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.

Early Gisele MacKenzie

The reaction to my recent Gisele MacKenzie post on my other blog surprised me. Far more people like Gisele than I realized. Most of you probably like her more than I do!

With so much latent interest in the singer, I thought I might transfer her rarest LP. It is Orchids from Gisele, a promotional item issued only in her native Canada by the sponsor of her radio show.

While the album came out in 1958, it collects singles issued on Capitol from 1952 through early 1954, before MacKenzie spent several years with RCA Victor and its offshoot Vik.

The songs themselves are what you might expect from the period - a mixture of ballads, novelties and covers of country tunes. I find this era fascinating, while realizing that others disagree.

A few notes:

"Whistle My Love" was from the the Disney film Story of Robin Hood, and was widely recorded at the time. I had one of the recordings (can't recall which) and don't think I had heard the song in the intervening years. I liked it when I was four, and I like it now. Arranger Buddy Cole takes the "whistling" literally and has violinist Paul ("The Hot Canary") Nero on hand to supply the high harmonics. I could have done without them - Cole has a tendency to overdo things. This shows as well in the next song, the familiar "Adios," which includes a female backing vocal that sounds like Mary Ford on phenobarbital. Cole  adds organ accompaniment that sounds remarkably like Walter Wanderley's records of 10 years later.

"Mississippi River Boat" is another novelty, and if you can handle the constant "tu pocketa, tu pocketa" refrain, you may enjoy this. It's not my thing.

Nelson Riddle's arrangements are definitely my thing, and he takes over for "A Letter and a Ring" and "A Walkin' Tune." Both are handled nicely by MacKenzie.

"The Best Things in Life Are Free" was apparently unreleased except for this compilation. "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" was a country hit for Slim Willet (the composer) among many others, and Gisele's cover is accomplished. "My Favorite Song" is a good Moose Charlap composition. Buddy Cole is back for the latter two songs.

Possibly the best effort on the LP is MacKenzie's version of "Gone," a legendary country song by Smokey Rogers. "Gone" was a giant hit for Ferlin Husky in 1957 - five years after this version was cut. Husky had recorded the song earlier (also for Capitol) under the name Terry Preston, and it was even issued on a promo record together with Gisele's recording. MacKenzie appears on the sheet music.

As a bonus, I have included the promotional version of "My Buick, My Love and I" recorded by Gisele and Gordon MacRae and given out by Buick dealers in 1952. It was the theme song for Milton Berle's second TV program, The Buick-Berle Show. The promo record also had a version by the Mellomen on the back. The Macs' version was issued commercially as well. The bonus is not my transfer, although I have remastered it, and is from a lossy original. The LP transfer is of course from my own copy.