[78-L] Count John McCormack Vol. VII, 1904-1906. "Produced to Pearl Quality Criteria"

[victrola78s at aol.com]

The Pearl CD "John McCormack in American Song" also has transfers evidently supplied by collectors all over the globe, each with different EQ & sense of what a transfer should sound like. But it's nowhere near as bad as the cylinder transfers in this "Count John McCormack" Vol. VII set. I understand that the cylinders are far more scarce than disc issues of McCormack, and that they have survived is remarkable. And it's great to have any access to all the vintage material, since I don't have any actual 78s earlier than the 1910 Victors. But the quality is so distant and poor it makes the Mapleson cylinders sound like Stokowski's Bell Labs recordings:) 

I too have "Music of the Night" and do relish the late McCormack sides. The voice struggles in spots, but the craftsmanship comes through 100% and they make for very poignant listening. I think that's what's so great about them. Don't have that CD at hand just now, but it may be the one that has a few transfers from vinyl pressings which sound amazingly clear and present. I have the Brian Fawcett Johnston McCormack discography(1988), and in it he states "It would be good to see a re-pressing programme of McCormack matrices in vinylite...". This must've been done by the 1990s, when these Pearl CDs of late sides were issued.

After having heard numerous McCormack acoustics from the time I was 8, I first heard some of the electricals when I got the "Irish Minstrel/Centennial Tribute" RCA album on cassette in 1984. The expanded recording range gave me an entirely different appreciation for McCormack. The transfers were so good on most of them it sounded as if he were in the room. 

Dennis "Bird Songs At Eventide" Forkel

-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan Wolfe <nextset4 at yahoo.com>
To: 78-l <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Wed, Jan 9, 2013 1:57 pm
Subject: [78-L]  Count John McCormack Vol. VII, 1904-1906. "Produced to Pearl Quality Criteria"


In my experience the transfers on Pearl are always varying quality.     One of 
the worst CD's of 78's I've ever heard was the Mary Garden one they did, 
unbearable surface noise that sounds like when you play a Dolby tape of a noisy 
78 with the Dolby turned off. .  

Some McCormack ones I have on Pearl, like "Where The River Shannon Flows" 
exhibit all the same types of problems you mention.

Or "Music Of The Night" a collection of his late sides that was done by the 
late, esteemed Roger Beardsley, which unfortuately has artificial reverb and 
fake stereo-izing applied.

I'm a big fan of McCormacks's late HMV sides and pick them up on 78's when I 
can.   But on my to do list is to acquire the complete set of late recordings 
(on Pearl) that was transferred by Ward Marston.    I'm pretty confident that it 
will be good.
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