MacLean & MacLean

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MacLean & MacLean was a popular Canadian musical-comedy duo that performed regularly in Canada between 1972 and 1998 and also recorded a number of albums. The duo consisted of brothers Gary and Blair MacLean. The MacLeans were originally from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia but were based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

MacLean & MacLean were best known for their raunchy, often scatological humor, which was combined with (usually humorous) renditions of folk and popular songs, with one brother playing guitar and the other banjo (though they also played other instruments). The duo began performing in 1972 and during their career played venues ranging from the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, British Columbia to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

During their careers, they recorded seven albums including a mixture of live and studio recordings. Among their best known (and most infamous) recordings were "I've Seen Pubic Hair" (based upon the standard "I've Been Everywhere") and an original song, "Dolly Parton's Tits", which made the British music charts. They also performed at the 1983 Just for Laughs festival. Burton Cummings appears on and produced their second album, Bitter Reality.

Controversial for their use of language (their theme song was a rendition of "Ja-Da" retitled "Fuck Ya"), according to their official website they at one point had to appeal for the right to perform at the level of the Supreme Court of Canada.

After touring and recording for 26 years, MacLean & MacLean retired in 1998. Gary MacLean became a radio personality in Winnipeg, while Blair became a successful artist. The duo performed for the last time not long before Gary MacLean died in 2001 of throat cancer. Following his death, Blair MacLean privately released a CD entitled Live to raise money for a trust fund for his brother's children.

Blair MacLean as of recent has been known to perform occasionally live with Gary's oldest son Paul, a well accomplished bassist. All three of Gary's sons have been seen performing in and around Manitoba's music scene for the past few years.

[edit] Discography

Toilet Rock (live recordings)
Bitter Reality (live and studio recordings)
Locked Up for Laughs (live and studio recordings)
Suck Their Way to the Top/Take the O Out of Country (split album: side 1 is a live recording, side 2 is a studio recording simulating a country music radio broadcast)
Go to Hell (studio recordings)
Cruel Cuts (studio recordings)
The Dirty Thirty (compilation)
Live (released following Gary MacLean's death)