M A R K
A N D E S
LEGENDARY BASSIST
FOR
S P I R I T
J O J O G U N N E
H E A R T
AND
F I R E F A L L
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Heart, Spirit, Firefall, Canned Heat, Stevie Nicks,
Dan Fogelberg, Whitesnake, Jo Jo Gunne, Chris Hillman, Kim Carnes, Joe Walsh
and so many more legendary bands and artists have all relied on the brilliant
musicianship of MARK ANDES to punctuate their songs and elevate their musical
visions to chart-topping status. Andes has been the rock-solid support on
bass guitar, songwriting and vocals for all the above and others too.
MARK ANDES has enjoyed a musical career spanning over
four decades of groups generating gold and platinum albums and world-wide
impact! He is one of the most respected and loved bass players on the
planet.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Mark was a founding member
of such cutting-edge bands as Canned Heat and Spirit while still a teenager.
Spirit is still considered by many in the U.S and abroad, to be the first
band to successfully fuse jazz and rock with protest, folk-like lyrics and is
known as a progressive rock innovator. Their four albums (Spirit, The
Family That Plays Together, Clear, and The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
released from 1967-1970) all are propelled by the visionary rhythm section of
Mark Andes and Ed “Cass” Cassidy and include radio staples such as “Got A Line
On You” and “Nature’s Way.” Spirit toured with top 1960s bands including
Led Zeppelin (who were heavily influenced by Spirit), Jimi Hendrix (who played
with guitarist Randy California in the group ‘Jimmy and the Blue Flames’), The
Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin and so
many others.
Mark and Spirit’s lead vocalist Jay Ferguson went on
to form the hard rockin’ Jo Jo Gunne (which also included Mark's brother, Matt
Andes) and quickly scored a top-30 hit with the infectious “Run Run Run”.
Mark then moved on to the mountains above Boulder,
Colorado and for a short time was in two bands there, Firefall and Navarro
(soon to be Carole King’s backup band). During a brief tour with the
Chris Hillman Band (that included Rick Roberts & Jock Bartley), Chris
became ill and Firefall finished the 3-day stint in NYC where Atlantic Records
heard the band; within the month, they signed the band to a long-term recording
contract and it was off to the races.
In
1982, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson recruited Mark where he co-wrote their
return-to-radio hit “How Can I Refuse” in 1983 infusing creative bass rhythm
and vocals. Mark Andes’ musical talent, as well as his good looks, made
the group one of the original MTV darlings. Heart’s vibrant comeback to
industry prominence was on! After the band moved to Capitol Records in
1985, they made the album simply called ‘Heart’ That album reached Number
One, sold five million copies and launched four Top Ten hit songs: “What About
Love” (#10), “Never” (#4), “These Dreams” (#1) and “Nothin’ At All”
(#10). A fifth single, “If Looks Could Kill” also charted making five hit
singles from the same album for the first time. Mark Andes' 10-year stint
with Heart from 1982 to 1992, was dotted with multi-platinum albums, No. 1 chart
topping hit singles, award winning videos and non-stop arena headlining tours
worldwide.
MARK
ANDES rejoined Firefall in January 2014 and looks forward to helping Firefall
play relevant, compelling shows and recording new records.
On January 9,
2015 in Denver, CO, FIREFALL and MARK ANDES were inducted into the Colorado
Music Hall of Fame, along with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Poco and Stephen
Stills and Manassas.
For
more information about Mark Andes
visit … http://www.markandesmusic.com
M A R K
A N D E S
LEGENDARY BASSIST
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON
THE RAY SHASHO SHOW
BBS RADIO
www.bbsradio.com
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN
THE RAY SHASHO SHOW WILL RUN WEEKLY BEGINNING AUGUST 8TH!
And don’t forget to
purchase a copy of my book entitled Check the Gs -the true story of an eclectic
American family and their Wacky family business
available now at amazon.com. You’ll live it!!!
Have a great week everybody!
