#mark clarke

[myvinylplaylist]

Billy Squier: The Stroke 7” Single (1981)

Side A: The Stroke

Side B: Too Daze Gone

Capitol Records

[rainingmusic]

Uriah Heep - Rainbow Demon

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend and colleague, powerhouse bassist and singer-songwriter Mark Clarke. The uber-talented Liverpudlian I know from the Davy Jones/Monkees orbit. Currently Mark’s an anchor for the long-lived British jazz-rock band Colosseum. Besides having one of the best tenors in rock’n’roll, Mark’s recording resume can give you hours of listening pleasure—from his solo album to Tempest (w/guitar heroes Allan Holdsworth and Ollie Halsall) to Natural Gas (the Badfinger/Humble Pie spin-off) to Billy Squier to Ian Hunter to Colosseum to Uriah Heep—for which Mark co-wrote 2 of their signature songs, “Easy Living” and “The Wizard.” When I was 14, I hurt my brain on the guitar trying to figure out that low note on “Wizard.” At the time I was clueless about alternate guitar tunings. Years later I reported this to Mark, who laughed, “Drop D tuning John…Drop D” (duh on me).

Here we are in a Davy Jones video I recently collaged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUQKtFgHgY …Meanwhile, HB MC and thank you for ongoing giving of musical joy to people…

#markclarke #bassist #singersongwriter #liverpool #davyjones #monkees #colosseum #tempest #naturalgas #billysquier #ianhunter #uriahheep #thewizard #easyliving #johnnyjblair #badfinger #humblepie

[rainbowfansrising]

[vinylspinning]

Termpest: Tempest (1973)

At first listen, England’s Tempest had nothing all that special to distinguish themselves from any number of similarly talented, yet commercially unsuccessful hard rock bands of the early ‘70s ... until one caught sight of two conspicuous words on this album’s sleeve: 

Allan. Holdsworth.

That’s right: before embarking on a legendary jazz fusion career, Holdsworth experimented with the progressive, heavy sounds, so popular in the early ‘70s; in fact, the same was true of two of his Tempest bandmates, bassist Mark Clarke and drummer Jon Hiseman, both ex-Colosseum.

And, completing the group’s lineup, was singer Paul Williams -- NOT the prolific, diminutive American songwriter, but a Brit who’d already served time in Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and incorrigible ne’er do wells Juicy Lucy, among others.

So, what manner of sounds did Tempest produce, you may ask?

The answer is an eclectic amalgam: beginning with mythological first cut, “Gorgon,” which builds from a majestic, classy acoustic introduction, into a lumbering, doom-laden behemoth, then segues into a pair of Cream hangovers in the forceful, spunky “Foyers of Fun” and the more dramatic “White Room” reimagining of “Dark House.”

Next up, “Brothers” is a funky, melodically challenged escapade, but “Up and On” has no such problems, soaring on a Holdsworth tour de force of elegiac themes and blazing-fast lead runs, before Clarke over lead vocals and shows off a nearly operatic vocal range (bordering on Freddie Fucking Mercury) on “Grey and Black.”

And in the final stretch, “Strangeher” [SIC] swings the pendulum back towards gutsy, unrefined blues rock (on which Williams gruffly shines), yet the closing “Upon Tomorrow” counters that with the album’s only taste of real fusion, initiated by Holdsworth on violin (!), before reverting to hard rock “normalcy.”

Unfortunately, “normalcy” wouldn’t be a feature of Tempest’s brief career, which stumbled when Holdsworth quit rather than share the stage with a second guitarist, Ollie Halsall (ex-Patto), then collapsed after just one more LP (1974’s Living in Fear), at which point Hiseman launched Colosseum II with Gary Moore.

More Tempest: Living in Fear, plus Patto’s Hold Your Fire, Juicy Lucy’s Lie Back and Enjoy It & Colosseum II’s Wardance.

[rainingmusic]

Uriah Heep - The Wizard

[rainingmusic]

Billy Squier - In The Dark

[rainingmusic]

Billy Squier - Lonely is the night