View source for Willie Kemp

{{Short description|British songwriter}}
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'''Willie Kemp''', ''King of the Cornkisters'' (born 1888 in [[Oldmeldrum]] &ndash; 1965) is best known as a singer and writer of [[Doric dialect (Scotland)|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 Records|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 ballad]]s, and [[cornkister]]s, 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 [[George Bruce Thomson|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==
* [http://www.leopardmag.co.uk/feats/76/a-salute-to-doric-heroes A Salute to Doric Heroes]

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[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish entertainers]]
[[Category:People from Oldmeldrum]]


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