Gisele MacKenzie with Pop Hits of the 50s

My previous posts of music by Canadian singer Gisele MacKenzie have been remarkably popular, leading me to observe that you blog followers like her even more than I do.

Not that I disdain MacKenzie's gifts, which were considerable - she sings in tune, with excellent diction, and always commands attention. It's just that she doesn't go below the surface very often, a quality I value in vocalists.

Fortunately, the repertoire for this new post doesn't call for much depth. It consists of pop hits dating from 1951-55 - the kind of fare that MacKenzie confronted on a weekly basis as one of the stars of the television program Your Hit Parade. That program required her to master all types of music - from Broadway tunes to novelty items to crossover R&B and country material. She could do justice to such varied content, as demonstrated by this particular collection, although I suspect she was weakest at blues-based songs, which are not represented here.

What you will find is offerings derived from the stage and screen ("Hey There," "Unchained Melody," "Stranger in Paradise," "The Song from 'Moulin Rouge'," "Theme from Picnic/Moonglow") other pop hits ("Too Young," "Answer Me, My Love," "Learnin' the Blues," "Ebb Tide," "Blue Tango") and C&W tunes ("Slow Poke," "Half as Much") - all handled in a most pleasing manner.

MacKenzie's accomplice in this program is the veteran arranger/conductor Axel Stordahl, who is mostly known for his superb work with Frank Sinatra throughout the Voice's stint with Columbia Records. I believe Stordahl was the conductor for Eddie Fisher's Coke Time TV show when these sessions were held. His arrangements here, while proficient, are not of the quality he routinely achieved with Sinatra.

The date of the Gisele sessions is unclear. While RCA Victor first issued this LP in late 1958, I believe it may have been taped somewhat earlier. First, as mentioned, the program is of recent hits, but the latest item is from 1955. Second, the excellent portrait of MacKenzie by illustrator Jon Whitcomb was first used for the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine in November 1955 (at right; she is facing west instead of east, as on the record cover). I'm not sure when stereo recording of pop artists began, but I recently posted George Siravo stereo material dating from mid-1957. RCA was recording classical music in stereo as early as 1954 and issuing it on tape starting in 1955.

Fortunately, RCA's mike manipulators did better work for Gisele than for George. The results here are reasonably well-balanced, although the sonics for the band were distinctly brighter than those for the singer. It was almost as though the engineer had thrown a blanket over MacKenzie on some cuts. (Perhaps the studio was chilly.) I have compensated for this effect, with some success, I hope.

This was the only MacKenzie LP that originated on the RCA Victor label. Her other albums first came out on the Vik subsidiary. RCA folded that imprint in November 1958.

In common with many other singers in the post-war era, MacKenzie endorsed cigarettes (see below - click to enlarge). If she actually did smoke, it did not affect her pipes.