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 At
the Festival With
--Walkin'
Cane Mark --
Photos By Ed and
Bette Sharpe
Text By Walkin Cane Mark
No
one really knows where Mark is from. Someone once said
that Mark was born under a cactus deep in the Arizona
desert. Others have been heard to state that an infant
Cane came crawling out from the Superstition Mountains
one day after the worst monsoon storm in Phoenix
history. What we do know is that Mark is an Arizona
native and still resides there today. A fifth
generation musician he was born with the soul of a
gila monster and the voice of a grizzly bear. A
much sought after and always entertaining personality
Mark has recently gone from thrilling Southwestern
audiences to shaking up the world! Recently returning
from five tours of Europe, Mark has enjoyed what he
obviously was put on earth for......Entertain.
Mark
was dubbed his previous handle "Walkin Cane"
by the great Willie Dixon in 1988 when he was
recovering from a crippling car accident. "He saw
me walking around with a cane and knew my name was
Mark, one day out of his mouth came Walkin Cane Mark
and it stuck." Its only recently that Mark
has changed over to just plane old Mark Cane.
"No body really new how to say the name Willie
Dixon gave me anyhow" Mark laughed, they'd call
me Cane Walkin mark or Walkin Mark Cane, so I just
narrowed it down too...Mark Cane.
Mark jumps down off the stage
in this photo and entertains 'Young
Blues Lovers' with his Harp. The kids love his
energy and antics!
Mark
has the reputation of pure showmanship, he has been
known to perform forward rolls & headstands all
while blowing his harp. "It took years of
rehabilitation, but now I can tear it up"., his
stage entrances are legendary, one time in Stockholm
as the band belted out a very funky version "Mojo",
Cane came on with a frontal roll ending with a
standing pose, and to a standing ovation.
Left Mark with his
band - Right A great turnout
at the Glendale Jazz and Blues Festival
Born on August
26th 1967 Mark found his passion for Rhythm &
Blues and Soul music early on. "I found a
copy of James Brown's Get In To It Get Involved (arts
1&2 (it seems that it isn't a real JB tune
unless it has Part1 or 2 after it). "You
don't pick the blues the blues picks you" the
late great harmonica player Junior Wells once told
Mark and pick him it did!
A
Boneifyed Soul Man Mark's greatest influence was they
legendary Blue Eyed Soul Man Wayne Cochran.
"I was fronting a 10 piece Soul/Blues Band at the
ripe old age of 20 years old. It consisted of
all older musicians that hired me because they said
that my sound and style reminded them of Wayne
Cochran. Keep in mind that Wayne had quite music
for the Lord in 1980 and I was no where old enough to
have ever been exposed to him in his hey day.
Well, after a while of there comments I combed the
record stores and got a hold of some of Wayne Cochran
& The CC Rider's singles and fell in love with a
tune he recorded as a B-side called No rest For The
Wicked (the song mark is most identified with to this
day). I realized how far ahead of his time Wayne
was and embraced any comparison they wanted to make
!"
A
few years went by and a fan left Mark a mysterious
package in a plane brown paper bag, it was a recording
Wayne Cochran had recently done changing the lyrics to
his 60's hit "Harlem Shuffle" to
"Bringing Heaven To Harlem" adding a
religious twist to it. "Soon after I was
emailed by one of the CC Riders (Wayne Cochran's back
up band) and asked if I would attend a reunion of the
band and rehearse the band in preparation for a few
songs to be performed with Wayne at his Church in
Miami Florida, I replied with What took ya so
long?!?!?!" Mark went on to form a long
lasting kinship with the band members and has jammed
with them on many occasions. "I had a true
religious experience with pastor Wayne and to this day
it is in tribute to him that I call my band The
Disciples Of Soul !"
Junior Wells
said it best, "Cane is the baddest muther I've
ever seen, I'm glad he's coming up in music!" See
for yourself why the Mark Cane & The Disciples Of
Soul are the hottest act on the road today.
With this guy
you get your money's worth in the first 5
minutes.....The rest is free!
Photos
by Ed and Bette Sharpe
L-
Mark puts a young Blues singer in front of the
microphone! -
R- A Large row of video cameras were set up to
capture the concert.
L-
Mark and the band from a distance
- R- Ed Sharpe Shooting 3-D
Video of Mark performing
Photos
by Ed and Bette Sharpe
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