"Little Sir Echo" is a song that was first written in 1917 by John Sylvester Fearis. The words of the song were written by Laura Rountree Smith. It became popular during the 1920s and 1930s as a song used at children's camps. In 1939, Adele Girard and Joe Marsala created a new version of the song with a different arrangement and an extra verse. This new version was recorded by at least 22 artists that same year. Some of these artists included Horace Heidt, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Doris Day, Guy Lombardo, and other big bands. It became one of the most popular songs of 1939. Over the years, many other artists have performed the song, including Jonah Jones with Roy Eldridge, Jerry Lewis, Louis Prima, Joe Williams, The Bonzo Dog Band, and The Wiggles.
Original version
John Sylvester Fearis, the first composer, moved to Chicago from Iowa in the early 1900s. He was mainly known for writing hymns and sacred music. He created the song "Little Sir Echo" around 1917, and Laura Rountree Smith from Wisconsin wrote the words. No recordings of the original version have been found. Fearis and his brother started a music publishing company and bought the rights to the song from Smith. They published the song in a book called Unison Songs for Children. The song was also included in a book titled The Song Book of the Y.W.C.A. in 1926. It became a popular camp song and sing-along during the 1920s and 1930s.
Girard and Marsala adaptation
Swing harpist and songwriter Adele Girard remembered the song from her childhood when she sang it around campfires as a Girl Scout in Massachusetts. In the late 1930s, Girard and her husband, Joe Marsala, a swing clarinetist and orchestra leader, worked together to create a new version of the song. They added a new arrangement and an extra verse to update the song. They introduced their version at the Hickory House in New York, and it was published soon after. The new version was released in January 1939 by Horace Heidt and was performed the same year by many artists, including Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, Doris Day, Mantovani, Bebe Daniels, and Eddy Howard. Many of the 1939 recordings were by big bands, but country music versions were also released by Gene Autry and Riley Puckett.
By July 1939, 250,000 copies of the sheet music had been sold. The song reached No. 2 on Your Hit Parade in April 1939 and became one of the most popular ballroom and radio hits of the year. Autry’s version reached No. 1 on the Billboard hillbilly chart and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks. Crosby’s version reached No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart.
Versions of the song were also released in Danish, Dutch, French, and German. Later, many famous artists covered the song, including Jerry Lewis, Tony Randall, Louis Prima, The Bonzo Dog Band, and The Wiggles.
Lyrics
The song's lyrics are talking to a personified echo called "Little Sir Echo." The singer says "how do you do" and invites the echo to come over and play. The singer also mentions that the echo is always far away.