Mecki Mark Men are among the most
important early Swedish underground bands and a transition between
what was and what would be. Led by singer Mecki Bodemark, the band
featured such illuminaries as Kenny Håkansson, Pelle Ekman, Bella
Linnarsson (all previously in Baby Grandmothers, all later in
Kebnekajse), and Thomas Mera Gartz (later to join Träd, Gräs Och Stenar). Heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix (supporting him on his
1967 Swedish tour by his request), Mecki Mark Men were one of the
true contemporary psychedelic bands in Sweden.
Mecki Mark Men (Philips, 1967)
English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***
After non-album 45 ”Midnight Land”,
Mecki Mark Men made their full length debut with this eponymous album
featuring sitars, tablas, organs, horns and anything that could
emphasize the drugged-out feel of it. And that's the problem with the
album – the atmosphere is stronger than the songs, and Mecki
Bodemark's vocal Hendrix complex is silly bordering on the
ridiculous. There's a lot of empty gestures riddling the album, but if you ignore the superficiality, the album can still be oddly alluring.
Above the American Limelight Records release with different cover.
Running in the Summer Night (Limelight,
1969)
English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***
International relevance: ***
Their second album was only released by
U.S. label Limelight that had already released their debut stateside.
The album was remixed for the American market, with the Swedish mix
not made public before Mellotronen's CD edition in 2004. The Swedish
version is a tad better but it doesn't really matter because Bodemark's Hendrixisms still annoy and the heaviness is still there to conceal that the songs are rather empty. The
best track part three of the ”Life Cycle” suite, a
new version of Baby Grandmothers' moody ”Being Is More Than Life”.
Marathon (Sonet, 1971)
English lyrics, instrumental
International relevance: ***
Recorded on holy blues ground in the
Chess studios in Chicago in 1970 and released the following year,
this time in Sweden only. Still a mess of contemporary heavy rock
mannerisms, it does feature the acoustic two part ”Ragathon” with
acoustic guitar, sitar and a stoned-out-of-his-mind Bodemark
giggling into his flute. The songs are somewhat more distinct, making
this their best regular effort, although far from an essential one.
Stonehorse (Vesper, 2010; recorded
1971)
Lars Johan Werle & Mecki Mark Men
Instrumental
International relevance **
Ballet music written by modernist
composer Lars Johan Werle and performed by Mecki Mark Men. Needless
to say, it's very different to the band's regular albums, and it also
went unreleased until Vesper Records released the whole session on CD
in 2010. 'The whole session' meaning you also get quite a lot of
directionless jamming apart from centrepiece, Werle's 20 minute
”Stonehorse” suite. That one's quite good, much more experimental
and satisfying than anything Mecki Mark Men did on their own.
Flying High (Kompass, 1979)
English vocals
English vocals
International relevance: **
Not a reunion but a completely
different incarnation with entirely difference musicians including
noted jazz saxophonist Tommy Koverhult on horns and flute, and
Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård on violin among others. ”Flying High”
is lesser known than Mecki Mark Men's three original albums and
rightly so. This is lame jazz rock with AOR touches. If you see a
copy of it, toss it into the abyss.
New Mecki Mark Men recordings appeared on Vesper in 2007, "Livingroom". A couple of poor sounding audience
tapes from Stockholm 1970 also circulate.
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