Willie Kemp, ''King of the Cornkisters'' (born 1888 in
Oldmeldrum
Oldmeldrum (commonly known as Meldrum) is a village and Civil parish, parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), North East Scotland. With a population of ...
– 1965) is best known as a singer and writer of
Doric comic songs. His family owned a hotel in Oldmeldrum, formerly Kemp's hotel, now Morris's and at an early age Kemp started performing at the hotel.
During the early 1920s, Kemp went to Art school in Aberdeen and while there, he joined a concert party. By 1923 he was invited to broadcast for the BBC in Aberdeen. An employee of the
Beltona record label heard his broadcasts and he was invited to Beltona's London studios to make recordings. He continued to record with them throughout the 1930s.
The material that he recorded for Beltona was a mixture of
bothy ballads, and
cornkisters, some written by others, some written by himself. His musical composition skills were good, his lyric composition less so, and as a result his best work was done in collaboration with others, particularly the lyricist
G Bruce Thomson with whom he wrote ''McFarlane o the Sprotts o Burnieboosie'', ''The Weddin o McGinnis tae his Cross-eyed Pet'' and ''McGinty’s Meal and Ale''.
Sources
A Salute to Doric Heroes
1888 births
1965 deaths
Scottish entertainers
People from Oldmeldrum
{{Scotland-musician-stub