Mark Spencer's many credits on Discogs reveal that his career started with an early 80's Vermont punk band called Pinhead. He also produced their records. Somewhere along the line, Mark learned the chicken-pickin' style of country guitar, as well as lap steel, pedal steel, and keyboards.
After Mark left the Blood Oranges, singer and mandolin player Jimmy Ryan formed Wooden Leg, and singer-bassist Cheri Knight went solo. Mark plays on their records, so I assume they stayed friendly. Ron Ward (drummer) became the singer for Speedball Baby. The Blood Oranges did some reunion shows circa 2000, and contributed to the 2006 Slaughter Rule soundtrack (which Jay Farrar compiled).
In the mid-90's, Mark Spencer opened Brooklyn recording studio The Tape Kitchen. He guested on records by Lisa Loeb, Kelly Willis, Laura Cantrell and others before joining Jay Farrar's band Son Volt in the late 2000's. He has been a touring guitarist with a number of bands, including The Pretenders and Rusty Truck.
Mark's blog (now dormant) featured his photography and humorous observations like this one: "sometimes playing pedal steel is like a math quiz folded into one of those high school in your underwear dreams."
A couple factoids: Amy Allison is Mose Allison's daughter. Ruby On The Vine is led by Myrna Marcarian (former Human Switchboard singer and organist). And as Trouser Press pointed out, Marty Stuart's 1992 version of High On A Mountaintop is nearly identical to the arrangement on the Blood Oranges' 1990 debut. Hey, it's the 90's again -- two posts in a row!
I LOVE Human Switchboard, but didn't know Myrna Marcarian was in RUBY ON THE VINE. Looking forward to this one!
ReplyDeleteRuby On The Vine - This World Of Days (2003):
Deletehttps://www.mediafire.com/file/0j0m0c0cyk65jcq/Ruby_OTV.zip/file
Bernie Worrell is one of the guests on the album:
https://www.discogs.com/release/14703981-Ruby-On-The-Vine-This-World-of-Days
Mark Spencer, Blood Oranges, Cheri Knight & Wooden Leg are great acts. Thank You!
ReplyDeleteDoctored Captain Al
I missed out on the heyday of the Blood Oranges, Wooden Leg, and Cheri Knight's solo career. I believe Jimmy Ryan still leads Wooden Leg. I'm glad I got to know their talent through their music -- better late than never. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteLove the Blood Oranges. Unfortunately, the file Blood Oranges and Wooden Legs is either corrupted or incomplete and won't unpack. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know, and I apologize for the error! I redid the zip file with a new name ("Wooden Legs and Blood Oranges"), and I hope you will not have any problems with this new link:
Deletehttps://tinyurl.com/e9ecrkur
Back in the early 80s, "Pinhead" performances in Vermont were high-priorities. It was the highlight of the working/slacking week. You would be (Ska/pogoing/skanking/whatever) dancing for hours at your local bar/college/hall, loving every minute of it. Their EPs/cassettes containing their original music are worth tracking down. Its a shame that those recordings are not currently (legally) available to all.
ReplyDeleteSo cool to hear from someone who was there! I'm curious about Pinhead's music, was there any country influence in their sound? I wonder how a Vermont punk rocker learned to play in the style of Jerry Reed, James Burton, and others.
DeleteNone Jonder - no country/folk/honk in Pinhead. All about that short-sharp-shock of post-Punk/Ska/New Wave/Reggae skank, with some very interesting lyrics primarily from lead vocalist Mr. Dug Nap as well as Mr. Spencer. Dug's contemporary artistic illustrations/renderings should be easy to find on-line.
DeleteI sense that Spencer simply recognized that Roots music was the best/truest avenue to travel down after all the frenetic rush of early 80's music. While you are floating around the 'net, Pinhead's Vermont contemporaries "The Decentz" are worth tracking down for a listen. They featured a somewhat similar fresh hybrid of styles & one of their band members was the late (Banjo/Pedal-Steel player) Gordon Stone. Again, a heady mix of new wave punky-pop/reggae/steel-guitar sound that remains one of a kind.
Thanks for coming back to answer that one, Muffin my man! There's probably greater longevity for a working musician who can play country music, but it's no easy skill to master that fast picking style. I found Pinhead on Soulseek, and I might just go back and search for The Decentz.
DeleteNEW LINK (FIXED) for "Wooden Legs and Blood Oranges"
ReplyDeletehttps://tinyurl.com/e9ecrkur
Best Of Mark Spencer (same as old link):
https://tinyurl.com/2bx5yv35
Spike Priggen offers a free download of the instrumental tracks from his 2006 album “There's No Sound In Flutes!” The song "What You Want" is a great example of Mark Spencer's guitar work.
https://spikepriggen.blogs.com/stars_after_stars_after_s/2009/05/theres-no-sound-in-flutes-instrumental-version-free-download.html
Clare Burson has a beautiful song called “Bells” streaming on her website. It was recorded with Mark Spencer in Spring 2021, when it seemed like COVID was on the wane. Maybe we can achieve that hopeful feeling again this year...
https://www.clareburson.com/music
Two of the best records I discovered while digging into Mark Spencer's career were Clare Burson's "Silver And Ash" and the John Statz album "Tulsa". The former is a haunting and beautiful reminiscence on her family members who survived the Holocaust, and the latter is RIYL if you love Richard Buckner and wish he would make more records! It's also interesting to hear Mark's style become more understated when he is working with singer-songwriters, although I wish Jay Farrar would let Mark rip sometimes with a flashy Blood Oranges style solo.
ReplyDeletehttps://music.apple.com/us/album/silver-and-ash/390804608
https://johnstatz.bandcamp.com/album/tulsa
Wanda Jackson's 2003 concert album "Live And Still Kickin" has Mark playing some terrific rockabilly guitar (plus priceless stories and banter from Wanda between the songs). The rhythm section is drummer Doug Wygal and bassist Robert Burke Warren, with Jim Duffy on the pianner. Sounds like it was a hell of a party!
Deletehttps://www.discogs.com/release/5421964-Wanda-Jackson-The-Wanda-Jackson-Show-Live-And-Still-Kickin
Wow! Excellent! Thanks very much! All this sounds definitely promising!
ReplyDeleteAs a guy who has Wanda Jackson's autographed photo on his wall, I'd love to have her 2003 concert album "Live And Still Kickin'" if anyone can share it!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mediafire.com/file/masvtknzumm0zwv/W@ND@+J@CK$0N+L1V3+NYC+2002.zip/file
DeleteWow, thanks, Jonder! It doesn't get any cooler!
DeleteGetting schooled again! I'm only familiar with a handful of the albums he played on here and I'm usually oblivious to the players like him and the others you've spotlighted that are behind so many great recordings. It's a great thing to know there's always more good music to discover even though I can only listen to maybe 10% of what I collect.
ReplyDeleteI guess I read too many liner notes! I thought about doing a similar spotlight on Dave Schramm (who was ALSO a Human Switchboard member before becoming a sought-after guest guitarist, as well as leader of his own band, The Schramms).
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