Mick Clarke (musician)
Mick Clarke | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Merton Park, London | 12 July 1950
Genres | Blues rock, garage rock, pop rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 1968–present |
Labels |
|
Website | Official website |
Mick Clarke (born 12 July 1950) is a British
Life and career
Clarke was born to Fred and Vie Clarke, in 1950, in
In 1968, Clarke formed
In October 1971, Clarke joined Funky Fever, a rock band formed by Lenny Zakatek and toured extensively with them to Germany and the United Kingdom. In 1972, Clarke performed with Killing Floor at Huntington College in London after which Killing Floor disbanded and did not perform for the next 32 years. Later that year, he joined Cliff Bennett's band Toefat along with Lou Martin. Toefat released their first single Brand New Band shortly which received good airplay on British radio.[10]
Between 1973 and July 1974, Clarke joined Daddy Longlegs who were signed with Vertigo Records and continued to gig with them.[11] In 1975, Clarke formed a new band, SALT with Steve Smith, Stuart McDonald and Tony Fernandez.[7] From 1975 to 1977, SALT toured across England and Germany and played at multiple locations including at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the biggest festival in England at the time.[11] By the end of 1978, SALT disbanded and Clarke moved to California.[12]
Clarke returned to London in the early 1980s and formed The Mick Clarke Band.
Between 1986 and 1989, Clarke toured to the United States with his band and performed at various locations including concerts with C. J. Chenier and Linda Hopkins in Los Angeles, California, with Johnny Winter in Olympia, Washington and with Canned Heat in Eugene, Oregon. Subsequently, an album with the name West Coast Connection was released in 1989 by Brambus Records.[15]
In 1991, Mike Vernon produced Clarke's fifth album, Steel and Fire which was released on the German label Line Records as well as on the British label BGO Records.[16] Steel and Fire was followed by Tell the Truth in 1991 and No Compromise in 1993.[17][18] Tracks from No Compromise spent six weeks on the Virgin Radio playlist in the United Kingdom.[19] Roll Again featuring Chris Sharley, Lou Martin and Dave Newman was released on Taxim Records and BGO in 1995.[16]
In 1998, Lou Martin and Clarke collaborated for a duo album Happy Home followed by the release of New Mountain featuring Chris Sharley, Lou Martin and Ian Ellis in 2000. In 2004, Killing Floor recorded and released their reunion album, Zero Tolerance featuring all the band members including Clarke.[9] The album was released by Appaloosa Records after which the band travelled and performed at various festivals around Europe.[8] In the meanwhile, Clarke toured with The Mick Clarke Band to England and Luxembourg. They played with Bo Diddley at the Big Blues Festival in Luxembourg which was released as an album, Live in Luxembourg, in 2003, and with The Yardbirds at the Rocking The Blues Festival in England.[20]
After a pause of five years, Solid Ground was released on the German label Taxim Records, in 2008. The Rambunctious Blues Experiment featuring the drummer, Russell Chaney, was released in 2011. Later that year, Clarke embarked on the project for reforming SALT and subsequently an album, The Cobra's Melodies, was released featuring all the band members. In 2012, Clarke toured India and played at the Simply The Blues festivals in Mumbai and Bangalore.[21][22]
In 2013, Clarke produced and recorded Ramdango which was released by BGO. Between 2014 and 2021, Clarke produced nine albums that were released by BGO including one album with Killing Floor known as Rock'n'Roll Gone Mad released on Rockfold Records. In 2018, Clarke toured Sweden and played at Sweden Rock Festival with The Mick Clarke Band.[1]
Discography
Year | Title | Label & Country |
---|---|---|
1984 | Looking For Trouble | Appaloosa (Italy) |
1986 | Rock Me | Appaloosa (Italy) |
1988 | All These Blues | Appaloosa (Italy) |
1989 | West Coast Connection | Brambus (Switzerland) NebulaCircle (USA) <be> BGO (UK) |
1990 | Steel and Fire | Line (Germany) Burnside (USA) BGO (UK) |
1991 | Tell the Truth | Taxim (Germany) Burnside (USA) BGO (UK) |
1993 | No Compromise | Taxim (Germany) Burnside (USA) BGO (UK) |
1995 | Roll Again | Taxim (Germany) BGO (UK) |
1998 | Happy Home | Burnside (USA) Allegro (USA) |
2000 | New Mountain | Burnside (USA) Allegro (USA) |
2003 | Live in Luxembourg | Taxim (Germany) BGO (UK) |
2008 | Solid Ground | Taxim (Germany) |
2011 | The Rambunctious Blues Experiment | Rockfold (UK) |
2013 | Ramdango | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2014 | Crazy Blues | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2015 | Shake It Up | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2016 | Ruff'n'Roar – Live at Scratchers | Rockfold (UK |
2017 | Diggin' Down | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2018 | Bent Frets | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2019 | Steppin' Out | Rockfold (UK) BGO (UK) |
2020 | Big Wheel | Rockfold (UK) |
2020 | Crazy with the Blues | Rockfold (UK) |
2021 | Relentless Boogie | Rockfold (UK) |
|- | 2023 || House of Cards || Rockfold (UK) |}
Year | Title | Label & Country |
---|---|---|
1969 | Killing Floor | Spark (UK) Sire Records (USA) |
1970 | Out of Uranus | Penny Farthing Repertoire (Germany) Akarma (Italy) Mailbox (Japan) |
2004 | Zero Tolerance | Appaloosa (Italy) |
2012 | Rock'n'Roll Gone Mad | Rockfold (UK) |
Year | Title | Label & Country |
---|---|---|
2011 | The Cobra's Melodies | Rockfold (UK) |
References
- ^ a b Wetnight, Rainey (23 June 2019). "Mick Clarke – Steppin' Out – Album Review". Blues Blast. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Thomas, Bryan. "Artist Biography – Killing Floor". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Lobo, Joanna (2 November 2014). "Mirror fixes-it: A riff apart". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ISBN 0634029568.
- ^ "Mick Clarke - Albums and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Mick Clarke – in-depth bio". Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b c "Artists and Albums of the '70s and '80s". Jazz Rock Soul. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Walker, James (27 September 2012). "Featured Blues Review – Rock 'n' Roll Gone Mad". Blue Blast Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b Schmidt, Epu (1 February 2005). "CD-Review – Zero Tolerance" (in German). Hooked on Music. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- Breznikar, Klemen (13 July 2011). "Killing Floor came together in 1968 when singer Bill Thorndycraft and guitarist Mick Clarke met up in a South London blues band". It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b Bennuman (28 March 2017). "Recensie: Mick Clarke – Diggin' Down". Blues Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Mick Clarke – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ISBN 8885859143.
- ISBN 9783596164295. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ISBN 9781900924412. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Living Blues Issues 119–124". Living Blues. United States: Living Blues Publications. 1995. pp. 111–127. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "The Mick Clarke Band Tell The Truth". CD Review. Vol. 10. United States: WGE Pub. 1993. p. 79. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Back Porch Blues Back to basics". Blue Suede News. Vol. 1–24. United States: Blue Suede News. 1991. p. 30. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Mick Clarke Band – No Compromise". Rapport Volume 21. United States: Rapport Publishing Company. 1999. p. 40. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ GQ Staff (24 October 2014). "GQ Playlist: Mick Clarke". GQ. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Mankani, Sneha (22 October 2014). "Blues musician Mick Clarke on India, EDM and all that jazz". Vogue. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Setty, Sushrita (23 October 2014). "Britain's Bluesman, Mick Clarke Comes To India". Grazia. Retrieved 26 March 2022.