All recordings are from the original source material
and digitally re-mastered to reduce surface noise.

Billy Jones was born 3-15-1889 and died 11-23-1940.

Ernest Hare was born 3-16-1883 and died 3-9-1939.

They met in 1919 and formed a team at the suggestion of Brunswick recording executive, Gus Haenschen.
Jones is the tenor; Hare, the bass/baritone.

Jones and Hare were already established as soloists on phonograph records.
They went on to do numerous recordings for Brunswick, Victor, Columbia, Edison and other companies.

They began on radio October 18, 1921 on WJZ (Newark, New Jersey) , where they were sponsored by the chain of Happiness Candy stores. Listeners mailed in their comments about the singers on cards supplied to retailers by Happiness Candy.

Beginning August 22, 1923, the Happiness Boys broadcast on New York's WEAF, moving to NBC from a run from 1926 to 1929.
The duo sang popular tunes, mostly light fare and comic songs, and they engaged in humorous repartee between numbers.

Dave Kaplan was usually the team's pianist on records.

By 1928, Jones and Hare were the highest paid singers in radio, earning $1,250 a week. They also made highly successful personal appearances in the United States and Europe.

Radio's "Happiness Boys" changed their identities and allegiance whenever they changed sponsors. For Taystee Bread, for example, Jones and Hare became "The Taystee Loafers," and for Interwoven Socks they became "The Interwoven Pair." Regardless of their affiliation, they continued with their songs and jokes through the 1930s.

The partnership ended with Ernie Hare's death on March 9, 1939.

This CD includes popular comic duets from their 2nd group of Victor and Columbia recordings made at the peak of his recording career.
Recorded between 1927 to 1928, these recordings feature much of their comic banter between verses.
This format become their trademark and entertained their phonograph and radio audiences in the 1920's and 1930's.