Born in Campbell County, Kentucky in 1884. He died in Hollywood in 1951, at the age of 67, and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
He first recorded as a tenor singer for Columbia Records in 1914, credited as Samuel Ash, and the following year found success in a duet with Elida Morris. He appeared on the Broadway stage, in a leading role in Rudolf Friml's operetta Katinka, He recorded regularly for Columbia In 1915 he made one of his most commercially successful recordings, America, I Love You, in 1917 . He made films as well as records for several record companies.