Customer Reviews

Very Best of Kenneth Mckellar

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I bought my first Kenneth McKellar album 'Greensleeves' about twenty years ago and quickly wore it out listening to this incredible singer.
I never thought I'd like this sort of music, but McKellar has such a wonderful voice and the songs are so compelling that it's hard to stop listening.
The traditional Scottish songs about love and loss and about hopeless battles fought long ago really take me away.
Be prepared to do some research to discover the text to some songs - traditional Scottish can be hard to understand - You'll find the effort well worth while.

Kenneth McKellar is something of a paradox, using his operatic tenor voice to sing traditional folk songs although (as his version of Stranger in Paradise shows - this is a duet with an un-credited female singer, possibly Moira Anderson) he was well capable of handling contemporary material.

Another unusual feature of his repertoire is that Kenneth also recorded plenty of English folk songs, represented here by Villikins and his Dinah, Sweet lass of Richmond Hill, Dance to your Daddy, Greensleeves, Last rose of summer and Rising of the lark. Less surprising is the inclusion of the Irish song, Danny boy. Kenneth manages to suppress his natural Scottish accent when singing English songs.

There are plenty of Scottish folk songs here beginning with My love is like a red red rose, for which Robert Burns wrote the words. He also wrote the words to Rantin' ravin' Robin, here re-titled There was a lad was born in Kyle. Another popular Scottish song is Ye banks and braes but by far the most famous traditional Scottish song here is the Skye boat song.

Very little of his music is available as I write this but this compilation provides a reasonable representation. Folk music sung in an operatic tenor takes some getting used to but you certainly won't mistake Kenneth McKellar for anybody else.

This is a superb album by a superb singer. Kenneth McKellar is known to UK audiences as probably the finest singer of popular music ( popular as opposed to pop/rock etc.) of the last forty-odd years. Although the greater part of his repertoire is Scottish traditional music, he ranged much more widely. He made some opera recordings of the highest quality, represented on this CD by the serenade from Bizet's opera The Fair Maid of Perth, which is set in Scotland,appropriately. This collection also includes seven Scottish songs, five English, two Irish, one Welsh(I think), and some which don't fit any of these categories. What they all have in common is his great voice and his musicianship, so that he can find exactly the right emotional tone for each song, whether proudly martial( Wi'A Hundred Pipers), slyly comic( Villikins and his Dinah), romantic(many), and others. My personal favorites? My Love is Like a Red, Red,Rose, probably his most popular song, achingly beautiful, There Was A Lad Was Born In Kyle( a great melody), and two English ones,(sorry),the gracious 18th.century love song, Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill, and the bouncy yet affectionate folksong, Dance To Your Daddy. Perhaps the finest example of his mastery is the spine-chilling performance of the classic horror story, The Twa Corbies. But this whole CD is the record of a great singer and his art.
Kenneth McKellar's music gave,and will continue to give, so
much pleasure to so many people. He died on April 9, 2010.
" So fare thee weel awhile"

Scotland's Kenneth McKellar will bring hours of enjoyment to anyone who is proud of their homeland, or Scottish heritage. His voice will lead you back to your homeland, or perhaps to the country you have visited and fallen in love with. If you have not visited the songs will lead you there. You will not be disappointed in this CD.

I believe the singer in the LOVELY STRANGER IN PARADISE was Adele Leigh

See the magnificent KISMET album with Robert Merril and Kenneth McKellar.

Adele Leigh, Mantovani, , Kenneth McKellar, Robert Merrill

There are really great songs on this album all when McKellar was at the peak of his powers.

An excellent recording of one of the finest tenors. I'm glad Amazon.com had this and many more of his recordings available.

I used to play Kenneth McKellar albums all the time when we only had records, in fact, I wore them out. I was so very pleased to be able to get them on CD, and they sound as good as the records. I have purchased several albums of his from Amazon, and I am pleased with all of them.