Patrick McKenzie, Ghostwriter...

I find the subject of "Ghostwriting" especially fascinating lately. As you may or may not already know, my Grandfather, the late "Patrick McKenzie" was a ghostwriter for many years. And as time goes by, my family and I learn more and more about his somewhat mysterious life as a ghostwriter. I mean, we all knew he was a multi-instrumentalist and a song writer, and we knew that he had written for a variety of artists throughout the years, but we never really pestered him about his past. He was a very lively fellow, brimming over with exuberance and natural energy, all of which was very charming and very entertaining. It was all we needed.

And as I have gone through many, many more songs and notes and books that he had left behind, I have been able to place more pieces of the puzzle together. And as we are in the final mixing mode of the new album, most of which was written by Patrick, there is one song on the album that piqued my interest even more. Patrick had actually penned a song entitled "Ghostwriter". Well, we have just mixed this song, so we had to hear the song played over and over again...which got us all chatting about the content of the lyrics. I will post a bit of his lyrics below..

Hey ghostwriter
Write me another song
Go on now, get along
You ain't done me wrong just yet

Hey ghostwriter
Like we agreed upon
So go on and write a hit song, so we can get rich
You can pay the bills and while we wait I'll go fish

He sits alone and he works all day
The fans who adore him don't know his name         
He writes the songs that make the whole world sing    
If you need a good anthem give him a ring


As you can read into this, the lyrics are comical and light, but I also sense a bit of frustration too. How could a ghostwriter not be frustrated and somewhat sad at the realization that his work will never be known as truly written by him? It makes me a bit sad when I think that much of Patrick's life work will never be acknowledged as his. until now, that is.

Also, in his lyrics he writes: He writes the songs that make the whole world sing    
If you need a good anthem give him a ring


This suggests that his work is being heard by a large audience, presumably all over the world. Well, I started to pay more attention to notes written on lyric sheets and in his notebooks and I noted that he had talked alot about a Scottish band from the mid 60's, called "The Beatstalkers". They were also known as "The Scottish Beatles".  I always thought they were a cover band, but I looked into them a bit more and I made a few connections fairly quickly.

Okay, Patrick was originally a session player more-so at first, then a songwriter. He did play covers in a few bands, prior to 1965, and it seems that he had worked with a few fellas from The Beatstalkers, which then introduced him to Decca Records, which then led to him writing songs for local artists. Back then they didn't credit you properly, so it's difficult for me to see if he was on payroll or if they simply gave him a few pounds per song and that was that.

The Beatstalkers had a hit in 1965 with a tune called "Ev'rybody's Talking 'bout My Baby". I believe that Patrick had a hand in writing this one, as well as another one of their hits called" Little Boy", which sounded very much like Patrick's style during that era -based on tapes I have found of his.

I believe that Patrick wrote more for this band and many more songs for other Decca Records artists. The timeline works out, as he was in London in 65', which is where Decca London was. He would have probably met Denny Laine around this time as well.

I'll just stop right there, but I will say that the ghostwriter that Patrick was will surely be exposed on "The Furry White Album". We will pay tribute to his work and the 17 songs we have selected to record.

KM