It's St. Paddy's Day! Celebration of this some-places holiday has evolved since its inception in pre-1600s Ireland but it is always punctuated by the Irish songs we’ve come to know & love. And by alcohol. Which helps with the singing.
Throughout the years you have to figure that at least one of those now traditional Irish songs would have made it to the top o’ the charts and sure and begorrah, one did: Mother Machree by Will Oakland was #1 in the U.S. on this date 99 years ago in 1911.
Throughout the years you have to figure that at least one of those now traditional Irish songs would have made it to the top o’ the charts and sure and begorrah, one did: Mother Machree by Will Oakland was #1 in the U.S. on this date 99 years ago in 1911.
Oakland’s high-tenor voice was discovered by Thomas Edison in 1908. He soon became a very successful recording artist for both Edison and Victor (early mfr. of records and players) as well as the top-billed member of the equally successful barber shop group The Heidelberg Quintet.
The song’s composer, Cleveland-born Ernest R. Ball, collaborated with lyricist Chauncey Olcott and wrote the ballad in 1910. Two years later, Ball composed another Irish standard that would go on to live in infamy – When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.
Soundtrack For Today: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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