Marc P. Mailhot, Veteran Maine Musician

I was born April 5, 1951 in Batavia, New York to Philip and Jeanette Mailhot and moved to Westbrook, Maine in the summer of 1954. Also...I have a younger sister...Renee...who was born December 11, 1956. I have lived here ever since and started taking piano lessons at age 6 in 1957. I discovered early on I was blessed by having "perfect pitch". My whole family is musical and Mom and Dad played in a Trio called "The Stylists" back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. For a while I concentrated on the piano...but Dad would leave his Slingerland drums out to practice with the trio. You know what happened on February 9, 1964 and from that time on I wanted to play drums...so I started playing along with Beatles records like every other budding musician did after that night...and it led me on a very magical musical career which I am still enjoying to this day.

My best friend Mark Swett (we've been friends now for over 50 years!) and I would often play as a duo and played along with the records and learned the songs. We even went on local TV as "The Missing Links" in 1965 and played two Beatle songs on the air.

Over the next two years we played in various group formations with different musicians locally...but in November 1967 we wanted to get serious about our playing and decided to form "Love, Inc.". Little did we know at the time we would go on and make musical history in Maine. The original line-up of Love, Inc. was Mike Cormier on Lead Guitar...Mark Swett on Rhythm Guitar...Greg Peters on Bass and myself on drums. We went on to play locally in late 1967 and early 1968 but were getting nowhere with the line-up. We had booked a date of May 24 to play at St. Hyacinth Hall here in Westbrook but 6 weeks earlier had decided to scrap the current line-up and that's when we brought in the Gouzie Brothers...Mike on Lead and his 13 year old Brother Billy...on Bass. We practiced like mad getting our new group membership and show together but we made it and "The New Love, Inc." had a very successful debut on that date.

We continued to play locally during the Spring and Summer months and kept getting more popular and brushing up on our show. At this time Billy was in the process of becoming the best Bass player in the State for his age...and we were all getting better as musicians. Below is a very rare picture taken in August 1968 at the Palace Ballroom Old Orchard Beach, Maine. We were the backup Band that night for "The Orphans" from Boston...the next two years we would go on and become the Headliners at the venue.

Another popular local Band in at this time was "The Untame Sound" and Mike and Billy's brother Ron played drums (Ludwig Blue Sparkle) for them. But they disbanded early in 1969 and we got their keyboard player Rick Record who joined us in February of 1969. Things started to take off after that...my Dad was our Manager...and he got us our first record contract with Musicor Records in April of 1969. We went to Boston to record our first and only single for Musicor which was released in June of 1969. Musicor records is the same label Gene Pitney used to record on so we were in good company. The record did well and made #10 locally in late August. We got a lot of publicity from that record and went on to play many performances all over Maine and New Hampshire that summer to promote it...and got a lot of airplay too. (Musicor Recording Artists!) In 1969 and 1970 we made three local TV appearances too.

This was the most successful time in our career with Love, Inc and continued to play very frequently. In April of 1969 we threw our first Dance at the Portland Expo Building which was attended by over 1400 kids. We threw another Dance on November 28, 1969 which was attended by over 1,000 kids. That night we signed our new record deal with Pink Dolphin records of New York. They would go on and have us record the first LP by a group from Maine in April of 1970...and even though the LP was never commercially released...we did release two more singles from it in September of 1970 and June 1971 (my song "Thank You Mary Beth") just after the group broke up. The LP featured all original songs and no covers.

In the summer of 1970 we were asked by the Maine United Way Campaign to record their theme song for the year. So taking a rough tape of the song we recorded our own version which debuted in September of that year. We were the first Maine group ever to record a song for United Way. So on the radio that Fall we had two songs on the air...the United Way Song "We're All We've Got" and our second single "Jennifer" which charted at #12 in Maine in October of 1970. Quite a feat for a local group from Maine!

We continued on playing until June of 1971 when we decided to go our separate ways and pursue other musical opportunities...but it was a great run while it lasted and we left our mark on Maine music history. Mark went on to a solo career and we would again get back together again later on...Mike and Billy went on to play with other groups and eventually Mike joined the Army and left the music business and Billy continued on to be the best Bass player in Maine. He has since gone on in his career to play with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater! Rick left the group in October of 1970 to pursue other interests.

While a sophomore at Westbrook High in 1966, and a year before the inception of Love, Inc., I was selected to perform as a Tenor in the All-Sate Chorus, truly a great honor at the time, and one of the highlights of my career.

In September 1969 I also started teaching drums and keys at Starbird Music in Portland, and remained on the staff as a teacher for the next three years. The Starbird family is well-known in Maine and I've known the family now for almost 40 years. Mr. and Mrs. Starbird have retired and their youngest daughter Jill now runs the business and her sister Carol teaches piano privately and brother Harry III continues to perform on the keys...and the store continues to serve the musical needs of Maine musicians now about to enter their 6th decade of service. It has indeed been my pleasure to know all of them and work with them professionally too. In August of 2007...Jill was very generous and made their Performance Hall available to BOTHN when we began rehearsals and started recording basic tracks for our current CD.

After Love, Inc., I took a little time off in the summer of 1971 but by Fall was ready for another band and this time it was "Pegasus". CLICK HERE for the Pegasus Tribute Page.

During my time off from school in the summers from 1974 to 1976 Mark Billy and I along with our good friend Peter Albert regrouped again to form the Beatle cover Band "Rain" and we played various venues and colleges in southern Maine. Rain would regroup one more time in 1997...but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

In late 1978 shortly after I married my beloved wife Kathleen (we got married August 5) I joined another group who I was introduced to through Ron Gouzie, Mike and Billy's Brother..."The Chapparals". I remained with them through early 1980 and then left...and the Band again asked me back in 1983...and this time I stayed until my work took me out of town in August of 1987. The Chapparals play standards...old and new Country and Oldies. Our venues include Eagles Halls...VFW's and Legion Halls and special functions such as weddings and anniversaries. We reunited again in 2003.

For a complete history of The Chapparals and all of our current information CLICK HERE for the page.

I took some time off during the 1990s from playing but "Rain" again was asked to play two private performances in 1990 which we did. I sort of semi-retired during the mid 1990's but came back again as "Rain" regrouped and rehearsed through much of 1997 and came out one more time as "Get Back" in September and October of that year to two packed houses in Portland. Most fortunately we got rave reviews from everyone and it was great getting back with Mark...Peter and Billy after some time away...a definite highlight of the 1990's! An added bonus was on our second visit during our encore of "Roll Over Beethoven". My youngest daughter Allison...Mark's oldest daughter, Jessica...and Peter's niece, Jana got up on stage and danced to our music. Here we were...older musicians playing the music we grew up with and our young people are dancing on stage with us. We had indeed come full circle.

In the Fall of 2000, Mark and I were feeling nostalgic again for the early days of Love, Inc. and decided to do something really special for Christmas. So...we dug out the original two track tapes of our LP sessions and got to work on the computer with Forte...and remixed and re-sequenced the tapes. Mark redid some black and white photos in color and I got our old scrapbooks out and reprinted some pictures and got a group chronology and performance listing together and we issued our own sort of box set of 2 CDs and the booklet for the other group members for Christmas. The CD cover is one of my favorite group pictures and was taken in June of 1969.

Our own CD issued in a limited edition to the other Group Members Christmas 2000. We had always planned to call the original LP "Seeking Reaching".

As if we didn't already have enough excitement going on in 2006...with the Reunion and Shannon's Engagement and Allison's Wedding...we had yet another surprise...

Kathy and I celebrated our 28th Anniversary on Saturday August 5, 2006 and the 30th anniversary of our meeting on Sunday August 6. Chapparals Guitarist Dave Ames had a surprise waiting for us after he sang The Beatles "Oh, Darling!" on a local radio station and won two tickets to see former Beatles drummer, Pete Best in Portland on August 7. Pete's extremely hard-luck story is known to just about everyone...Beatle Fan or not...and he was sacked just three weeks prior to the band recording "Love Me Do" in early September of 1962 and bringing Ringo in...and as we all know...the rest is history. Dave is the ONLY other person I know that can sing "Oh Darling!" in the original key of A and hit all the high notes without falsetto. His voice is a gift indeed and he has a very large vocal range...truly an asset to The Chapparals.

Dave gave us the two tickets he won as an anniversary present and Kathy and I went to see him in person.

The Band was tight...Pete was good and he had his son just to his right on stage to help him and give the band a big sound. Songs included were mostly from the Hamburg and Liverpool days in 1961 and 1962...and included the standard rock and pop songs from the day...such as Roll Over Beethoven and Long Tall Sally. Beatle songs performed included the rare Lennon-Harrison instrumental piece "Cry for a Shadow" which I carefully listened to...and the guitar lead was note perfect. Other songs also included some from the Decca audition including a rousing version of one of my favorites..."Besame Mucho"...complete with "Ta Ta Boom"! Also performed was the John and Paul composition "I Saw Her Standing There". The encore was a great version of "Twist and Shout".

Kathy shot this one of Pete and I shaking hands. A great evening...and he is a good drummer.

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting the two greatest drummers who ever lived...Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. A little story about each.

I met Gene in Portland in the Spring of 1971. I was working in a local music store when his advance man came in looking for some drums for him as they did not know if his kit would show up in time for the show the next night. Knowing Gene played Slingerland...I still offered my Ludwig kit as a consolation. The advance man was so appreciative he invited me backstage the next night to watch the show and meet Gene Krupa! Luckily his drums showed up in time and he gave an outstanding performance as usual...a night I will long remember!

I met Buddy at the NAMM show in Chicago in June 1978. The local music store I worked in thought it would be a good experience for me to go...and I'm sure glad I did. Buddy had just come back to endorsing Ludwig again and the Ludwig Company did it up big at the show and had a grand performance planned for Buddy and his Band. And...he did not disappoint!!! Not everyday can I see someone doing one-handed press rolls...but Buddy did. After the show we were allowed to go get autographs from him...which I still have...but I learned first hand about his temperament. I asked if he could sign it "to Marc"...and he said...and I quote in a very tough voice..."I don't do personals!" OK...no prob Buddy...thanks...! But at least I got to see and meet him...another highlight of my long musical career.

My favorite drummers? Of course Ringo is up there at #1...but I have quite a few others too. Including...Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones)...Alan White (Yes...who I saw in person!..and Plastic Ono Band)...Joe Morello (Dave Brubeck)...Ed Shaughnessy (Doc and the "Tonight" Show Band)... Keith Moon (The Who)...Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac)...Don Henley (The Eagles)...and of course Gene and Buddy too.

Although I have spent over 40 years playing the drums in public with our various Bands...all of my formal musical training and songwriting has been done on the piano and keyboard. I started with the late Louis Sirois, a nationally known pianist in the 40s and 50s who went by the stage name of "Brooks Bond". Louis (Brooks) played New York Town Hall in his day and made several recordings and even became friends with the famous actress Joan Crawford. Louis kept an autographed photo of Joan in his living room. For all the years I took lessons from him I only had to walk across the street to get to his house...talk about convenient! In his home he had three pianos, two uprights downstairs in his studio there...and a beautiful concert grand Steinert in his living room which sounded gorgeous. In my day as a piano technician, I did some repairs and occasional "chipping up" for Louis when he needed a quick fix and his regular tech of many years was not available.

Louis was a stickler for two major points...technique and sight reading. On the first I was quite good and learned a lot about technique from him. On the second, I had a very difficult time with sight reading because my perfect pitch would automatically kick in and I would learn the piece from memory. One of my funniest memories of Louis was the time I was learning the recital piece "Misty" arranged by the late Errol Garner and I forgot to turn the page on my music and "The Lou" as we affectionately called him came into the room and saw I was not on the right page.

"M A R C" called this voice from the back of the room...and I turned around and he was standing there..."where are you in your piece...you're not where you are playing" he said. "Damn...Louis" I said..."you caught me again"! Louis could never figure out our gift of the "pitch" and Mom was as guilty as I was. Louis often said Mom was the best pupil he ever had. At one time in the mid 1960's all four of us in the family were taking lessons from him. If Mom had never had her epilepsy I am convinced she would have been a great concert pianist. You should hear her play even now!

A highlight from my years with Louis were his annual piano recitals. Earlier in my musical training they were held in his downstairs studio but in later years there were held at Westbrook High School Auditorium. My first recital I ever played in was in 1960...playing the two small pieces "The Caissons go Rolling Along" and "Sailor Boy". The event was recorded live but due to technical difficulties we had to go to a small studio in Portland at the time and record them over again. I still have the small 45 RPM record to this day. In 1967 Louis, a local guitarist Bob Carrier, and I on the drums played two special pieces in his Recital that year where he sang vocals and Bob and I played our regular instruments, myself on the drums in addition to my regular piece "Misty" and his arrangement of "Rockin' Clementine"...a piano duet with Louis and I playing.

In early 2006 Mom and I were going through her "music hassock" and we found some old items that she kept from the very early years. Below are two items that we found.

Piano exercises that will bring back memories for every pianist. The date reads September 17, 1959!

In April of 2007 I found some old pictures including this one taken at my Cub Scout Minstrel Show. I played a duet on the piano with mom.

I took a short break from Louis in the early 1960's to take lessons from Sr. Louis Zepharin at St. Hyacinth but quickly found I much preferred his strict regiment of technique and practice and before too long was back taking lessons from him.

My final Recital with Louis was in May, 1968. In one week...I had my Piano Recital with him...sang "Elderweiss" as a solo in the All City Concert with the Chorus at the High School...and debuted with Love, Inc. Musically one of the busiest weeks I've ever had other than the band!

On rare occasions I played a few keyboard songs with Love, Inc. including "Because" by The Beatles and my song "Mary Beth". Perhaps in the future I will once again perform on the "ole 88's" again.

During my time taking lessons, I got to see three of the most famous Pianists of the time live in Portland at City Hall in 1962. I saw Roger Williams, who at the time was at the peak of his career, Ferrante & Teicher, also at the peak of their career, and a young Loren Hollander, who had just released his first LP. We asked Roger if he could sign my program "To Marc". Instead he wrote "To My Buddy Marc". Somewhere in my archives I have the program and when I find it I'll post it here for you to see. Roger skyrocketed to fame in 1955 with his famous record "Autumn Leaves" (on Kapp Records) which he also performed that night.

I also have F&T's autograph as well and will also post it here when I find it. Their wonderful song "African Echoes" on one of their 1960's LP's was performed complete with piano muffling. It's still one of my favorite songs of theirs. Ferrante and Teicher recorded for United Artist Records, and all their most well-known LP's of the time are on that label.

The Roger Williams and new Ferrante & Teicher websites are available below. Please check them out as they are a lot of fun and filled with lots of good information on their careers. For those of us who followed their careers back in the day...I'm sure they will bring back wonderful memories. They have for me!

Loren Hollander was a very young up-and-coming pianist when we saw him also in 1962. His first record we owned had scratches on it and he told us to "scratch the other side too!". That was a funny moment...and he also gave a wonderful performance. Loren is also known world-wide as well and he can also be found on the Internet.

I am now back at the keyboard writing and recording...and enjoying every moment...and am blessed to have a musical career this enjoyable and rewarding! I hope I still have some good years left, if the Good Lord will allow.

I am currently using a Yamaha PSR 640 Keyboard in the studio for my composing and arranging work. It has 16 track capabilities which is more than enough for me at the moment. Also recently, I added a Tascam 8 Track Digital Recorder model DP-01FX and continue to upgrade the studio at the present time including adding new recording and mixing software and most recently a pair of KRK Rockit 5 Studio Monitors.

On May 19, 2008...40 years to the day after my final Piano Recital with Louis...I performed my Tarentella once more in the Marco Polo Studio. I spent the summer of 2007 relearning the piece from memory. Kathy shot these two photos of me playing the piece to commemorate my final Recital.

Additionally...I am back tuning pianos again...something I did earlier in my career.

I hope you enjoyed my musical history. We don't know what the future will bring of course but I look forward to playing for sometime in the future...we should all use whatever God given talent we have...and this brings pleasure to people so as musicians...we are all doing a good thing.

Fellow drummers...keyboard players....musicians...and friends...I'd love to hear your stories and experiences...or just to drop by and say hello. Write me at: mailhot0405@yahoo.com.

Along with many others in our world-wide musical family...we mourn the loss of Louis Teicher...half of Ferrante & Teicher who passed away Sunday, August 3, 2008 of an apparent heart attack. He was 83.

One of my favorite songs they performed was African Echoes. This was played using mutes and playing the actual piano strings. Click on the link below to see a performance on YouTube.

Since October 1, 2006

This page updated with

August 5, 2008

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