Imagine, if you will, how big a deal it would be if Taylor Swift gave a concert in Bloomington-Normal. That's the equivalent to the appearance of lyric tenor John McCormack on Nov. 24, 1924.
“2,000 citizens of this community crowded into the Coliseum to listen to this prince of song,” wrote The Pantagraph.
McCormack was known for his diction, tonal clarity, and breath control. He had critical success in opera in Europe and the U.S. He truly became a star, though, with his interpretation of popular music.
“His genius was in the ability to transfigure what was often kind of the sticky sentiment of Irish ballads, and create a moment of beauty,” said McLean County Museum of History librarian Bill Kemp on a new episode of McHistory. “To take somewhat a vernacular low-brow culture, and make it highbrow, or at least middle brow.”
McCormack was born in 1884 in Ireland. His parents were Scottish. He was the fifth of 11 children. Five McCormick children died in infancy or childhood.
“It was said that he was the only child from the family that didn’t carry any Scottish traits. He was 100% green, and he represented for a lot of people, not only the tradition of Irish ballads, but also Irish nationalism," said Kemp.
McCormack also was one of the first great recording stars. The early 20th century saw the dawn of commercial recording. In the 1910s and '20s, the Victor Talking Machine Company sold McCormack recordings.
“Hear McCormack, if not in person, hear his Victor records. They are exact reproductions of his voice,” said a newspaper ad for the Cable Music Store in downtown Bloomington on the day he performed.
He was the first to record the popular World War I song It's a long way to Tipperary, but his audience cherished the Irish ballads.
“McCormack was long associated with a wonderful Irish writer, poet and lyricist, Thomas More. Thomas More gave us many memorable Irish ballads, including the last Rose of Summer,” said Kemp.
Irish immigration
McCormack also sang songs, not only of Irish heritage, but of Irish nationalism, such as the Wearing of the Green, a song about the Irish rebellion of 1798. He was vocal in support of Irish home rule.
“He finds a very welcoming audience here. The Irish are the second largest immigrant group to settle in this stretch of Central Illinois, right behind the Germans. The Irish start to come in large numbers in the 1840s to Central Illinois,” said Kemp.
The initial surge in Irish immigration came from the Great Famine. They found work on railroad construction and then the factories and towns along the tracks.
“There is also a sizable number of Irish farmers,” said Kemp. “The story of the Irish experience in America is not only urban, it's also rural.”
Irish immigrants founded Holy Trinity and Saint Patrick's Catholic churches, a chapter of the fraternal society the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and in 1901 a council of the Knights of Columbus.
After several attempts to get McCormack to perform in Bloomington over a period of years, he came in late 1924 and sang in downtown Bloomington at the Coliseum at the corner of Front and Roosevelt streets.
“While the beauty of his voice and the unusual interpretative quality of his singing was apparent in his first numbers, the attractiveness of his personality was lacking,” sniffed the newspaper review. “It was not until after his second group of songs that the bored attitude vanished and the justly famous McCormack charm began to be felt.”
The back half of the concert included Kathleen Mavourneen, Mother McCree, the Tumbledown Shack in Athlone, and other famous ballads.
“Viewed from every angle, McCormack gave a most satisfying performance, and the Amateur Music Club is to be congratulated on bringing him here,” opined the newspaper.
After his performance, Kemp said, McCormick praised the Bloomington audience for their enthusiasm and panned the Coliseum. He caused a minor stir in the community by grumbling about the shabby condition of the 26-year-old faclity, especially the dressing rooms, though the acoustics were said to be spectacular, according to Kemp.
“I could sing always to an audience like that. They know their music and they appreciate it, but what I cannot understand is why this community, with so many lovers of music, would put up with a place like this?” said McCormack.
The Coliseum opened in 1898 and for many years was the premier entertainment live music venue in downtown Bloomington. Its architect was Bloomington-based Paul Moratz. It was a field house with a framework of arching trusses.
“Indeed, the Coliseum had fallen on hard times from its early very vibrant years. In the 1920s it had become partly a roller skate rink, and then it also served as a dance hall. By 1933, it had been transformed ... in kind of a Jazz Age ballroom. By the late ‘30s, it had become a 12-lane bowling alley,” said Kemp.
He noted there was a nice opera house on East Market Street, but it wasn’t large enough for the number of tickets needed to sell to meet McCormack’s upfront demand. The Bloomington Center for Performing Arts existed, but at that time it was the Consistory or the Scottish Rite temple, and they did not allow performances that included a paid ticket price if it wasn't related to the local Masonic organization. McCormick ended up at the Coliseum.
“Unusually liberal with his encores, Mr. McCormack came back three times before the audience would be stilled,” said The Pantagraph.
He closed with What a Wonderful World It Would Be.
McHistory is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History.
