GIVE ME A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN YOU GAVE REILLY

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2429

149TH ARTILLERY ADOPTS NEW SONG

Camp Mills, Garden City, Long Island (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, September 11, 1917, Sergeant Barney Sullivan, chief of the Clan-na-Gael, members of which were "all camped in one section of the 149th field artillery," adopted a new song titled "Give Me A Little Bit More Than You Gave Reilly"*.

The chief and his crew, who first heard the song performed the previous night at a Broadway cafe, obtained a printed copy and "put it into the talons of a company of song pluggers."

The song was dedicated to the 149th artillery regiment and Colonel Henry J. Reilly** approved it.  Bandmaster Sylvester ordered a special arrangement for the regimental band.


*"Give Me A Little Bit More Than You Gave Reilly":  Composed by Jack Wells & Pete Wendling, Lyrics by Bryan, Illustrated by Barbelle, 1917.

**Henry Joseph Reilly (1881-1963) was born in Fort Barrancas, Florida the son of an artillery officer who died in the Boxer Rebellion.  HJR graduated from West Point in 1904 & wrote a military column for the Chicago Tribune.
Commanded the 149th Field Artillery Regiment which saw action in France.
HJR was the 1st president of the Reserve Officers Associaion.

SOURCES

"149th Artillery Adopts Reilly Song As Slogan", Chicago Daily Tribune, September 12, 1917.

"Give Me A Little Bit More Than You Gave Reilly", DAHR Discography of American Recordings, www.adp.library.ucsb.edu/

"Wells, Jack; Wendling, Pete; Bryan; and Barbelle," GMALBM (1917), Vocal Pop Sheet Music Collection, Book 2115.

Give Me A Little Bit More

Than You Gave Reilly

Sheet Music (1917)