"[1] Born in Gary, Indiana, McCracken's earliest musical experiences were singing in his church choir in childhood.

He studied music at Columbia University, with Elsa Seyfert in Konstanz, Germany, and then with Joyce McLean in New York City until his death.

He replaced an injured Mario del Monaco at The Royal Opera House in London on very short notice on 11 April 1964, which won critical acclaim, including by Philip Hope-Wallace of The Guardian who described it as: "[T]he audience know at once that this was the voice for the part: large, inclined to perhaps splay a little, but sonorous, the emanation of the true Otello..."[2] James McCracken also starred in Otello and Carmen in 1972; in Aida directed by John Dexter in 1976; in Le prophete in 1977; and in Tannhauser in 1978, his only leading Wagnerian role.

The following season, he took part in a live telecast of Verdi's Aida on January 5, 1985, which was historic in that it was Leontyne Price's farewell to the operatic stage.

McCracken made a number of complete opera recordings, including "Le prophète" (with Marilyn Horne and Renata Scotto, (Col/CBS), 1976), "Carmen" (conducted by Leonard Bernstein, (DG), 1972), "Fidelio" (with Birgit Nilsson, (Decca/London), 1964), "Otello" (with Dame Gwyneth Jones, (EMI/Angel), 1968) and "Pagliacci", on which side 4 of the original LP version was a recital of opera arias, (Decca/London), (1967), as well as Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder (with Jessye Norman, Tatiana Troyanos and David Arnold, (Phi), 1979), and a program of Irish and Scottish songs with piano (EMI/Angel), 1977.