John Michael Burchell (8 May 1943 – 10 February 2021), known professionally as Jon Mark, was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his recordings with Marianne Faithfull, Sweet Thursday, John Mayall and Mark-Almond. Mark, who received a Grammy in 2004, lived in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, New Zealand.

Biography

Jon Mark was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. Using his given name, he and a former schoolmate, Alun Davies; singer-songwriter, folk guitarist and skiffle musician, (later of Cat Stevens' band), recorded as a duo, an album entitled '' Relax Your Mind'', on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

.Anderson, Murphy,
Magicat: ''Relax Your Mind With Jon and Alun''
/ref> Both travelled extensively throughout the UK, and France,

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

until they secured a job entertaining on a Cunard Line

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

. From 1965 on Mark accompanied Marianne Faithfull on her recordings and concerts. Moreover he wrote and arranged some songs for her. In 1968 Mark and Davies founded the short-lived five-piece band Sweet Thursday which was composed of Mark, Davies, Nicky Hopkins, Harvey Burns, and Brian Odgers. In December 1968

Tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

released a single which contained "Getting It Together" (Side A) and "Mary on the Runaround" (Side B) which were composed by Mark but were not included on the group's lone album, the eponymous '' Sweet Thursday'' on Fontana Records. However, the album was not promoted by their record label, and the bandmates never toured. Fontana later declared bankruptcy. Hence Mark joined John Mayall's (post-Bluesbreakers) band with whom he toured and recorded '' The Turning Point'' (1969) and '' Empty Rooms'' (1969). There he met Johnny Almond with whom he decided to form Mark-Almond. Mark-Almond's first two albums, ''Mark-Almond'' (1971) and ''Mark-Almond II'' (1972) were recorded for Bob Krasnow's Blue Thumb label, and were noted for their embossed envelope-style

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released album, studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to: * the printed paperboard covers typically used to package: ** sets of a ...

s. For the first album, ''The Ghetto'' received many plaudits and from the second "One Way Sunday" was a hit for them in the United States and received radio airplay on album-oriented rock stations in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts in 1970. The group then recorded two albums for Columbia Records, ''Rising'' (1972) and the live album, ''Mark-Almond 73'' (1973), by which time the group's members had grown to seven. In October 1972, Mark was involved in an accident in Hawaii and lost most of his left-hand ring finger. "What Am I Living For" from ''Mark-Almond 73'' gained the group the most US

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airplay they would get, but nevertheless they disbanded later that year. Mark released a solo record for Columbia ''Song for a Friend'' in 1975. He and Almond reunited in 1975 and released the outstanding ''To the Heart'' on

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

(which had acquired Blue Thumb) in 1976, which featured the drummer Billy Cobham. Other notable musicians, who have recorded or toured with Mark-Almond include drummer Dannie Richmond, violinist Greg Bloch, keyboardist Tommy Eyre and bassist Roger Sutton. Eyre and Sutton later teamed in Riff Raff.

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

signed the duo in 1978 and released ''Other Peoples Rooms'', but the record did not sell as well as earlier releases. Mark-Almond disbanded again in the mid 1980s, after releasing two decent albums, ''Tuesday in New York'' (1980) and a live offering ''The Last & Live'' (1981). In 1996 Mark-Almond reunited again for a CD release, ''Night Music'', which featured keyboardist Mike Nock and others. Mark moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the mid 1980s, and released a number of successful solo

Ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

recordings on his White Cloud record label, as well as collaborating with other artists on traditional Celtic and folk recordings and producing other artists. A release of Tibetan Monk chants Mark recorded and produced with his wife Thelma Burchell won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. On 29 December 2015, Jon Mark's wife, Thelma Burchell (born 20 November 1943) died. Mark died on 10 February 2021, at age 77.

Discography

Early 45-records

* "Baby I Got A Long Way To Go" / "Night Comes Down" (Brunswick UK 05929, 19 February 1965). * "Paris Bells" / "Little Town Girl" (Brunswick UK 05952, Feb 1966). * "All Neat in Black Stockings" / "Run To Me" (Philips UK BF 1772, Apr 1969). From Robert Cornford's soundtrack for Christopher Morahan's '' All Neat in Black Stockings''

Early albums

* Jon and Alun: Relax Your Mind (1963) * Sweet Thursday: '' Sweet Thursday'' (1969) * John Mayall: '' The Turning Point'' (1969) * John Mayall: '' Empty Rooms'' (1969) * Paul Williams & Friends: ''In Memory of Robert Johnson'' (1973)

Mark-Almond

* ''Mark-Almond'' (1971) * ''Mark-Almond II'' (1972) * ''Rising'' (1972) * ''73'' (1973) * ''To the Heart'' (1976) * ''Other Peoples Rooms'' (1978) * ''Tuesday in New York'' (1980) * ''Last & Live'' (1981) * ''Night Music'' (1996)

Solo work

* ''Sally Free And Easy'' (1965; released 2017) * ''Songs for a Friend'' (1975) * ''The Lady and the Artist'' (1983) * ''The Standing Stones of Callanish'' (1988) * ''Land of Merlin'' (1992) * ''Alhambra'' (1992) * ''Hot Night'' (1994) * ''Celtic Story'' (1995) * ''A Sunday in Autumn'' (1995) * ''Asia Journey'' (1996) * ''Solitary Journeys'' (1997) * ''All The Best From Jon Mark'' (1997) * ''Leaving of Ireland'' (1998) (with David Anthony Clark). * ''Quiet Land of Erin'' (2003) (with Deirdre Starr) * ''Meditation on Winter'' (2004) * ''New York, New York - 24 hours in the Big Apple'' (ft. John Stanford & Nick van Dijk) (2008) * ''Sand'' (ft. David Parsons) (2008)

Band member

* Marianne Faithfull: " Come My Way" * Marianne Faithfull: "Live at the BBC" * Mable Hillery: "It's So Hard To Be A Nigger" (1968) (Guitar) * Ronnie Paisley Band: Smoking Mirrors * Radha ahar& The Kiwi Kids: Sing along with Teddy (as John Burchell, vocals) (2007)Sing along with Teddy
(John Burchell, vocals)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark, Jon 1943 births 2021 deaths People from Falmouth, Cornwall Blues revival musicians English blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians Electric blues musicians English blues singers British rhythm and blues boom musicians English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members