the mark of kings....unknown garage-psych....

This will be a fairly short blog due to myself not gaining the information i needed from a band member but i'm gonna run with it feeling i should on the basic knowledge i have regarding the group.

The group were from san francisco but the line-up eludes me except for leader mark king and a young female singer who went under the name dee-dee..she met king at 'the coffee house' (masonic & haight '67) and being 14years old was told it was no barrier in joining the band...they set about to record some demo's in san francisco and later over in oakland...


A-side of single 1967.

Quite how the record deal came about with 'dee-vee records' i have no idea but a single was released from the demo's ? laid down 'realities/dont walk out on me' dee-vee records in august 1967...'dee-vee' were a subsidary company of vance records owned by dick vance hence 'dee-vee'....the a-side is a killer garage-psych track with gruff vocal/almost there instruments and a buzz-saw guitar solo!

flip-side of single 1967.

As you can see from the screen shots the single for reasons unknown was also released on 'flip-top records' san francisco...why it was released like this is unknown to myself but maybe someone can inform us why? this side was more pop-rock with dee-dee heard loud and clear on vocals but the track isn't as strong as the a-side ...

Regarding their live work its been almost a no-go area .....i simply couldn't find anything except one poster for a show at the 'unitarian centre' in san francisco dated june 8th '69 with quite a line-up of bands such as 'sons of champlin/the mark of kings/bicycle/dementia/douglas waugh/interlayers/ace of cups/freedom highway and more.... check out the poster for details...

poster for show at the unitarian centre '69.

I did track down a news paper account of the band in the 'san francisco examiner' dated november 3rd '68 but was unable to access its contents due to not having a paid account with the paper..i understand that it was a full write on the band with photo's...now that something i'd love to see! and thats where the trail for me dries up...i will of course update if anything pops along but here i have to thank jason and his channel ' JG S ' on youtube for helping out and dee dee for her help...links to both sides of the record below....again i ask for help in anyway so please get in contact either here or by e.mail at :sfscene@outlook.com

the mark of kings - realities.

dont walk out on me...

Rare poster for the band...

Comments

' sounds unlimited blues band ' - blues/rock from san francisco...

1964 saw a huge musical change occur in american music when in february 1964 the 'beatles' played on the ed sullivan show to an audience of around 23 million households (audience figures of over 70 million...) and kids everywhere suddenly wanted to be in a band...folk-rock was on the horizon with the 'byrds/bob dylan', surf music was on the wane along with songs about hotrods and surfing...yeah a whole new form of music was developing and a bunch of school kids from glen park/the mission district of san francisco decided that they too should form a band so 'tom lazaneo/jim dotson/steve rascon and fellow school friend jorge santana became 'jim & the gents'... early days for jim and the gents ...

the hippie revolt film - unknown grateful dead jam?

Yeah you read that correctly in 1967 a movie titled 'something's happening' aka 'the hippie revolt' aka 'the world of acid' was released to little fanfare and did little business but today it's seen as a historical document as so many of these long forgotten films are. The film its self was directed by edgar beatty with music by the 'love generation' (more of which later...)...filmed in los angeles/san francisco/santa barbara and at a commune going by the name of strawberry fields it is pure explotation featuring all the elements that mothers and fathers everywhere were afraid of for their children... released in december 1967. For many years it was thought and still is by many to contain a long forgotten grateful dead jam from 'winterland' where one of ken kesey and the pranksters last acid test's was held on the 31/10/66... in fact a graduation... Its this doubtful nature of the film and its soundtrack that has led many to beli...

the svelts - sacramento's all female band...

A band that seems to have remained a mystery over the years due to the fact that they didn't play the ballroom circuit or have their names emblazed on posters of the day..the band in fact formed around '64 when two sisters jean & june millington relocated to sacramento from their native manilla home in the philippines to sacramento with their parents...at school they formed a duo playing guitars and singing hits of the day.They by late '64 decided an electric band was needed when the beatles and the brit invasion hit america so was born 'the svelts' which was : june millington/jean millington/cathy carter and brie berry on drums...all friends at high school berry was forced to leave the band early on due to being pregnant (and married..)... poster from 1965. Over the coming years many line-up changes came about so its almost impossible to keep track but with berry gone kathy terry was brought in as a replacement.Dates are very vague b...

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