Mark-Almond
Encyclopedia
Mark–Almond were an English
band
of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who worked in the territory between rock
and jazz
.
In 1970 Jon Mark and Johnny Almond formed Mark-Almond (also occasionally referred to as The Mark-Almond Band). The melancholy tones of saxophonist
Almond were an integral part of the group's sound, and Almond frequently played flute
as well, including the bass flute
. Characterized by a blend of blues
and jazz
riffs, latin beats, and a mellow rock aesthetic, and in contrast to the heavier guitar
-driven rock of his contemporaries, composer and band leader Mark worked at producing warm and melodic works.
; singer-songwriter
, folk guitarist and skiffle
musician, (later of Cat Stevens
' band), recorded as a duo
, an album
entitled Relax Your Mind, on Decca Records
.
Mark and Mick Jagger
co-produced
Marianne Faithfull
's early recordings
, with Mark recording on at least one album, and touring with Davies again, as supporting guitarists for Faithfull. Upon returning, both Mark and Davies travelled extensively throughout the UK
, and France
, busking
until they secured a job entertaining on a Cunard Line
cruise ship
, crossing the Atlantic
sixteen times. Tired of their voyages, both moved away in differing musical directions. Five years later, the two united in a five-piece band, the short-lived Sweet Thursday
. The band had only one recording, the eponymous Sweet Thursday
on Fontana Records
. The band was composed of Jon Mark, Alun Davies, Nicky Hopkins
, Harvey Burns, and Brian Odgers. However, the album was not promoted by their record label
, and the bandmates never toured. Fontana later declared bankruptcy
.
Johnny Almond, born John Albert Almond on 20 July 1946 in Enfield, Middlesex, previously played in Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
and the Alan Price Set. He had recorded a 1970 solo record for Deram Records
, Johnny Almond's Music Machine, as well as performing considerable session work in England.
The two began playing together as sidemen on John Mayall
and Eric Clapton's Blues Breakers album in 1965, and can also be heard on the (post-Bluesbreakers) records The Turning Point and Empty Rooms
. From that experience they decided to form Mark-Almond. Davies, though invited, was initially unreceptive. He had found a position as guitarist in Cat Stevens
' band, and was "getting a buzz off Stevens' work." Davies did later join Mark-Almond for an album and tour.
label, and were noted for their embossed envelope-style album cover
s. "One Way Sunday" was a hit
for them in the United States
and received radio airplay on album-oriented rock stations in Boston
, Massachusetts
in 1970. The group then recorded two albums for Columbia Records
, Rising (1972) and the live album
, Mark-Almond 73 (1973), by which time the group's members had grown to seven. In October 1972, Mark was involved in an accident in Hawaii
and lost most of his left-hand ring finger
. Mark was quoted later in Melody Maker as "climbed like a native and fell like an Englishman.". "What Am I Living For" from Mark-Almond 73 gained the group the most U.S. radio
airplay they would get, but nevertheless they disbanded later that year.
Mark released a solo record for Columbia Song For A Friend in 1975. He and Almond reunited in 1975 and released To the Heart on ABC Records
(which had acquired Blue Thumb) in 1976, which featured the drummer
Billy Cobham
. Other notable musician
s who have recorded or toured with Mark-Almond include drummer Dannie Richmond
, violinist Greg Bloch, keyboardist Tommy Eyre
and bassist Roger Sutton. Eyre and Sutton later teamed in Riff Raff
. A&M Records
signed the duo in 1978 and released Other Peoples Rooms, but the record did not sell as well as earlier releases. A number of European releases followed, but Mark-Almond disbanded again in the early 1980s. Mark-Almond reunited again in 1996 for a CD
release, Night Music, which featured keyboardist Mike Nock
and others.
Mark moved to New Zealand
in the mid 1980s, and released a number of successful solo New Age music
recordings on his White Cloud record label, as well as collaborating with other artists on traditional Celtic and folk recordings and producing other artists. A release of Tibetan Monk chants Mark recorded and produced with his wife Thelma Burchell won a Grammy Award
in 2004.
Almond lived in the San Francisco Bay Area
. He died on 18 November 2009 from cancer
, aged 63.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who worked in the territory between rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
In 1970 Jon Mark and Johnny Almond formed Mark-Almond (also occasionally referred to as The Mark-Almond Band). The melancholy tones of saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Almond were an integral part of the group's sound, and Almond frequently played flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
as well, including the bass flute
Bass flute
The bass flute is the bass member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Because of the length of its tube , it is usually made with a "J" shaped head joint, which brings the embouchure hole within reach of the player...
. Characterized by a blend of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
riffs, latin beats, and a mellow rock aesthetic, and in contrast to the heavier guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
-driven rock of his contemporaries, composer and band leader Mark worked at producing warm and melodic works.
Early history
In 1963, Jon Mark (born in 1944), using his given name Jon Michael Burchell, and a former schoolmate, Alun DaviesAlun Davies (guitarist)
Alun Davies is a Welsh guitarist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals as accompanist for English musician Cat Stevens, from early 1970 to 1977...
; singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, folk guitarist and skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
musician, (later of Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
' band), recorded as a duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
, an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
entitled Relax Your Mind, on Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
.
Mark and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
co-produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
's early recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
, with Mark recording on at least one album, and touring with Davies again, as supporting guitarists for Faithfull. Upon returning, both Mark and Davies travelled extensively throughout the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
until they secured a job entertaining on a Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
, crossing the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
sixteen times. Tired of their voyages, both moved away in differing musical directions. Five years later, the two united in a five-piece band, the short-lived Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday (band)
Sweet Thursday was a short-lived late-1960s English rock band.The group included famed session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins, who had worked with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, and many others; folk guitarist, singer, and past session man Alun Davies ; and singer, guitarist, composer...
. The band had only one recording, the eponymous Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday (album)
Sweet Thursday is the self-titled debut, and only, album by the late 1960s British rock band Sweet Thursday. Its chance of success was cut short by the almost-immediate failure of the record label.-History:...
on Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
. The band was composed of Jon Mark, Alun Davies, Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
, Harvey Burns, and Brian Odgers. However, the album was not promoted by their record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and the bandmates never toured. Fontana later declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
Johnny Almond, born John Albert Almond on 20 July 1946 in Enfield, Middlesex, previously played in Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band was a British rhythm and blues, soul and jazz group formed in England in early autumn 1961.-History:An early line-up had Zoot Money as vocalist and Al Kirtley on piano but in the band's best-known form Money himself played Hammond organ. Bassist/vocalist Paul Williams...
and the Alan Price Set. He had recorded a 1970 solo record for Deram Records
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
, Johnny Almond's Music Machine, as well as performing considerable session work in England.
The two began playing together as sidemen on John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
and Eric Clapton's Blues Breakers album in 1965, and can also be heard on the (post-Bluesbreakers) records The Turning Point and Empty Rooms
Empty Rooms
Empty Rooms is a studio album by blues musician John Mayall, released in late 1969 on Polydor. It is a follow-up to the live album The Turning Point, released the previous year with the same musicians: Jon Mark on acoustic guitar, Johnny Almond on saxophones and flute, and Stephen Thompson on bass...
. From that experience they decided to form Mark-Almond. Davies, though invited, was initially unreceptive. He had found a position as guitarist in Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
' band, and was "getting a buzz off Stevens' work." Davies did later join Mark-Almond for an album and tour.
Mark-Almond
Mark-Almond's first two albums, Mark-Almond (1971) and Mark-Almond II (1972) were recorded for Bob Krasnow's Blue ThumbBlue Thumb Records
Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow, along with former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Krasnow had been in the record business for a number of years, working as a promotion man for King Records and also working for Buddah/Kama Sutra...
label, and were noted for their embossed envelope-style album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
s. "One Way Sunday" was a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
for them in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and received radio airplay on album-oriented rock stations in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1970. The group then recorded two albums for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Rising (1972) and the live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Mark-Almond 73 (1973), by which time the group's members had grown to seven. In October 1972, Mark was involved in an accident in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and lost most of his left-hand ring finger
Ring finger
The ring finger is the fourth digit of the human hand, and the second most ulnar finger, located between the middle finger and the little finger. It is also called digitus medicinalis, the fourth finger, digitus annularis, digitus quartus, or digitus IV in anatomy.- Etymology :According to László A...
. Mark was quoted later in Melody Maker as "climbed like a native and fell like an Englishman.". "What Am I Living For" from Mark-Almond 73 gained the group the most U.S. radio
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
airplay they would get, but nevertheless they disbanded later that year.
Mark released a solo record for Columbia Song For A Friend in 1975. He and Almond reunited in 1975 and released To the Heart on ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
(which had acquired Blue Thumb) in 1976, which featured the drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
. Other notable musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s who have recorded or toured with Mark-Almond include drummer Dannie Richmond
Dannie Richmond
Dannie Richmond was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond....
, violinist Greg Bloch, keyboardist Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre was a session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Alex Harvey, Greg Lake, Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, B.B. King, John Mayall, Tracy Chapman and Wham!...
and bassist Roger Sutton. Eyre and Sutton later teamed in Riff Raff
Riff Raff (band)
Riff Raff was a UK progressive rock band formed by keyboardist Tommy Eyre in 1972.The band was a continuation on the back of drummers Rod Coombes and Joe Czarnecki's aka Joe Peter's project originally called 'Crikey' started in 1969 and completed in 1970 when Rod had to accept growing tour...
. A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
signed the duo in 1978 and released Other Peoples Rooms, but the record did not sell as well as earlier releases. A number of European releases followed, but Mark-Almond disbanded again in the early 1980s. Mark-Almond reunited again in 1996 for a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
release, Night Music, which featured keyboardist Mike Nock
Mike Nock
Mike Nock is a jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. He began studying piano at 11 and by 18 was performing in Australia. He headed a trio that toured England in 1961 and then attended Berklee College of Music...
and others.
Mark moved to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in the mid 1980s, and released a number of successful solo New Age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
recordings on his White Cloud record label, as well as collaborating with other artists on traditional Celtic and folk recordings and producing other artists. A release of Tibetan Monk chants Mark recorded and produced with his wife Thelma Burchell won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 2004.
Almond lived in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. He died on 18 November 2009 from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, aged 63.
Discography
- 1971: Mark-Almond
- 1972: Mark-Almond II
- 1972: Rising
- 1973: Mark-Almond '73
- 1975: Bird with a broken wing suite
- 1976: To the Heart
- 1978: Other Peoples Rooms (Horizon RecordsHorizon RecordsHorizon Records was started as a folk and blues record label by Dave Hubert in 1960.It was originally distributed by World Pacific Records. When Vee-Jay Records acquired World Pacific in 1963, it also took over the distribution of Horizon....
) - 1980: Tuesday In New York
- 1994: The Last & Live
- 1996: Night Music