Marking Hamilton’s history in music for Canada 150
Some people live in Hamilton all their lives without realizing the rich history this city has to offer.
Mark McNeil wants to expand our knowledge of that local history through song. As Hamilton looks toward an optimistic future, McNeil figures it’s never been more important to look back at its past.
“This city is going through amazing things right now,” says McNeil. “It’s going through this renaissance with the LRT and James Street North.
“But you don’t know where you’re going if you’re not clear about where you’ve been. It’s a good time to keep that in the back of our minds, the amazing history that this city has had.”
McNeil has been a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator for more than 35 years. His focus in recent years, through popular series such as “Flashbacks,” has been on the city’s history.
McNeil is also a respected folksinger and songwriter, a field that has allowed him to combine his love for music with his passion for history.
Two years ago, he released an album, also called “Flashbacks,” of 14 original songs that explored some of Hamilton’s more colourful stories. The album was nominated for three Hamilton Music Awards and its songs were used in the play “James Street North,” which was staged in three runs at the Lyric Theatre and the Artword Artbar.
In it he told the notorious story of 1940s murderess Evelyn Dick, as well as the mystery behind the disappearance of gangster Rocco Perri, the Edwardian heyday of Gore Park and the curious tale of Jacko the Monkey, who ended up stuffed and on display in the old Dundurn Castle zoo.
McNeil is now holding a special free concert on Thursday, June 29, 8 p.m., at The Hamilton Spectator auditorium to celebrate both the history of Hamilton and Canada’s 150th birthday.
Backed by a band (Randall Hill, Paul Panchezak, Dave Pearson, Wayne Krawchuk and Donna Panchezak), he’ll perform many of the songs from “Flashbacks,” plus a few newer ones like “The Land of Holy Mackinaw” and “Project Grizzly” (about the eccentric Hamilton inventor of a bear protection suit).
“The thing about Hamilton is that when you strip it all away, it’s authentic, the real thing,” says McNeil. “Hamilton is a story that gets more interesting the more you look into it. This is what’s kept me
going for 35 years. I’ve never had trouble coming up with stories, or song topics, either.”
The concert, put on by the historical group The Head of the Lake Society with funding from the City of Hamilton, will also feature folksinger Ian Bell, best known for his interpretations of Canadian songs from the late 19th century.
Expect Bell to perform “When You and I Were Young Maggie,” probably the most famous song ever to come out of Hamilton, written in the 1860s by local school teacher George Washington Johnson. As well, local history author and archivist Margaret Houghton will give a talk on what Hamilton was like in 1867, the year of Confederation.
“This show is for people who want to celebrate Canada’s 150th, for people who are interested in history and for people who are interested in music, it will have all those things,” McNeil says.
McNeil will take his love for history to France in August, accompanying a delegation from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry for the 75th anniversary of Dieppe, a Second World War battle in which about 200 members of the regiment died. McNeil will also visit several other battle sites in France and Belgium for a special series in The Hamilton Spectator.
“Dieppe is the saddest day in the history of Hamilton,” McNeil says.