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Marc's influences are many and varied - principle among them are:
Preamble - Marc was always fairly honest about where he got most of his
sound from and who his influences were and a more diverse collection
would be hard to find.
It must be taken into account that most of Marc's influences
come from nearly a half a century ago - the period of 1954-67. Marc
had Bob Dylan's imagary with words, and the "Boogie Woogie" of the early
Skiffle Bands (which was an easy style for anyone with a cheap guitar
and a washboard to play). Lonnie Donegan was the Master of Skiffle.
Eddie Cochran for a sense of timing and youthful fun,
and Chuck Berry for his STRUT and that fantastic rhythm sound
that Marc mastered.
Oh and theres more! We can't forget Elvis - early Elvis -
The rockabilly King. Marc had Little Richard for the Glamour (for Marc
the Glitter!). Now put all this together and you have a talent that in
the course of - particully the three albums, T-REX, Electric Warrior &
The Slider melded all those influence into one of the most original
sounds ever.
What I find so interesting about this part ..and then the section
on who Marc has influenced which is so diverse also, as Keith Richards
once said "You only need to know three chords and you got youself a
Rock N' Roll Band"... This maybe true but another part of Marc not
being the a typical rock star was his own infuences. You can see these in
his music, but which music? Marc is that very rare musician that
followed 4 distinctly different styles. "His Head was a Bed for
Everyone"
So for those of you that are interested in tracing Marc's "roots" here
is a collection of the more important ones.
Bob Dylan [1]
[2]
I guess we should start with Bob Dylan. A major influence in two
seperate areas, one being his passion for lyrics and the other his simple
guitar style. The acetates that have recently emerged show that one of
Marc's earliest recordings was Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind"...
Though we all know Marc Bolan's real name was Mark Feld, he was also
known on some single releases as Mark Bowland. Now
controversy sets in again. The one story of the name change to Bolan was
a simple one - Bowland was too hard to pronounce so it was cut down. The
other is the one I tend to believe... (either out of the disire to want
this to be & add to his Mystical way though it does have a ring of Marc
to the story)... The name BOLAN is the combination of - BOb dyLAN - and there
you have it! [Russ doesn't believe it and further insists Bob took his name from
the famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas - well he WOULD say that!]
Dylan is probably the only one out of all Marc's influences to stay with him
through all his incarnations - from solo artist right thru to his boogie days
where "Bob Dylan knows [...] there are things in night there are better not to behold"
(from Marc's "Ballrooms of Mars").
Recommended Dylan LP/CD
- Bob Dylan Greatest Hit's Vol.1 1967 Columbia records CD CK 9463
- Bob Dylan Greatest Hit's Vol.2 2-CD's 1971 Columbia Records
- Highway 61 Revisited 1965 Columbia Records CD CK 9189
I generally will go with the Hit's packages on the following releases. The Dylan
ones show his progression, like Marc's, from acoustic to the all out rock & roll
of "Highway 61"
I wonder if Dylan was a fan of Marc's ????
Little Richard
With a six-inch-high pompadour topping a face
dripping with eyeliner and pancake makeup,
Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman,
1935) came out of his native Macon, GA, to
become one of the first Black artists not
only to cross over to the national "white" pop
charts, but to do it with an uncompromising
set of recordings that virtually defined the
inherent danger and wildness of rock & roll.
Few records explode off a turntable the way
the likes of "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally,"
"Rip It Up," "Lucille," or "Good Golly Miss
Molly" do and Richard's banshee shrieks and
propulsive beat (usually provided by crack New
Orleans session players) were catnip to a
young White audience who had never heard a
Black gospel singer with the brakes off before.
The hits kept coming, but by the late '50s
Richard had quit show business to become a
minister. The lure of success (his and the
then-emerging Beatles) brought him back...
The definitive Little Richard LP collection is still available on his
original label
- "Grooviest Seventeen Original Hits", 1959, Specialty Records, *****
- "Best of Little Richard", 1980, Exact Records, ****
Chuck Berry
Born St. Louis, Missouri, 1926.
"There was a time in my life where my only
ambition was to play like Chuck" - Keith Richards
Quote:
Chuck Berry (vocals/guitar) has an almost unique importance in the
history of rock'n'roll, as one of its most individual early
singer-songwriters, and as a seminal influence on second generation
rock. He was the author of compositional and instrumental
styles which heavily influenced early Beatles, Dylan, the Beach Boys and
The Rolling Stones, but his own musical career was patchy
and prone to skirmishes with the law.
Berry was almost 26 before he gave his first paid performance, and
didn't record until three years later. By the early 50s he was
leading a blues trio which featured pianist Johnnie Johnson, while his
influences ranged from the likes of T-Bone Walker, Charlie
Christian and Les Paul, to Louis Jordan, and even Nat 'King' Cole, as
well as the songwriter Don Raye, who wrote for Ella Mae Morse
("House Of Blue Lights","Down The Road Apiece"). In 1955, under the
supervision of blues giant Muddy Waters, Berry recorded a
demo of "Ida Red", a song derived from a country and western record he
had heard on the radio. Leonard Chess persuaded him to
re-record the track as "Maybellene", and the record quickly became one
of the earliest rock'n'roll hits, soon followed by the immortal
"Roll Over Beethoven", a statement of intent if ever there were one.
With nearly twenty chart hits between 1957 and 1960, Berry became famous
for his examination of the adolescent experience,
particularly on "Rock'N'Roll Music", "School Day" and "Sweet Little
Sixteen". And as the next decade was to prove, he was a
figurehead and a role model for a generation of aspiring rock'n'rollers.
He even made several big-screen appearances - "Rock Rock
Rock", "Mr. Rock'N'Roll" (both 1957) and "Go Johnny Go" (1959), while
his live concert show was captured on film in "Jazz On A
Summer's Day" (1960).
In 1959 Berry was convicted on an immorality charge concerning a teenage
girl employed at his nightclub. His first conviction was
quashed on appeal, but he was eventually sentenced and spent a total of
two years in jail. By the time he was released from prison,
his early recordings were more popular than ever, thanks to his huge
influence upon the new breed of white rock groups. In the UK,
The Beatles and The Stones made his songs staples of their live
repertoire and recorded their own versions on their early LPs. Dylan's
first Top 40 single, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (1965), obviously
drew upon one of Berry's classic numbers,"Too Much Monkey
Business". His first recordings upon leaving jail included "Nadine","No
Particular Place To Go" and "It Wasn't Me".
End Quote
Quoted from "Pop, Rock & Soul Encyclopedia" - Irwin Stampler.
Eddie Cochran ([1]
[2]
[3])
Born Albert Lea, Minnesota, 1938; died 1960.
Quoted from the Rough Guide
Cochran was born in Minnesota but grew up in Oklahoma City, where he
joined the school band
on clarinet (he'd been rejected as a drummer and trombonist). However,
he fell in love with the
guitar and, listening to country and western music on the radio, taught
himself to play. The family
moved again to California in 1953 and Eddie soon began playing in a
local group, playing dance
halls and parties before winding up in a duo with Hank Cochran (no
relation). Then he met
aspiring songwriter Jerry Capehart, and the two began a partnership.
They recorded some tracks
which were eventually picked up by the Liberty label, and Eddie was
signed.
Eddie, always a homely sort, didn't like the promotional work that went
with stardom. Apart from
a film, Untamed Youth, nothing was to happen until 1958, when Eddie
started playing
around with a rather tasty little riff he had made up. It struck
Capehart that no one had written a
song about the hassles teenagers faced during summer, and thus
"Summertime Blues" was born,
becoming a monster smash in the summer of 1958. Decades on, it's still
almost universally
recognized.
The follow-up was deliberately crafted around a similar theme, this time
the hassles of trying to
have a party, and the music again relied on a simple but heavy acoustic
riff and hand-clap
backing. Formula or no, "C'mon Everybody" hit the mark and has lasted
the test of time almost as
well as its predecessor.
Eddie was still more interested in the studio side of rock'n'roll and
his reluctance to tour was
intensified by the death of his friend Buddy Holly in February 1959. He
wanted to marry, settle
down and work with production and songwriting. If a great song like
"Something Else" didn't hit
the Top 10, it wasn't the end of the world.
But one more tour was planned, this time to Europe with Gene Vincent.
Britain in particular was
in the grip of rock'n'roll mania, and this was the first full tour by a
genuine American rocker.
Eddie suddenly became a star like he had never been back home, getting
the kind of reception
reserved there for Elvis. Although he decided this would be his last
major tour, it was so
successful that it was extended from five to fifteen weeks.
Homesick as ever, Eddie decided to visit home during a break in the
action, and it was on the
way to Heathrow airport on the wet morning of April 17, 1960, that his
taxi blew a tyre and
crashed into a lamppost on the A4 near Bath. Eddie died in hospital that
afternoon.
In the US his death attracted little attention, but in Britain it was
traumatic, and served to solidify
his reputation and influence in British rock. Kids like George Harrison
had followed him from
town to town, and his influence was felt throughout the 60s. That
influence spread back across
the water, and Eddie Cochran is now recognized worldwide as one of the
most important figures
of pre-Beatles music.
Suggested CD's/LP's
"Legendary Masters: Eddie Cochran" (1990; EMI). CD
"The Eddie Cochran Singles Album" United Artist Records #UAK 30244 UK release
-- (This to me is the definitive Cochran Album)
JohnLennon
"John Lennon knows your name
and I've seen His......." (Bolan)
This is not all that Marc knew of John . He had mentioned in
several interviews that John musicianship and his lifestyle had a
profound effect on him. Even though out of all the Beatles Marc ended up
in a partnership with Ringo I believe that John was the one Marc was
looking for recognition from.
Marc's claim that on the Lennon LP "Live in Toronto" at the end of
'Cold Turkey" -John yells out" I could'nt get that voice " was Johs
trying to immitate Marc's famous vibratto.
On the Roy Wood sessions on the CD "A Wizard A True Star"
Marc mentions how John was jamming with him and that he (John) was
playing the riffs to Jeepster thinking they were something else. Marc
self-promotion or the truth we will never know.
In the early stages of T-rextasy in the UK Marc has been
quoted on many occassions of saying "Even the Beatles say we are their
succesors".
Now of course Marc probably -like many other musicians- was raised on
the Beatlmania of the early 60's and what more prominate band for a new
Band to get respect from.
This is Marc on a personal level with John ..But as this is
his influence section I will talk a bit about that. There are a lot of
similarities between the two they both started out as teen-bopper
fodder. Then moved on to accomplished musicians. Yes Marc was
semi-popular before the teeny-bopper phase but that unfortunatlly is
what he will be most remembered for.
John Lennon as an influence comes in many forms. As Johns
LP of covers shows the artists that thay both respected is evident.
John also wrote classic 3 minute pop songs with catchy melodies. John
also took his lyrics very seriously . John was also oone of the (if not
the first) rock star to right a book & to write prose. Beyond all the
hoopla of Beatlemania./ T-Rextasy Marc might have learned a lot from
John on shedding the Teen Idol image and moving on to self satisfying
music. Between 1974-early 76' Marc could have been using more of John
influence and started making well-rounded lp's IE: "Dandy"
Sometime in New York City was the beginning of a three-year downward
spiral for Lennon. . Mind Games was released in late 1973 to mixed
reviews; its title track became a moderate hit. The following year, he and Ono separated, and
he moved out to Los Angeles,beginning his year-and-a-half long "lost weekend." During 1974 and
1975, Lennon lived a life of debauchery in Los Angeles, partying hard with such celebrities as
Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, David Bowie and Ringo Starr. Walls and Bridges appeared in
November of 1974, and it became a hit due to the inclusion of "Whatever Gets You Through the
Night," a song he wrote with Elton John. At the end of the year, John helped reunite Lennon and
Ono, convincing the ex-Beatle to appear during one of his concerts; it would be Lennon's last
performance.
Suggested CD's/LP's
LP "Shaved Fish Hits" Apple/Capitol 1976 #SW-3421
CD "The Lennon Collection" Capitol 1989 #CDP 591516
... more to come gang - stay toooned!
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