Harry Macdonough

Macdonough, Harry

Harry (John Scantlebury) Macdonough (b MacDonald). Ballad tenor, b Hamilton, Ont, 30 May 1871, d New York 26 Sep 1931. He was one of the two most popular ballad tenors of his day, the other being his compatriot Henry Burr. He began his career as a church soloist. In 1898 he made a few recordings for the Michigan Electric Co of Detroit for use in its slot machine phonograph parlours. In 1899 he was invited to record for Edison and became second tenor in the Edison Male Quartet, which later recorded for Berliner and Victor as the Haydn (corrupted to Hayden) Quartet. Macdonough became a professional recording artist for the Victor Co, participating in the Victor Mixed Chorus, Light Opera, and Opera; the Victor Opera Trio, Quartet, and Sextet; the Haydn Quartet; the original Lyric Trio and Quartet; and the Orpheus Quartet. After his retirement from singing, he became manager and an assistant recording director of Victor's New York recording laboratories. In 1925 he joined Columbia as director of recording studios. Listings of his recordings both as a soloist and in groups are given in Roll Back the Years.