Producer and promoter David Marks will be ‘coming home’=20 when he takes the stage in Grahamstown. PETER RORVIK=20
THAT veteran mover and shaker of the South African=20 music industry, David Marks, trades backstage for=20 centre stage this month when he performs a collection=20 of his songs at the Grahamstown festival.
Well known as a recorder, producer and promoter, it was=20 as a song-writer and performer that Marks began his=20 illustrious career.=20
He first found inspiration for his songs working as a=20 miner in Welkom in the early 1960s. His ballad,=20 Mountains of Men, charted on LM Radio in 1966, although=20 it fell foul of the SABC’s censors.
Another mining song, Master Jack, won Marks the Sarie=20 award for song of the year in 1968. Four Jacks and a=20 Jill took the song to number eight on the United States=20 Billboard and number one on the US Cash Box charts, and=20 to this day no other song written, produced and=20 performed in South Africa has fared as well in the=20 United States.=20
Four Jacks and a Jill subsequently made it on to the US=20 charts with two other Marks songs, Mr Nico and Hey=20 Mister. The latter was written for the people of=20 Limehill, forcibly removed from their land in the=20 1960s, while the former told of the tribulations of=20 small independent traders.
Marks’ “underground” compositions were soon brought to=20 the attention of the authorities, who kept under=20 surveillance the dimly-lit coffee bars of Hillbrow,=20 such as the Troubadour and Cul-de-Sac, where the young=20 Marks was busy waiting tables, working backstage and on=20
As assistant manager of the Troubadour, Marks would=20 introduce the acts of black and white performers,=20 including Credo Mutwa and a young Johnny Clegg, to=20 enthusiastic crowds. A bucket and mop were always kept=20 next to the stage, so black musicians would have an=20 alibi should the police drop by.
In 1969, Marks found himself working for Hanley Sound=20 in the United States. His break came mixing sound for=20 Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, John Lennon,=20 Eric Clapton and others at the 1969 Live Peace Festival=20 in Toronto.=20
Marks went on to work sound on festivals and tours=20 featuring greats including Jimmi Hendrix, The Rolling=20 Stones, The Band, The Doors, The Byrds and Joan Baez.=20
He worked at Woodstock, and also spent time in New=20 York’s Greenwich Village working with Hoyt Axton, Jerry=20 Jeff Walker, Tim Hardin and Donovan.
An inspired Marks returned to South Africa in 1970 to=20 start work establishing a sorely needed infrastructure=20 for South African musicians.=20
As the director of Third Ear Music, Marks took his=20 skills into the townships on the Reef, doing a wide=20 variety of shows, theatre and festivals; he also set up=20 the now legendary Free People’s Concerts at Wits.
Over the years, Marks has played a formative role in a=20 number of South Africa’s best known clubs and=20 festivals, from the Chelsea Underground in Hillbrow to=20 Splashy Fen. He has worked with musicians including=20 Roger Lucey, Malombo, Steve Newman, Ladysmith Black=20 Mambazo, Hugh Masekela and many others.
Now Marks is threatening to retire from the world of=20 music promotion and concentrate on his own music again.=20 At 51, he might be considered a little old to make a=20 new beginning. But, as a line from one of his songs,=20 says: “Age is just a number they say … The Rolling=20 Stone will not, will not … fade away …”
At the Grahamstown Festival, David Marks will be=20 performing a collection of his songs at the Amstel=20 Cabaret Room at the Settlers Inn in a show titled=20 Coming Home