Mashmakhan
| Mashmakhan | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | officially 1970 |
| resolution | 1973 |
| Website | mashmakhan.com |
| Founding members | |
| Pierre Sénécal | |
| Brian Edwards (1970 only) | |
| Rayburn Blake (until 1971) | |
| Jerry Mercer (until 1971) | |
| former members | |
| Brian Greenway (1972-1973) | |
| Steve Laing (1972-1973) | |
| Allan Nicholls (1972–1973) | |
Mashmakhan was a Canadian rock - fusion band that had its greatest success in the early 1970s. Her biggest success was the single As The Years Go By .
Career
The band that Mashmakhan emerged from was formed in 1960 in Montreal. Before that, Pierre Sénécal, Brian Edwards and Rayburn Blake performed together. In 1960, the drummer dropped out for a short time at one of her performances . So Jerry Mercer was brought in, who then joined the band. Shortly afterwards Brian Edwards left the band, while the remaining three band members had smaller appearances under different names such as The Phantoms , Ray Blake's Combo and The Dominoes .
In 1965 they appeared under the name The Triangle and had joint appearances with R&B singer Trevor W. Payne. They supported each other for four years until The Triangle was discovered by the music producer Bob Hahn, who gave them a contract with Columbia Records in Toronto . Payne was not interested in this contract. Edwards rejoined the band for a year because they needed a bass player , and they finally agreed on the band name Mashmakhan . The name comes from Michoacán , a region in Mexico that was known for its high quality marijuana at the time.
The song As The Years Go By , written by Pierre Sénécal, was on the debut album Mashmakhan , released in 1970, and became the band's first and biggest hit. The album initially sold 100,000 in Canada and 500,000 in the United States . In Japan the album was sold 1,000,000 times. In America the album was distributed by the well-known Epic Records label . The band themselves never assumed that this song in particular would develop into a hit, as it was rewritten to the already established album. The next two singles, Gladwyn and Days When We Are Free , could not achieve this success in the English-speaking area.
In 1971 Mashmakhan took part in the musical Epilogue / Fièvre filmed by the NFB ( National Film Board of Canada ) . The song Couldn't Find the Sun , written by Rayburn Blake for this film, was released on Mashmakhan's second album The Family (1971). Although this album sold very well in Japan, Mashmakhan was barely recognized within the US and Canada and the members split up. Blake joined the Lisa Hartt Band and also released solo material. Mercer joined the band April Wine . Sénécal tried with the musicians Brian Greenway, Steve Laing and Allan Nicholls Mashmakhan to continue, but without success. In 1973 the band was dissolved. Greenway and Laing were later to join April Wine as well .
The band had their biggest appearances on the 1970 Festival Express concert tour within Canada. Because this footage was only released in 2003, the band also became known to the younger generation.
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Singles | ||||||||||||
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Albums
- 1970: Mashmakhan
- 1971: The Family
- 1995: Mashmakhan / The Family
Web links
- Entry in All Music Guide
- Profile at canadianbands.com