Description

COLIN O’MORE (LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, 1890 – LAKELAND, FL, 1956)

 

 

 

 

Born James Harrod Hornberger, O’More was first heard as a pianist and tenor in a motion picture theater and was then accepted as a scholarship student at the Cincinnati College of Music. He subsequently studied in France (1911) with Oscar Seagle and Jean De Reszke and in England with Sir Henry Wood. He returned to the U.S. in 1913 and was a soloist in oratorio and operetta. He later toured with the San Carlo Opera singing roles such as Rodolfo and Pinkerton and also appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. Recording for Columbia and Edison as James Harrod in the ‘teens, he changed his name to Colin O’More sometime around 1919. He became particularly popular via recordings made for Vocalion, which heightened demand for appearances. These featured a variety of interesting performances, including tenor soloist in the 1923 American premiere of Stravinsky’s Les Noces, under the direction of Leopold Stokowski (with the four piano parts taken by Germaine Tailleferre, Alfredo Casella, Georges Enesco and Carlos Salzedo). Brunswick took over Vocalion in 1924 and O’More continued to record for them into the early electric period. A group of records for Victor then followed. O’More was seen and heard in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance on NBC television, June 20, 1939, likely the first Gilbert and Sullivan telecast. He was also on an NBC telecast of HMS Pinafore, September 5, 1939, garnering excellent reviews but likely not many viewers. Around the same time, he recorded Trial By Jury for Royale (eight discs), a set I’ve never seen. In 1944 he moved to Florida where he was on the faculty of Florida Southern College in Lakeland as a Professor of Music.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

June Night (Friend-Baer) A 24063 Vocalion, New York

Just To Hear You Whisper I Love You! (Penn) 24056 Vocalion, New York

Lassie O’ Mine (W. J. Walt) A 24011 Vocalion, New York

Little road of dreams (Kramer) A 22018 Vocalion, New York

Little Town in the Ould County Down (Sanders) A 24008 Vocalion, New York

Manon (Massenet) Le rêve B24031 Vocalion, New York

Mary (Richardson) B 24004 Vocalion, New York

Mary of Argyle (Nelson-Jefferys) A 24035 Vocalion, New York

Maytime (Rose-Kahn) B 24063 Vocalion, New York

Moonlit waters (Brown & friends) The Astorites 497-H 144679 Harmony 9 15 1927 New York, New York

My heart is waitng (Gates) A 24056 Vocalion, New York

Pretty Kitty Kelly (Nelson-Pease) B 24008 Vocalion, New York

Ring out you christmasbells (Stevens) B 24033 Vocalion, New York

Roses (Weatherly-Adams) A 24058 Vocalion, New York

Sweet Inniscarra (Olcott) 5067 X-6-2958 6-2958 Zonophone