John McCormack was a celebrated operatic tenor at the beginning of the 20th century. While Caruso continues to be the ultimate name in classical voice of this period, McCormack certainly had his admirers. While trained in the Italian school of opera, he was the epitome of the Irish tenor, proficient in classical music but also excelling in popular music and Irish traditional. Like Caruso, McCormack was one of the earliest endorsers of recorded music, putting his voice on cylinders in 1904. He continued to record and perform until his retirement in 1938 and died of Emphysema in 1945.

The Internet archive’s 78rpm collection has collected 55 of his recordings under The Collected Works of John McCormack. There is a few arias here, but most of the tracks are popular songs of the era and traditional Irish melodies. Of interest is “It’s a Long Ways To Tipperary”, noticeable because it was the first recording of this World War I anthem. There are a few untitled songs. Most of them appear to be opera arias. Of course, the Irish songs stand out and these old songs might be a nice addition to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The album is available from The Internet Archive and the tracks are in MP3 format in varying bitrates.

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