Famous Groupies is delighted to announce the release date for our final album, the mysteriously entitled "Black Apple". This double album features 36 songs, all written by our late-great Grandfather, Mr. Patrick McKenzie.

Mark your calendars for June 1st, for on that day we shall release the album in digital format. And, on July 1st we shall release Black Apple in physical format (CD). Eventually, we will have vinyl pressed, but for now we offer these two formats.

Most of these songs were in fact written in the very early 1970s. And while there are a few that we could not identify writing dates for, we found that they fit perfectly for this record and we feel that they too were more than likely written at least between 1969 and 1977.

Patrick has written far more songs than the 94 songs that will have been released in all since we started this journey, and we wish we could release more as this band, but sadly it is not meant to be. For you see, this has been a family affair, my brothers and sister in law have all worked very hard recording these songs in their spare time -since early 2019. But, life moves forward as some of us get married, have kids, get new jobs and such. So we must soon say farewell; but not before we release and celebrate the new album.  We do indeed thank you for all of your support.

And most of all, we thank you for listening to Patrick's work. He would have loved that. And as we can see in the cover art above, a young Patrick McKenzie sits upon a thrown of flowers watching and waiting as the quiet King that he is.

This album will feature some very fine guest artists who truly gave us some great performances, which elevated this project all the more. And so with great sincerity, we would like to thank the following talented and kind people for their generous contributions. (In alphabetical order)

Lavinia Blackwall (with Marco Rea)
Dana Countryman
Nick Frater
Jamie Grant
Dave Gregory
Probyn Gregory
Anthony Saddic
Jamie Whelligan

*Hand claps by Nick Frater, Luke Smith, Joe Kane and Joe Montague

More discussion on the new album to follow in future posts. And be on the look out for our next single, featuring the great Dave Gregory of XTC.

For an otherwise cheery, warm album, the title track "Black Apple" has a very dark theme. After tracking vocals for this song, it was then that I really studied the lyrics intensely and tried to understand who Patrick was writing about and why. Clearly the song was written about a break-up or the dissolution of a partnership. And naturally John and Paul came to mind. I don't have a clear indicator as to the exact date for which this song was penned, but my best guess is somewhere between 1970 and 1975.

Patrick was a very joyful and happy fellow who rarely had a cross word for anything or anyone, so for him to write such a letter in the form of this angst filled song, well, that really speaks volumes.

I will share a few lyrical excerpts and try to break them down.

Black apple
twisting on the vine, waiting to be plucked
and ever ripe for intertwine

--- This intro section suggests that the "Black Apple" is in fact a  person who is about to/or has been inserted or connected to a thing or a group (probably a band). And, that he was selected (plucked) for such a thing.

Black Apple
you could have fooled them all
smaller by an inch, though some would say your still too tall

--- Well, this bit seems fairly obvious so I will let you make your own conclusion to its meaning. But I will say that there is a harsh undercurrent happening here, and these lyrics feel as if they were written by John Lennon. Very sassy.

Black Apple
suffocating in a room
swapping spit with devils, like you're on a honeymoon

---This lyrical passage has me stumped. What was Patrick trying to say here? Such dark lyrics, such disdain.  These lyrics and this song had bothered me at the time. Not so much anymore, but at first this song was very off-putting.....which is why it was decided to include it as the title track. Its a rare side of Patrick that we had never really seen, or  had come across in any other of his lyrics. But we felt that it was important to include such a bittersweet song, because it was clearly important enough for him to write. Its how he felt at the time and so it must of had important value no matter how brief he may have felt in this way.

And whomever this was directed towards, I hope he found reconciliation before he departed. Or at least peace of mind.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this song once you have heard it. It would be interesting to dissect it with others, peel the layers as it were.

Cheers,
KM