Billy Hays

Billy Hays played in and led bands in South Jersey and Philadelphia from the 1920s through at least the mid-1960s. He was quite popular both for his live work in clubs; he was quite well known in the Philadelphia area as a radio artist, appearing on radio as early as 1924.

Born William S. Hays in Philadelphia in June of 1898 or 1899, he was the son of William Frederick Hays and the former Katherine “Katie” Kerns. An only child, he grew up in Philadelphia and resided there through at least 1940. The 1900 Census shows the family at 2550 North Jessup Street, and states that his father worked as a wallpaper maker. The elder Hays was still following this profession in 1910. The family by then had moved to 1104 Nevada Street.

It is not known as of this writing exactly when Billy Hays got involved with music or what his training was. At the age of 18 he married Hilda Stevens, who was, according to the 1940 census, 15 at the time. A son, Elwood W. Hayes, was born on August 18, 1918 in Philadelphia. The 1920 Census shows Billy Hayes and his family living with his parents at 1116 Nevada Street in Philadelphia. He was then working as a driver for a laundry. This was not where he would seek his fortune, however. By the mid-1920s he was leading his own band and was appearing on radio in Philadelphia.

Available newspaper listings show Billy Hays on radio in 1925, and he may have been on air before that. He soon had his own program, and was a fixture on local stations into the mid-1930s. His programs were also picked up by out of town stations in Albany, New York and in Massachusetts in the 1930s. Billy Hays’ popularity brought him to the attention of the record companies. He recorded ten songs for the Victor label in Camden in 1929, and a few sides for the Okeh label in 1928 and 1929. Years later he recorded two sides for the Top Tunes label. He also was active as a songwriter and composer, and when not involved in actually writing a particular song, was credited on the published sheet music as its performer. This was the case for “Let’s Forgive and Forget and Start Over Again,” written by Max C. Freedman and Camden, New Jersey’s Don Travaline and published in 1926.

There is a certain amount of confusion concerning Billy Hays’ recordings for Okeh, as Sam Lanin, a prolific bandleader of the era, also recorded for Okeh and Regal as “Billy Hays,” and most Internet sources credit Lanin with the Okeh recordings. However, at least one record collector who knew Hays and had heard his bands many times over the years credits a few of the Okeh tunes to Hays and his group, who co-wrote them.

Billy Hays got his start with Charlie Kerr, who was one of the first big bandleaders in Philadelphia. Jack Montez of Atlantic City, New Jersey, writing for Record Research magazine in 1964, gave the following information about Hays:

Billy Hays, drummer, vocalist and composer, headed one of the better Chinese restaurant-type bands around Philly in the 20’s. They featured slow tunes with schmaltzy vocals, liberally laced with temple blocks, but could kick off with some pretty good jazz when things were right. This band cut a few sides for Victor and Okeh, the Okeh’s being far better, and featuring some [Adrian] Rollini style bass sax.

In the 30’s Billy went on a small band Dixie kick, and took the group to Wildwood, N.J. where he played for many summers. He is currently playing the Beef ‘n Bourbon, back in Philly.

I have heard MARIANETTE, MY MIAMI MOON, and SWEETHEART LANE, and they certainly have all the ear marks of the group that Billy had at the Cathay Tea Garden, and later on at the Golden Dragon in Philadelphia, and I knew that band pretty well. The above tunes were Hays or sidemen compositions, and Billy’s voice is unmistakable.

I have SUGAR & ME / VIRGINIA ROSE Vi. V-40056 and PRETTY FACE / ALL BY YOURSELF Okeh 41193, and these are definitely the band referred to above.

The Top Tune 467/468 was recorded much later with a small Dixie combo that he organized when the big band broke up. CAKEWALK / TIN ROOF were recorded when he was playing in Wildwood, N.J. The excellent trombone on these sides is Mark Pascoe, who plays the pit at the Globe Theatre here during the summer season.

Regarding the tune MY MIAMI MOON: the band ran a radio contest to get lyrics for the melody — they had a remote from the Cathay.

Billy Hays’ Orchestra was made up of well-known studio musicians such as Mike Mosiello and Andy Sanella. As indicated above, some sources take the band’s name as a pseudonym for Sam Lanin, while others consider it to be one of dozens of Harry Reser’s aliases. The band’s original photo, however, proves Billy Hays was a real person and his band was a real band. This shot, made in 1929 at the first session of Billy Hays’ Orchestra for Victor Records, was presented to the band. On the first photo he is pictured fifth from left, next to the banjo player. Hays is second from left. The original photo clearly shows the vocalist, Andrew T. Stanton, holding a sheet music copy of “Sweet Virginia Rose,” which they recorded on this date. Other musicians that appeared in the Victor sessions included Chuck Campbell, Sam Feinsmith, Phil Napoleon, Joe B. Smith, Sam Freed, Carson Robison, and Roy Smeck.

Outside of the recording studio, Billy Hays’ live career spanned five decades. He played in Wildwood for years, and is known to have appeared at Lou Booth’s club in the 1940s. February of 1950 saw him booked at Chubby’s on Mount Ephraim Avenue, and, as Jack Montez wrote, Billy Hays was back in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. Another Hays researcher was Charlie Cobb of Philadelphia, who wrote to Record Research in the mid-1960s that “Billy Hays is still playing Dixieland music in Atco, New Jersey.”

Census records from 1930 and 1940 show Billy Hays and his wife and son living on Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia. In 1930 they lived in a house at 5014 Ogontz and in 1940 in a second floor apartment at 5930 Ogontz. He listed his occupation as musician in both censuses.

Of Billy Hays’ later life, as of this writing, there is no further knowledge other than that his son Elwood, who passed away in February of 1973, had a family and there are grandchildren, one of whom has happily commented on a few of the videos of Billy Hays records that have appeared on the Internet.

Okeh 40000 series. The recordings below the divider are credited by most sources to Sam Lanin or Harry Reser.

Victor V-40000 series. All recorded at Victor studios in Camden, New Jersey.