Gary Marker

Who is Gary Marker?

Gary 'Magic' Marker is a bass guitarist and recording engineer best known for his involvement in various psychedelic rock bands of the 1960s.

A bass player with jazz leanings, who had studied at Berklee College of Music, Marker was a member of the Rising Sons between 1964 and 1966, along with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal. A 1992 retrospective CD has been issued of their work, Rising Sons on Columbia CK 52828.

During this time he became friendly with Don Vliet. He helped with Vliet's musical education and played with Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band on a number of occasions but was unwilling to kowtow to the large Beefheart ego on a regular basis.

Marker was involved in the early production work on Safe As Milk, but this material did not feature on the final issue. He stood in for Jerry Handley on bass at live shows during 1964-67 and joined the Magic Band for a short spell in 1968-69. This archived track resides among the 'Brown Wrapper' project.

Two other bands of his, the Jazz Folk and the New World Jazz Company, were never recorded. His band Fusion recorded a 1969 album entitled Border Town which featured Ry Cooder.