Harry Lee Tally (June 30, 1866 - August 16, 1939) was a prominent singer during the vaudeville era. 

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1866 to Fletcher Holland Tally (31) and Marcella Curd Leake (28) during the turbulent reconstruction era following the conclusion of the American Civil War. He was the second of four children. By 14, he is known to have been living with Sallie Tally (suspected to be a grandmother or aunt) due to the passing of his father (1871). His early years were defined by premature deaths, with his two sisters, Jocella and Cellie passing away at ages 3 and 1 respectively. 

He was not from a line of musicians, rather he was the first generation of his family to pursue a career on the stage. Sometime during his mid-twenties, he left Memphis and headed for the Northeast, which was known for its entertainment hubs. It was here he would have survived the gruelling small-time vaudeville circuits, performing up to four shows a day in comparatively sub-par theatres and constantly travelling to increase his reach and refine his stage presence. It was during this decade on the stage (the 1890s) that he perfected his voice, which magazines later lauded as a "flexible, vibrant and sweet-voiced tenor". 

It was only around the turn of the century that he secured a coveted spot in the Empire City Quartet, a group which very quickly established itself as a highly acclaimed vaudeville act. Most vocal quartets of the day stood rigidly on stage, sang precisely and bowed, whereas the Empire City Quartet was unique as they rejected that stiff approach which came to define most other groups of the day. At this time, the quartet comprised him, Harry Mayo, Harry Cooper and Irving M. Cooper. Their signature performance style involved complex, four-part harmonies alongside unrelated casual and seemingly unscripted comedic stage banter. For example, Tally would deliver an incredibly sincere, romantic tenor line and then be interrupted by Mayo or Cooper. Audiences loved this juxtaposition betwene the beautiful singing and the low-brow comedy. 

The Quartet became massive hitmakers of the day, and songwriters in Tin Pan Alley were known to target the group to permiere their songs. Similarly to Eddie Morton, any sheet music which referenced them singing it was almost guaranteed to become a commercial hit. For example, Al Piantadosi's Good Luck Mary (1909) became a major hit specifically because the group promoted it. 

In August 1910, the group came together for a highly publicised final appearance with Harry Cooper as part of a multi-act benefit show. Following the breakup of the quartet, Tally and Mayo teamed up as a duo, continuing to tour the Orpheum vaudeville circuits and recording for Edison. 

Harry Tally recorded between 1902 and 1917, he navigated between Columbia, Victor and Edison. His initial 1902 sessions were released on wax cylinders but, as the market shifted, he became a highly sought after artist for the newly introduced 78RPM shellac discs. He was initially signed to a short-term, exclusive contract meaning that, for several months, he could only really be heard on Columbia records. He was also the first Columbia artist to cut Mister Dooley on a 7-inch disc. 

In August of 1903, he entered the roster of Edison Records, with his premier two-minute cylinder being My Little Coney Isle. The heavy promotion he received in the Edison Phonograph Monthly introduced him to phonograph owners nationwide and helped him to gain popularity. In 1904, he also debuted with Victor and completed multi-day master sessions on the 18th through to the 20th of July that same year. 

In 1905, he recorded Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie, which became a massive commercial success, cementing him as a national icon. Tally also exploited the budget market, he recorded many single-faced masters for budget labels such as Leeds & Caitlin and Zonophone, meaning he made significantly higher amounts than other artists of the time. 

Leeds & Caitlin was a cheap alternative to Victor and Columbia, frequently undercutting their competition whilst offering the exact same talent. For example, Victor and Columbia sold their pop records for $1.00 each, whereas Leeds & Caitlin offered them for 75 cents. They were famous as they pressed records for many clients, such as Imperial, Oxford, Sun, Nassau and Busy Bee. They eventually went bankrupt in 1909 as their exploitation of loopholes in early patent laws eventually resulted in Victor securing a court order which forced them into bankruptcy and forbid them from using their existing master records. Of these, 47 of these masters belonged directly to Tally. 

Zonophone was a company founded by Frank Seaman, the former exclusive sales agent for Emile Berliner. Seaman (out of spite) essentially copied Berliner's disc technology and began his own company. The company was officially acquired by Victor after a lawsuit by Berliner and Eldridge R. Johnson (the founder of Victor). Victor utilised Zonophone to market towards lower-income households with Zonophone being the budget subsidiary of Victor. Tally recorded 26 masters for Zonophone. It was these recordings that made him popular due to them being affordable to working-class Americans. 

By 1908, he had become the go-to tenor for songs about the rapid modernisation seen in the early 20th century. It was in these two years (1908-09) that a rapid shift was taking place between local gatherings and commercial entertainments. For example, Tally focused heavily on Tin Pan Alley domestic and romantic numbers, cutting tracks such as Honeymooning and What Has The Night Time To Do With The Girl which reflected the romanticising of the American suburb and dating practices of the day. Furthermore, in 1909 he recorded Let's Go Into A Picture Show for Columbia Records. This particular master was the very first time that a motion picture was mentioned in a popular, commercially recorded song. This was also around the time that nickelodeons were disrupting the vaudeville circuits which Tally was touring. 

By August 1910, as previously mentioned, the Empire City Quartet in its original iteration came to a close, and Tally used the final wave of momentum provided by the Quartet to score highly successful solo records. He teamed up, albeit uncredited, on several major double sided pressings which made him the default choice for fast-talking Broadway melodies. In November 1910, he recorded Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine, which was released in February of 1911, becoming a commercial sensation. The song was famous as it dug deep into the global hysteria surrounding the Wright Brothers and early aviation. Tally's soaring, joyous delivery mirrored the optimism that came with the idea of human flight which was blossoming around the same time. 

However, in 1912, his popularity began to fade as the songs which made him famous were pushed aside by the astronomical rise of jazz, blues and dance bands, meaning sales for his songs began to dip. This dip in popularity pushed him to form a standalone studio duo with bass singer Harry Mayo, who he had previously worked with as part of the Empire City Quartet. He continued recording until 1917, when he recorded his last commercial releases, How Can I Forget? and I'm All Bound Round with the Mason Dixon Line. He also leaned into songwriting and, alongside Harry Mayo and composer Clarence Gaskill, he co-wrote the wartime piece, That's a Mother's Liberty Loan, which was promoted to support the American war effort in Europe. On the 20th of September 1917, he attempted to record How Can I forget? for Edison, but the master was rejected, and he never recorded again. 

However, he continued touring the vaudeville circuits for a few more months until 1918 when he officially retired from the music business. He settled in Ocean Park, California where he established and operated a retail cigar store, maintaining it throughout the 1920s and 30s. 

Harry Tally passed away on the 16th August 1939, aged 73.