Gary "Magic" Marker (May 23, 1943 – December 8, 2015) was an American

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist and

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, best known for his involvement in various

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

bands of the 1960s. A bass player with jazz leanings, who had studied at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, Marker was a member of the

Rising Sons Rising Sons was an American, Los Angeles, California-based blues rock and folk music band, which was founded in 1965. Their initial career was short-lived, but the group found retrospective fame for launching the careers of singer Taj Mahal and g ...

between 1964 and 1966, along with

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

. A 1992 retrospective CD was issued of their work, ''Rising Sons'' on Columbia CK 52828. During this time he became friendly with Don Vliet, alias

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

. He helped with Vliet's musical education and played with Beefheart and the Magic Band on a number of occasions but was unwilling to kowtow to the large Beefheart ego on a regular basis. Marker was involved in the early production work on '' Safe as Milk'', but this material did not feature on the final issue. The archived track is part of the " Brown Wrapper" project. He stood in for Jerry Handley on bass at live shows during 1964–67 and joined the Magic Band for a short spell in 1968–69 ("Moonlight On Vermont" and "Veteran's Day Poppy" from ''

Trout Mask Replica ''Trout Mask Replica'' is the third studio album by the American band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released as a double album on June 16, 1969, by Straight Records. The music was composed by Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) and arran ...

'' are the only two surviving tracks which feature his bass playing; a third track, a reworking of 'Kandy Korn', has disappeared). Two other bands of his, the Jazz Folk and the New World Jazz Company (which also included

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

Randy California Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. Life and career California was bo ...

and

Ed Cassidy Edward Claude Cassidy (May 4, 1923 – December 6, 2012) was an American jazz and rock drummer who was one of the founders of the rock group Spirit in 1967. Biography Ed Cassidy was born in Harvey, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago on May 4, ...

before moving on to form

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

), were never recorded. His band Fusion recorded a 1969 album entitled ''Border Town'' which featured Ry Cooder. In 1978, he featured on an album by Juicy Groove, alongside vocalist Michael Rainbow Neal (ex-

Seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

), guitarists

Mars Bonfire Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter, best known for writing the hit song "Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf. Career Born Dennis Euge ...

(ex- Steppenwolf),

Elliot Ingber Elliot Ingber (born August 24, 1941) is an American guitarist. In 1966, he joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and was featured on their debut album ''Freak Out!'' After being fired from the band by Zappa following an incident onstage where h ...

(ex-

Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band c ...

and Magic Band) and drummer Thundercloud, son of former bandmate Ed Cassidy. He played in numerous bands (and with many performers) over the years, and was a regular session musician as well working as an engineer/producer. He retired from the music business but maintained an active interest (especially in Beefheart-related matters) until his death at the age of 72 on December 8, 2015, from a stroke.

References

External links

Gary Marker discography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marker, Gary 1943 births 2015 deaths Berklee College of Music alumni 20th-century American bass guitarists