by W R Williams
Author of "Since You Called Me Dearie" "Napanee" etc.
Did you ever in your life go wooing
In the evening when your toil is o'er
When you know there will be something doing,
With the only one that you adore
Arm in arm thru Lover's Lane you linger,
While you whisper love and promise to be true
And your girlie dreams of diamond ring on finger;
While the moon from 'hind a cloud plays peek-a-boo.
When the moon plays peek-a-boo
And the stars shine from above
In the moony spoony loony light,
you stroll with Honey love
And you sing Love's old sweet song
And like doves you bill and coo
There is joy and bliss, some times a kiss,
When the moon plays peek-a-boo.
Don't you know the moon was just a peeping
When you brave-ly said "I love you so"
And was watching Cupid come a creeping,
With his never failing dart and bow
Happy are the day dreams of our childhood,
And in mem'ry how we do those days renew
When with girlie dear we wandered thru the wild-wood
While the moon from 'hind a a cloud played peek-a-boo.
#harpguitar