Mark Evans (musician)
Encyclopedia
Mark Whitmore Evans is an Australian bass guitar
ist who was an early member of hard rock
band AC/DC
from March 1975 to June 1977. His playing featured on their albums T.N.T
, High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
, Let There Be Rock
and '74 Jailbreak
. Evans has played for numerous other groups, sometimes on lead guitar, including Finch (aka Contraband), Cheetah
, Swanee
, Heaven and The Party Boys
. Evan's autobiography, Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC is due in November 2011.
at the Station Hotel, Melbourne, by his friend and the band's roadie, Steve McGrath. AC/DC had formed in 1973 and had released a debut album, High Voltage, in 1974. By January 1975, Malcolm Young
was playing bass guitar in a four-piece line up alongside his brother Angus Young
on lead guitar, Phil Rudd
on drums and Bon Scott
on vocals. Evans had worked for a construction firm when he auditioned for AC/DC and joined in March on bass guitar, Malcolm switched to guitar.
Evans learned all the songs from the original version of High Voltage overnight and did not meet Scott until the next gig. In April, with Evans, AC/DC's first TV appearance was on pop music series Countdown. They played "Baby, Please Don't Go
" (see Family Jewels) with Scott dressed as a school-girl. Evans appeared in several promotional videos, including the "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
" and "Jailbreak
" film clips. His playing is featured on their early albums T.N.T
(1975), High Voltage (international version, 1976), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
(1976) and Let There Be Rock
(1977); and the EP '74 Jailbreak
(1984).
In May 1977, after the recording of Let There Be Rock
, Evans was sacked from AC/DC due to "musical differences" and personality clashes with Angus, he was replaced by Cliff Williams
. Scott stated in an interview in 1977 that one reason for replacing Evans was that Williams had several more years experience playing bass guitar. At the time, Evans stated, "Both me and the band are better for it". Neither of the Young brothers has aired their views on the split, but the CEO of Epic Records
, Richard Griffiths, who worked as a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, stated, "[Y]ou knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy". Evans' last gig with the band was in Germany in 1977.
After his departure from AC/DC, Evans played in a number of bands including hard rockers, Finch (aka Contraband), from June 1977 to 1979. This was followed by short stints with Cheetah
in 1980 and Swanee
in 1982. Evans joined heavy metal group, Heaven briefly in September 1983, on guitar
as a replacement for Mick Cocks
(ex-Rose Tattoo
) but he left by July 1984. Evans has performed with ex-Buffalo
singer Dave Tice in various bands, Headhunter, Dave Tice Band and Tice & Evans. He was a member of The Party Boys
in the early 1990s. Dave Tice and Mark Evans release their latest recording 'Brothers In Arms' through Lungata Records and MGM Distribution 27 October 2011.
In November 2002, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
announced that AC/DC were to be inducted in 2003, ex-members Mark Evans and Bon Scott were both on the list; however six weeks later Evans' name was dropped without explanation. In January 2003, Peter Holmes, writing for The Sun-Herald
, said that Evans was devastated by the reversal. Paul Cashmere of Undercover noted that eight of the twenty-one songs in AC/DC's 2003 Stiff Upper Lip Tour
set-list were originally recorded with Evans, Cashmere could not understand why the nomination was withdrawn "despite Mark's front-line position in the band's most important period". According to Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, Evans was "cruelly denied induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2003, along with his former band mates".
Mark Evans' autobiography, Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC is scheduled to be released in North America in November 2011 by Bazillion Points
.
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist who was an early member of hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
from March 1975 to June 1977. His playing featured on their albums T.N.T
T.N.T. (album)
T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in December 1975. Seven of the album's nine songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott...
, High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1976. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott....
, Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in March 1977. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.It was originally released in Australia on Albert Productions...
and '74 Jailbreak
'74 Jailbreak
- Personnel :* Bon Scott – lead vocals* Angus Young – lead guitar, rhythm guitar* Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals* George Young – bass guitar, production, backing vocals* Rob Bailey – bass guitar...
. Evans has played for numerous other groups, sometimes on lead guitar, including Finch (aka Contraband), Cheetah
Cheetah (band)
Cheetah were an Australian rock band active between 1977 and 1982. The main members and vocalists were sisters Chrissie Hammond and Lyndsay Hammond . They had been session vocalists for many Australian artists including Jo Jo Zep, Jon English, Marc Hunter, Flash and the Pan and as a vocal duo...
, Swanee
Swanee (singer)
John Swan, better known as Swanee, is a Australian rock singer. He was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. He is the older brother of rock singer Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of singer and stage performer David Campbell. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1961...
, Heaven and The Party Boys
The Party Boys
The Party Boys was an Australian rock band with floating membership that existed from 1982 until 1992. Initially established by Mondo Rock bass player Paul Christie as a part-time venture for professional musicians with downtime from other projects, the group has boasted members from acts such as...
. Evan's autobiography, Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC is due in November 2011.
Biography
Mark Whitmore Evans was born on 2 March 1956 and was raised in Melbourne, Australia. He was originally a guitarist and early in 1975 he was introduced to hard rockers AC/DCAC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
at the Station Hotel, Melbourne, by his friend and the band's roadie, Steve McGrath. AC/DC had formed in 1973 and had released a debut album, High Voltage, in 1974. By January 1975, Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, along with the other members of AC/DC...
was playing bass guitar in a four-piece line up alongside his brother Angus Young
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock and roll band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003 and is known for his energetic performances,...
on lead guitar, Phil Rudd
Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer. He is best known for his membership of rock band AC/DC from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to present. After the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans, he became the only Australian-born member of the band...
on drums and Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
on vocals. Evans had worked for a construction firm when he auditioned for AC/DC and joined in March on bass guitar, Malcolm switched to guitar.
Evans learned all the songs from the original version of High Voltage overnight and did not meet Scott until the next gig. In April, with Evans, AC/DC's first TV appearance was on pop music series Countdown. They played "Baby, Please Don't Go
Baby, Please Don't Go
"Baby, Please Don't Go" is a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams in 1935. It is related to a group of early 20th century blues and work songs that include "I'm Alabama Bound", "Another Man Done Gone", and "Don't Leave Me Here", and "Turn Your Lamp Down Low".It has become a blues and rock...
" (see Family Jewels) with Scott dressed as a school-girl. Evans appeared in several promotional videos, including the "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's a Long Way to the Top " is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's album T.N.T., released in December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott...
" and "Jailbreak
Jailbreak (AC/DC song)
"Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976...
" film clips. His playing is featured on their early albums T.N.T
T.N.T. (album)
T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in December 1975. Seven of the album's nine songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott...
(1975), High Voltage (international version, 1976), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1976. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott....
(1976) and Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in March 1977. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.It was originally released in Australia on Albert Productions...
(1977); and the EP '74 Jailbreak
'74 Jailbreak
- Personnel :* Bon Scott – lead vocals* Angus Young – lead guitar, rhythm guitar* Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals* George Young – bass guitar, production, backing vocals* Rob Bailey – bass guitar...
(1984).
In May 1977, after the recording of Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in March 1977. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.It was originally released in Australia on Albert Productions...
, Evans was sacked from AC/DC due to "musical differences" and personality clashes with Angus, he was replaced by Cliff Williams
Cliff Williams
Clifford Williams is an English bassist and backing vocalist, who has been a member of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC since mid-1977. He had started his professional music career in 1967 and was previously in the British groups Home and Bandit. His first studio album with AC/DC was Powerage...
. Scott stated in an interview in 1977 that one reason for replacing Evans was that Williams had several more years experience playing bass guitar. At the time, Evans stated, "Both me and the band are better for it". Neither of the Young brothers has aired their views on the split, but the CEO of Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, Richard Griffiths, who worked as a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, stated, "[Y]ou knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy". Evans' last gig with the band was in Germany in 1977.
After his departure from AC/DC, Evans played in a number of bands including hard rockers, Finch (aka Contraband), from June 1977 to 1979. This was followed by short stints with Cheetah
Cheetah (band)
Cheetah were an Australian rock band active between 1977 and 1982. The main members and vocalists were sisters Chrissie Hammond and Lyndsay Hammond . They had been session vocalists for many Australian artists including Jo Jo Zep, Jon English, Marc Hunter, Flash and the Pan and as a vocal duo...
in 1980 and Swanee
Swanee (singer)
John Swan, better known as Swanee, is a Australian rock singer. He was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. He is the older brother of rock singer Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of singer and stage performer David Campbell. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1961...
in 1982. Evans joined heavy metal group, Heaven briefly in September 1983, on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
as a replacement for Mick Cocks
Mick Cocks
Michael Thomas "Mick" Cocks was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song ‘Nice Boys’. He was also a member of Heaven, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells Heart Attack and...
(ex-Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...
) but he left by July 1984. Evans has performed with ex-Buffalo
Buffalo (band)
Buffalo was an early heavy metal band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1971. The band left a legacy with Australia's heavy metal, pub rock and alternative rock movements. The band had evolved from the Brisbane blues-rock outfit Head, which was originally formed in 1968 by Dave Tice and Peter Wells...
singer Dave Tice in various bands, Headhunter, Dave Tice Band and Tice & Evans. He was a member of The Party Boys
The Party Boys
The Party Boys was an Australian rock band with floating membership that existed from 1982 until 1992. Initially established by Mondo Rock bass player Paul Christie as a part-time venture for professional musicians with downtime from other projects, the group has boasted members from acts such as...
in the early 1990s. Dave Tice and Mark Evans release their latest recording 'Brothers In Arms' through Lungata Records and MGM Distribution 27 October 2011.
In November 2002, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
announced that AC/DC were to be inducted in 2003, ex-members Mark Evans and Bon Scott were both on the list; however six weeks later Evans' name was dropped without explanation. In January 2003, Peter Holmes, writing for The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
, said that Evans was devastated by the reversal. Paul Cashmere of Undercover noted that eight of the twenty-one songs in AC/DC's 2003 Stiff Upper Lip Tour
Stiff Upper Lip World Tour
The Stiff Upper Lip World Tour was a concert tour by AC/DC in support of their first album made in the 21st century, Stiff Upper Lip. It was their first album since 1995's Ballbreaker. The stage show featured the Angus statue on the cover of Stiff Upper Lip, AC/DC nicknamed him "Junior"...
set-list were originally recorded with Evans, Cashmere could not understand why the nomination was withdrawn "despite Mark's front-line position in the band's most important period". According to Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia, Evans was "cruelly denied induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2003, along with his former band mates".
Mark Evans' autobiography, Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC is scheduled to be released in North America in November 2011 by Bazillion Points
Bazillion Points
Bazillion Points is a book publishing company owned and operated by author Ian Christe. It was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY.-Books:* Swedish Death Metal, by Daniel Ekeroth Released July 29, 2008....
.