Keith MacLeod (popularly known as "Mac" MacLeod) (9 July 1941 – 16 November 2020), was an English musician who was a part of the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

folk and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

scene from 1959 onwards. He played in St Albans alongside

Mick Softley Michael Softley (26 September 1939 – 1 September 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A figurehead during the British folk scene, Softley set up his own folk club, released three albums and worked with performers such as Mac ...

and Maddy Prior and toured with

John Renbourn John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...

. Influences include Softley,

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and songwriter. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, a ...

Derroll Adams Derroll Adams (November 27, 1925 – February 6, 2000) was an American folk musician. Biography He was born Derroll Lewis Thompson in Portland, Oregon, United States. At 16, he served in the Army, but was discharged when his true age of 16 was ...

Jesse Fuller Jesse Fuller (March 12, 1896 – January 29, 1976) was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues". Early life Fuller was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, near Atlanta. He was sent by his mother to live wit ...

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

Snooks Eaglin Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was sometimes credited under other names, including Blind Snooks Eaglin, ...

, Reverend Gary Davis and Davey Graham. MacLeod was an early influence on

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, and was the bassist for the original line-up of

Hurdy Gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

which also inspired the Donovan song "

The Hurdy Gurdy Man ''The Hurdy Gurdy Man'' is the sixth studio album (seventh overall) by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in October 1968 (Epic Records BN 26420 (stereo)), but not in the UK, because of a continuing contractual dispu ...

". MacLeod has also worked with

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...

. Other bands MacLeod formed of note include Soft Cloud, Loud Earth with Mick Softley and the acoustic-based band

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In M ...

Biography

Keith MacLeod was born in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

, Hertfordshire, on 9 July, 1941.

The St Albans crowd and beyond

In the early days in The Cock and later The Peahen

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, MacLeod was a regular and one of the few finger pickers around. He often played with other musicians of note: the flat picking Mick Softley and school friend Maddy Prior. In the summer time MacLeod travelled to the South West where he made friends with

. The two busked together from around 1961 to 1964. In 1964 MacLeod and Renbourn recorded three or four

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

together; 'South Coast', 'Cocaine', 'It Hurts Me Too' and 'Train Blues'. Donovan was influenced from 1961 onwards by MacLeod's finger picking and the flat pick styles made popular by

which had been a big inspiration on Mick Softley and 'Dirty Hugh'. MacLeod taught Donovan claw hammer style and finger pick techniques (see Hurdy Gurdy) and many songs from his folk blues heroes. Donovan said in an interview for Beat Instrumental in May 1965 titled 'Donovan's Big Influence? It's Not Dylan!' "The man who encouraged and helped me most was a fellow called Keith 'Mac' MacLeod. I've known him for about three years, and he's taught me everything from chord progressions on the guitar, to how to appreciate folk and real blues". In the summer of 1964 MacLeod was back in Torquay, this time Donovan joined him for his final summer before fame came knocking. MacLeod joined Donovan's first national tour of Britain which kicked off at the '' NME'' poll winners' party on 11 April 1965. Donovan's set has been called the first folk-rock

gig Gig or GIG may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Gig'' (Circle Jerks album) (1992) * ''Gig'' (Northern Pikes album) (1993) * ''The Gig'', a 1985 film written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy * GIG, a character in ''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' ...

by music writer

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

. One of the tour dates saw Donovan and MacLeod playing on stage with

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

. After Donovan's first UK tour MacLeod teamed up first with Dana Gillespie then with another regular on the St Albans music scene, Maddy Prior, to form Mac & Maddy. A demo tape of Mac & Maddy was made but has subsequently been lost. Donovan has since the early 1990s changed his stories as regards MacLeod's influence, naming 'Dirty Hugh' or 'Dirty Phil' as his finger picking teacher and John Vanstone as his early guitar mentor, removing MacLeod's name from the story. However, no interviews with him from the 1960s mention either 'Dirty Hugh', 'Dirty Phil' or John Vanstone. A guitarist called 'Dirty Hugh' (so called because he dressed in rags) played at 'The Cock', but he could only strum and flat pick the guitar, he could not finger pick and therefore was unable to teach Donovan that art. Donovan's first two albums included many songs that he learnt from MacLeod as revealed in Pete Frames ZigZag Wanderer No.5 March 1999 and in the Nigel Cross interviews for Terrascope

Sweden, Denmark and back again

MacLeod's odyssey was to take him around Britain, and across

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The anthology ''Mac MacLeod – The Incredible Musical Odyssey of the Original Hurdy Gurdy Man'' on RPM/

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as we ...

contains many rare recordings, from the acoustic folksy beginnings through a succession of one-off groups like The Other Side (with

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until ...

) and Exploding Mushroom, to the

(with producers

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

and Chris White). The group became an underground favourite and went on to headline at Middle Earth, supporting

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

at the same venue.

Hurdy Gurdy

MacLeod was the lead singer and bassist in a power trio style group in Denmark (inspired by

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

) which he named

. The group sound was heading in a similar direction to

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

who had also started at around the same time. After a run-in with the law, MacLeod had written to Donovan's manager, Ashley Kozak, in December 1967 and asked if he could help. Donovan then penned them a song and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was the result. However, Donovan changed his mind on his gift of the song to MacLeod and recorded it himself. Donovan explained the story to Keith Altham of the NME on 15 June 1968 (a different version of the article appeared in ''

Hit Parader ''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 1980s ...

'' December 1968, but also with the MacLeod link being mentioned): In addition to the above article, Donovan also confirmed the genesis of the "Hurdy Gurdy Man" song to ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' in July 1968, during an interview with Tony Wilson. Donovan had written the song before going to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

with

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, and handed a demo tape to MacLeod to work from; he had originally wanted the song to be gentle and angelic but what Hurdy Gurdy played was more like heavy metal. It was during this time in India that Donovan taught

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

the fingerpicking styles he had learned from MacLeod; this resulted in songs like "Julia" and "Blackbird" being recorded for the so-called White Album (

). Donovan has also stated that

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

added an extra verse to the "Hurdy Gurdy Man" song while they were in India. MacLeod encountered problems with work permits for the Danish members of the group during their stay in England, so the other members went back to Denmark, still under the name Hurdy Gurdy, and recorded an album for

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

From Skye to Soft Cloud

After the demise of Hurdy Gurdy, MacLeod recorded with the post-

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American chart-topper, hit in 1964 with "She's Not ...

whose song "Telescope" was a lost classic until released on MacLeod's ''Anthology''. Macleod also played bass on two other

tracks, "To Julia" and "Girl Help Me". At the end of the 1960s MacLeod was reunited with Donovan who whisked him off, with a group of other old friends, to the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

. MacLeod was asked to be a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

once more for Donovan's US tour with Candy Carr, which was to be the prototype 'Open Road' band. After several weeks of rehearsals all was well acoustically, however when the band went electric it did not work out as well as Donovan hoped. Rather than rehearse the new electric approach, Donovan had a change of heart and went to the U.S. alone. MacLeod returned to St Albans and formed Soft Cloud-Loud Earth with Mick Softley, 'Candy' John Carr (who also went to Skye for Donovan's U.S. tour line-up) and Mike Thomson. Due to the erratic behaviour of Softley, Carr and Thomson jumped ship and soon formed Open Road with

, leaving MacLeod to continue with Softley in the duo Soft Cloud. After Soft Cloud had evaporated MacLeod formed a new band, the sitar-drenched

with Julian McAllister and Ray Cooper. Amber had some tracks produced by former

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwe ...

singer

Keith Relf William Keith Relf (22 March 194312 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, The Yardbirds ex-drummer Ji ...

Silverlining

After many years out of the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

MacLeod returned with a new band, Silverlining, in 1999. He continued to play live both solo and with a full band line-up (sometimes including his old school friend

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' and

' bassist

Jim Rodford James Walter Rodford (7 July 1941 – 20 January 2018) was an English musician, who played bass for several British rock bands. He was a founding member of Argent, which was led by his cousin Rod Argent, and performed with them from their formati ...

) and he made plans for another album. He also added flute to the new St Albans band Maya on their new album ''Revelations'', and supplied some guitar for the band The Coming.

Pete Frame Peter Frame (born 10 November 1942 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England) is an English music journalist and historian of rock music. He has produced outlines of the history of rock bands for various magazines, such as ''Sounds'', ''NME'', ''Melody Mak ...

, author of Rock Family trees, has also written a special edition of ''Zigzag Wanderer'' entitled 'Catching Dreams From the Clouds' all about MacLeod's early days.

Later years

MacLeod was in communication with Donovan, first when he co-nominated him for his Honorary Doctorate at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

in November 2003. and later Donovan's birthday on 10 May 2005 (where he met up with old friend

Gyp Mills Gyp Mills (born David John Mills, 9 July 1946 – 18 June 2019),

) where MacLeod was a special guest. On 9 June that year Donovan and MacLeod played together again on stage at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

; the last time they played onstage together was during Donovan's first UK tour in 1965. MacLeod had a new more acoustic based album in the works. MacLeod had a recent reunion with his old Amber partner Julian McAllister and he was also in touch with his old friends John Renbourn and Maddy Prior.

Death

MacLeod had been ill for some six years prior to his death on 16 November 2020. He had been suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

, cancer and

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alv ...

. He died after being infected with pneumonia whilst being treated in hospital.

References

External links

Official Website

Bio on answers.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Mac 1941 births Living people People from St Albans English folk musicians English blues musicians English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English rock guitarists Musicians from Hertfordshire