Waiting For Love To Pass Me By -

There is little information attached to this one. It was lumped onto a reel with lots of other various songs sung by various people. On first listen I knew who I thought the vocalist sounded like, so I then shared it with my family and they all had the same name in mind. Gerry Marsden of Gerry and The Pacemakers. He had a very McCartneyesque vocal at times and this bloke certainly does too. The other name that came up was Tony Sheridan, and I can hear that as a possibility as well. Both men must have been in Patrick's orbit throughout the 60s. Although, Patrick was working for Decca and Gerry was signed to Columbia EMI. And, Tony was signed to Polydor out of Germany. Not sure how they could end up on a Decca recording -unless it was actually an EMI or Polydor recording.

Unfortunately, we may never know who the vocalist is, but I very much like the Merseybeat approach with this version (moreso than our selected album version). Had I heard this version first, I can tell you that Famous Groupies would have recorded it in the same way (or very similar). Either way, this version seems to indicate that the tune was written in the early 60s (pre 1965), so its older than we had perceived.

On a personal note: This surely had to have been a demo.. as the guitar solo is a wee chicken scratch-half baked for a final track, and the vocal arrangement seems uncertain at times. It does sort of sound like Tony Sheridan was playing guitar tho, somewhat lazily.

Take a listen and see what you think:

3 Whale Rock -
 
Recorded in June of 1974. This version gave me a good chuckle. You see, I knew straight away that this was less serious and probably just a studio jam of sorts. Patrick is definitely playing the piano on this one, and his long time friend Tam White of the Scottish band The Boston Dexters is singing lead.  Tam lived in Edinburgh at the time. He sings on a few other tracks as well. Drums and bass are also musician friends of Patrick's. Yeah, this one is just for laughs. They probably had a few at the pub and wandered back to the studio to track whatever fell out. Still, very  enjoyable and insightful into the goings on at the time –with Patrick and his mates.
Also, I can easily hear Wings covering this one. I wonder why they didn’t. Hmm.

Continuing on with the deep dive look at some of Patrick's songs as recorded by various artists during the 1960s (primarily). Once again here is another tune that Famous Groupies had selected for Black Apple, and naturally this take is an alternative version to ours (quite possibly the original version). 

Song#2 Honesty: Okay, let me preface with this. There are several different versions of this song as sung by various artists and groups. I liked this version the best.  It is easily the earliest recorded take and it's a total hit! The group is called "The Honeywells".  I could not find any information on them, but the recording was made in the early 60s, pre 1965 (possibly). This would be one of Patrick's early Decca works. He was working with many unknown artists at that time, many of which would never make it beyond recording a few singles for the label, which was very common back then.
 
There is also another version which I quite liked, a really pleasant early mid 70s version as sung by a woman called Maxine. We all felt that the singer sounded remarkably like that of the late Helen Reddy. But, the name written in the notes is "Maxine", and after researching that name we came up empty handed, thus I didn't share it.  My guess is that she was a hired vocalist and not the artist whom the song was meant for, but I could be wrong.

Click below and take a listen to The Honeywells covering "Honesty" as originally written by Patrick McKenize.

Hello...

Well, its been a good 7 months since we released Black Apple, and I must confess... it feels more like years. That might come off as "detached" just a wee bit. But really its not. Its true that I have been quite busy with other projects unrelated to FG, but that doesn't mean that I have stopped rummaging through Patrick's vast collection of reel tapes and cassette recordings. I have not, I assure you. In fact, I compiled a rather large collection of familiar songs - many of which we recorded for Black Apple. But these particular songs that I would like to share were recorded many years ago by various known and unknown artists. And it is incredibly fascinating stuff!

As I had mentioned in previous posts going back a few years, I made clear that Patrick McKenzie was a ghost writer for Decca Records - during the 1960s. I don't know for exact sure as to how long he worked for Decca, but it was a good long stretch. Still, I have since found out that he was also a freelance agent and traveled extensively to  America, Australia and throughout the UK. All the while working with up coming artists of various genres. Most of these artists had development deals with many different record labels big and small.

Over the next few weeks I'd like to share some of the songs I have uncovered and digitally repaired.

Lets start with the song 'The Tourist'. This song can also be found on the Black Apple record, although this version has an entirely different melody - of the folk genre. Had I found this recording before finding the sheet music for the version we recorded for the album, I think I would have selected this version over ours. Its such a lovely version, I really like it.

Here is what my research found on the tune:  (Most of it is speculation, naturally)

Song#1. The Tourist - as sung by Debbie Sings or Debbie Green, circa 1967/68. Is it unclear as to which Debbie the tape notes are referring to with this song. It's a tossup based on the loose information at hand, but we feel that the unsung folk singer Debbie Green may be the singer of this version of The Tourist. Debbie was a friend to Joni Mitchell in the 1960s and up until her death. While at Berkeley, Debbie taught Joan Baez how to sing and play guitar. Apparently Baez was ambitious and Debbie was not. However, it is also said that Debbie never recorded an album. But it is also more than likely that some recordings of her do exist somewhere, and this song just might be one of them. Patrick's lyrics are true to the original with the exception of one word (happy/sappy), but the music was clearly written for and catered to this lovely folk singers style and voice. Patrick would work with many unknown artists who had procured record label development deals.
For the record, we must also discuss the possibility that the artist known only as Debbie Sings could also be the singer on this version. When compared, the voices are strikingly similar, although perhaps a bit more youthful sounding -which could also date the recording as early as 1967. Debbie Sings was a little known folk album recorded in 1969 at Kay Bank Recording Company in Minneapolis for Universal Audio Recording (label). This record can be found on YouTube, so I invite you to seek it out, take a listen and compare it to The Tourist.
This particular recording has such a vibe, a warmly charming and soft tone throughout. And I quite liked it when she would move closer to the microphone at times and her vocal would get louder or softer at strategic moments. Absolutely charming.
Thanks to the miracle of digital technology I was able to filter out all the pops and clicks quite effectively. God, I love software. Enjoy!

Debbie Green (top) and (bottom)

Many thanks to all who supported the Famous Groupies experiment. T'was a grand 5 years.

Cheerio from the lads!

Is it 2024 or 1974?

This screenshot taken of the current top 5 list(s) for the largest Japanese Distributor and record store chain - handing nearly every record store in Japan and its surrounding islands.
On the left is the top 5 best selling list for pre-sale albums.
On the right is the top 5 best selling list for in stock or physical albums.

You may have noted that Famous Groupies and Paul McCartney & Wings are situated right next each other, in perfect harmony. It feels pretty good to be in such great company as Joni Mitchell, Bowie, Wings, and of course The Beatles. Also, Margo Guryan is fantastic! Explore her albums when you get a chance, she was great!

Yes, we have all time travelled back to the year 1974. And I never want to leave!

In other news, the 2nd pressing of CDs for Black Apple is well under way. We should have it back in stock by early August. I will keep you posted.

KM

Our CD release date of 7/1 was a success. We are completely sold out of Black Apple  CDs (1st pressing). Thank you!
Orange Records will be placing a 2nd pressing soon (hopefully), and we hope to have CDs back in stock by August.
Meanwhile, you can still order Black Apple in digital format. Digital can be purchased at this site or by visiting Bandcamp.

The good news is that several days ago Orange Records received a large shipment of Black Apple CDs. And, they have mailed out to all the good people who pre-ordered way back when. I just received my small batch today (to pass out to the family. I couldn't be more pleased, looks totally fab!).

Who am I kidding, its all good news...

So I guess the only other news is that most of the initial CD order has been bought up by our distributors, which only leaves Orange Records with a limited supply for our July 1st CD release date. And in lieu of that news, we may have to suspend selling the Black Apple CD on our site (for awhile at least). The limited balance of Black Apple CDs will be sold directly from Orange Records/Satellites Group via the Bandcamp site.

You can also buy the digital album at the Bandcamp site, which is available for immediate download.

For those of you in Japan, you will be able to buy the CD in-store within two weeks. Everyone in Japan will be carrying Black Apple, from HMV to Tower Records and all in between.

Thanks again for supporting our music these past few years. We love you!

Kirkcaldy & Famous Groupies

As of June one, you can now purchase Black Apple in digital format. The digital album has a compressed song total of 30, when in fact there are actually 36 songs (the CD has 36 indexed songs). The simple answer for this is that the song 'Seven Rooms' is in fact 7 songs, and they are indexed as such for the CD. But, we could not index them for digital as there would be big gaps of silence between each song (or room), and that would not sound proper.

Meanwhile, Black Apple is climbing the pre-order charts quite nicely in Japan. Disk Union Records has been our #1 distributor for all 5 records and we love them dearly. Charting at #4 is not a bad place to start considering that the album was just released (digital) and people are just now hearing it for the first time. We appreciate the emails and YouTube comments from those who have heard the album and had very nice things to say about it. Thank you!

And since the record is doing well in Japan, we are nearly sold out of CDs before they even arrive to Orange Records. A 2nd pressing is eminent. Please be patient if you order after July 1st, we will have you sorted as promptly as possible.

And please do visit our YouTube page and subscribe! There will be lots of video singles, video shorts and other surprises posted along the way. Our Current single(s) is 'One Need Leads', a song that sounds like McCartney could have written in 1974 (who knows, maybe he did). Also, the song 'Soft Beds, Hard Battles' and it features the great Dave Gregory of XTC on electric guitar. His solo is absolutely brilliant and one of my very favs. Dave plays on 9 or 10 songs, three of which are rooted in that XTC sensibility. But overall, this double record leans heavy towards that of early 70s McCartney & Wings, much like our first two records.

Our next video single will be 'Cellar Door', which features brilliant horns throughout. A personal fav. Look for that on July one. And soon after another single will appear.

The band and I would like to say 'Thank You'. We appreciate all the love and support.

Cheers,
KM

As you may have already heard, Black Apple will be available for digital download on 6/1. CD will follow on 7/1. But what of vinyl?
Believe it or not, Black Apple on vinyl would need to be a 4 record set. Yes, there is THAT much music. And of course, that would cost a fortune to press and a small fortune for the customer to purchase. So, where does this leave us? It leaves us to be "creative".

Above you will find the cover for 'Slices From The Black Apple'. The band wanted to take some of the most Wings-like songs from 36 and create a vinyl album that felt like a lost McCartney & Wings record - circa 1974. This collection of songs in an entirely different experience than Black Apple, thus we had to give it its own cover and a new name. And, as with vinyl, it can hold roughly 20 minutes of music per side, which made for a challenge to be sure. We like how it turned out and we think you might too. This record should fit nicely right next to Red Rose Speedway.

The band didn't stop there. They wanted a keepsake of a different kind, so it was decided to create another condensed version of Black Apple. Below you will find pics of that record, which does feature a bit different song picks from the big album. What makes this vinyl record special is that it is a 'picture disc'. An alternate cover pic on side A, and another related pic on side B. 
Now then, this record was more so for the band and not necessarily for the public, but the band thought it would be fun to make it available for a short while to anyone who wanted it. All in good fun. The last hurrah and all.

The good news is that both vinyl albums are available right now.  Click HERE to be redirected.