John Scantlebury Macdonald (May 30, 1871 – September 26, 1931), known professionally as Harry Macdonough, was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born singer and

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

executive. He was one of the most prolific and popular

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

s during the formative years of the recording industry. His most popular recordings included “ Shine On, Harvest Moon” (with Elise Stevenson), “ Down By The Old Mill Stream”, “ They Didn’t Believe Me” (with Olive Kline), “Tell Me, Pretty Maiden” (with Grace Spencer), and “Where The River Shannon Flows”.

Music career

Macdonald was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. His earliest recorded performances were for the Michigan Electric Company in

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, which made

phonograph cylinder Phonograph cylinders (also referred to as Edison cylinders after its creator Thomas Edison) are the earliest commercial medium for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their heyda ...

s for penny arcades. He caught the attention of

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important and successful company in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by ...

with a demo recording he made in October 1898, and began recording for Edison in the Haydn Quartet. From 1899 until his retirement in 1920, he recorded hundreds of songs both as a soloist and in ensembles. One of Macdonald's lesser-known performances is for performing " Tessie", then billed as "Tessie (You Are the Only Only Only)" from the Broadway musical ''The Silver Slipper'' in 1903, becoming a rallying cry for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

until 1918 and starting again in 2004 during the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. During the 1900s, Macdonald took a job with the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

, becoming assistant manager and later manager of its New York City studio. As studio manager he oversaw the studio schedule, as well as negotiating contracts with artists and music publishers. In October 1913, he recorded a duet with the American singer Marguerite Dunlap of "When It's Apple Blossom Time in Normandy". Macdonald rose rapidly at Victor, becoming its national sales manager in 1920 and manager of

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

in 1923. He moved to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1925 and oversaw the technical development of its studios until his death.

References

External links

*
Harry Macdonough recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonough, Harry 1871 births 1931 deaths Canadian music industry executives Canadian pop singers Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Singers from Ontario Canadian tenors Pioneer recording artists Canadian emigrants to the United States