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Portland Sunday Telegram
December
1995
Portland, Maine
MacKenzie Cassettes Labor of Family Love
By
GREG GADBERRY
Staff
Writer
From the depths of the Depression to the height of the Vietnam War,
Ken MacKenzie sang cowboy songs on Maine radio and TV. MacKenzie was
among Maine's most popular entertainers, a man who introduced more
young Mainers to country music - and to television - than anybody
else. But MacKenzie never made an album. Apparently, he never wanted
to. It took a chance discovery in Gorham - and the work of his family
for a MacKenzie recording finally to be produced.
The tape, "I'm Following the Stars," features MacKenzie and
his wife, Simone. The selections were pulled from crude recordings
made in 1951 and 1952. The MacKenzies did not survive to hear that
album. Simone MacKenzie died in 1984. Ken MacKenzie died in October
1993. "My brother and I always wonder about why he never made an
album said Richard MacKenzie, one of the couple's sons, who lives in
Maryland. "The only thing we can come up with was that he was
satisfied with what he was already doing and just decided not to
record."
Ken MacKenzie never wanted to make an album. But he did record many of
his songs and cowboy yodels for radio broadcast. Early recordings were
made on aluminum and acetate transcription discs. Such discs were
common before recording tape. Following MacKenzie's death, a family
friend discovered 21 of the old discs in a box stored inGorham. The
discs were recorded in 1951 and 1952. It was quite a find.
In the 1950s, MacKenzie was known throughout New England and the
Maritimes. He hosted hundreds of concerts and had a very popular radio
show on WGAN in Portland. In 1954, he expanded his audience by moving
to WGAN (now WGME) television. The 'discs were used to send
MacKenzie's show throughout the region. MacKenzie's radio show was
broadcast live from Portland. Those shows were recorded on disc. The
discs were then shipped to WGAN's sister station, WGUY, in Bangor,
where they were played over the air for MacKenzie's many fans in
northern Maine and the Maritimes. Most discs were then tossed away.
Unfortunately, much of MacKenzie's broadcast work ended up the same
way. Only a few film clips remain.
And after he left WGAN in 1983, there was not another chance to
record. He rarely played and sang again. His wife and lifelong singing
partner died four months after the couple retired. MacKenzie even sold
his treasured Martin guitar - purchased for about $310 in 1939 - to a
collector for $35,000.
"Dad was a perfectionist said Richard MacKenzie. "He always
loved the music. We would go out sometimes after he retired to hear
performances and you could tell it bothered him. He really wanted to
play and sing. But he wouldn't because he couldn't sing as well as he
once had."
The old discs found in Gorham last year were recorded when MacKenzie
was in his prime. But the MacKenzie family was unsure they could get
to those songs. The discs looked awful. "I'd say 80 percent of
them were covered with mildew," Richard MacKenzie said. "So
I just washed them in the kitchen sink". Richard MacKenzie took
the discs to a sound engineer in Maryland who had an archaic
transcription turntable in his basement. They were able to play the
discs and then transfer 160 songs to tape. . The tapes were then
edited by Richard MacKenzie; his brother, Kenny; and Marjorie
MacKenzie. Each voted on which selections should go on the album. Most
of the songs were sung by Ken MacKenzie. But there are several where
Simone MacKenzie sang the lead.
"He (Ken MacKenzie) would come back to haunt us if Simone wasn't
included," said Marjorie MacKenzie. "He always thought of
them as a team." While the kitchen-sink cleaning helped the
discs, the transcriptions still have flaws. The recordings were made
in mono and weren't heavily edited. "There are some songs we
wanted to include but couldn't simply because the transcriptions were
in such poor shape," said Majorie MacKenzie. The discs provided
surprises even for MacKenzie family members.
"On one of the songs, there was this kid who kept hollering in
the background," said Richard MacKenzie. "He just kept doing
it. I was getting pretty aggravated. I kept wondering why somebody
didn't shut that kid up." That kid was Richard MacKenzie - at age
4. "I never remembered doing that" he said.
"But we were in the (WGAN) studio almost every weekend as
kids."
If the new album sells enough, family members say, the family hopes to
release a second album that includes music featuring other members of
MacKenzie's band. Family members aren't sure there is a market for
MacKenzie's work today. It has been a generation since MacKenzie was
on TV. Many fans may have forgotten.
Even if it doesn't sell, family members say, they are at least able to
hear Ken and Simone MacKenzie when they were the hottest names in
Maine music. "I go back and listen to it and am amazed at how
good they were," said Majorie MacKenzie.
Copyright © 1998 MacKenzie
Family Productions
All Rights Reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
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