Mark Andes

Born

1948-02-19

Birthplace

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Biography

Mark Andes (born February 19, 1948) is an American musician, known for his work as a bassist with Canned Heat, Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Firefall, Heart, and Mirabal. As a teenager, he was an early member of Canned Heat, but left before the band was signed to a recording contract. Andes was a founding member of the band Spirit. He played bass on their first four albums and on some subsequent reunion albums. During a bout with the flu, Mark co-wrote one of Spirit's first singles, "Mechanical World," with fellow Spirit member Jay Ferguson who was a friend from high school. Spirit was noted for its hybrid sound of rock and jazz styles. The group released groundbreaking works such as Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970), that critically were lauded later, but commercial success largely eluded them at the time. When the original line-up of Spirit broke up, Andes and Jay Ferguson formed the band Jo Jo Gunne. He recruited his brother, Matt Andes, to play guitar. Andes only recorded one album with Jo Jo Gunne before semi-retiring from music around 1972. During his stay, the band had a Top 40 hit with the song "Run, Run, Run". When Jo Jo Gunne reformed for a new album and gigs in 2004, Andes was included in the line-up. Andes moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he lived in the basement of local musician Jeff Reaves. In 1975, he was recruited by former Flying Burrito Brothers vocalist Rick Roberts and former Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers drummer Michael Clarke to form the country-rock band Firefall. For six years, Mark would be in a band that had a string of hit singles, including the Top 10 hit, "You Are the Woman." During the early 1980s, Andes also collaborated briefly with future Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin and future Quiet Riot drummer Frank Banali. Following a move back to California, and some session work, Andes joined Heart. He appeared on their final album for Epic Records, Passionworks (1983), and remained with the band until 1993. During this time, Heart found mainstream success, with several number-one singles, and a number-one album, Heart (1985). After a decade with Heart, Andes returned to session work. In 1998, he played bass in the backing band for Iain Matthews (The Swinelakers) on their European tour. He plays on Iain Matthews' album "A Tiniest Wham" released in 2000. Andes played in Austin, Texas, with Ian McLagan and the Bump Band, Alejandro Escovedo, Jo Carol Pierce, and Three Balls of Fire. He very briefly played in a band called MPTU with drummer Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Mr. Mister), singer Malford Milligan, and Phil Brown (Little Feat). Andes now lives near Houston in Magnolia, Texas, with his wife Valerie. He released his first solo album, Real World Magic, in February 2009. He played with French artist Chardeau on his albums Fauves & Pastels (2015) and Sanguines (2017), with Robert Lamm and Jason Scheff (Chicago), John McFee (Doobie Brothers), Brian Auger (Oblivion Express) and Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra).