Right now I do solo gigs with a bunch of friends as well as gigs with my band the Dino Club. Every now and then I play in a band called the Schemers. Back in the 80's the Schemers were winners of the WBRU Rock Hunt and WBCN Rock n Roll Rumble. We played the North East Corridor and opened up for bands like X, The Ramones, Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Richard Hell, the Dead Kennedys, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam and Dave and many many others.Thanks to Randy and Brian at the Living Room and Rich Lupo too.
After the Schemers, I moved to Boston and started a band called the Raindogs. We put out two records on ATCO and toured with Warren Zevon, Bob Dylan, Don Henley, The Georgia Satelites and the Waterboys among others. We had a helluva fiddle player by the name of Johnny Cunningham. It was magical to play with this guy. He lived really fast and unfortunately died a couple of years ago. He had an immense talent. He must have sold his soul or something. We spent a summer in NYC- in the wee hours I'd go on the roof of the hotel and sit and watch the city lights.
When we were recording in LA we hung with Harry Dean Stanton and Iggy as well as a guy who directed porno movies. Harry Dean and Iggy both did some spoken word parts on the Raindog's second album 'Border Drive In Theater'. They both had totally different approaches. Iggy took a half hour and was really precise and to the point. Harry Dean kinda stalked around his part, feeling it out. Kinda Keith Richards approach. He tried all different ways of doing his part. In between takes he'd sing a verse of Dixie. He spent about three hours getting his words just the way he wanted it. It was a mind expanding experience watching this great actor refine and define.
Darren Hill (bass), Jimmy Reilly (drums) and I once handed out trophies at a 'Most Beautiful Baby' pageant in Boston. We stole the biggest trophy and took it on tour with us. That was fun.
In San Francisco, we stayed at real cool hotel called the Phoenix for a week. They'd pipe in jungle noises in the courtyard. At a gig at this place called Slim's, I split my head open when Andrew the guitar tech was helping me slip on a Les Paul. Whack! right in the head. I sang with blood dripping down my fore head. It was a cool effect. I still have the scar but not the guitar. (Hey that sounds like a lyric...think I'll write a song in the morning.)
Being in a band is a cool thing. Sometimes you get to meet your heroes. Like the time the Schemers met Jerry Lee downstairs at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel. I shook his hand and he said, "Mark? I'm going to hell you know. My cousin Jimmy (Swaggert) says so" I raised my Bud and said, "To hell!" We all had a good laugh. We hung with the killer for a few hours. Maybe he killed his wife, but he definitely married his cousin!! I liked the man. He was real nice to me and my bandmates and girlfriends.
When I was in the backing band for Bo Diddley one night, he looked at my 'Rat' pedal and said, "No Fuzz." He signed my guitar though. I asked him if he wanted me to introduce him as,"Ladies and gentlemen - BO DIDDLEY." He said, "No. THE MIGHTY BO DIDDLEY."
In the Raindogs - we got to hang with Harry Dean Stanton. We watched a Lakers game at his house and drank Jack Daniels in Philly with him.
Well...ATCO dropped us, I got divorced and moved back to Providence and have been playing and singing whenever and where-ever I can. I have a few solo disks out - 'Gasboy', 'Skylolo' and 'Lexington 1-2-5', my band The Dino Club has a couple out- 'Hey! Drink Up' and 'Bright Screen Wide'. The Schemers have a retrospective cd called 'Remember'. Check out my web site- http://www.mcutler.com. That's some of the story so far...hopefully there's much more to come. I'll add more as I remember.
Here's some useful info about me...
Throw a baseball left- and right-handed
Bat left-handed
Hold hockey stick left handed
Use a fork right-handed except when using a knife, then I use the fork left-handed
Use a knife right-handed
Strum guitar with right hand
Use left hand on the guitar fingerboard
Hold beverage with right hand
Turn door knobs right-handed
Brush teeth right-handed
Throw frisbee right-handed using conventional throw, and left-handed when using unconventional throw
Throw rocks and bricks with left hand
Get up on the left side of the bed
Put my right shoe on first - unless I'm feel adventurous
Don't really part my hair anymore
Have a palm tree in my apartment that refuses to die although I'm not trying to kill it...my thumb ain't exactly green
Kinda color blind
Stones moreso than Beatles
Shook Hubert Sumlin's hand
Try not to judge but do sometimes
Throw them up and wherever they fall ...no particular order ....Hank Williams (Honky Tonk Blues, Lost Highway --saw George Hamilton playing him in the movie Your Cheating Heart when I was 10 and that was it. I was a goner. Muddy Waters (Rolling Stone...I wish I was a catfish...I WISH I WAS A CATFISH!! How cool is that?), Werner Herzog- Aguirre the Wrath of God - Klaus Kinski looks like Mick Jagger strutting around that boat in the Amazon or maybe Jagger looks like Kinski...Lou Reed (Busload of Faith to get by...met him once, he had two fruit flies on his finger tips...no lie and his New York tour was phenomenal), Howlin Wolf (First time I heard the original Smoke Stack Lightening I felt like I was able to watch a dinosaur walk...) I should also mention Hubert Sumlin, Willy Dixon (Blues poet extraordinaire- Tell Automatic Slim...Tell Razor toting Jim...), Television (required reading for all guitar bands...), Dan Penn- wrote one of my fave songs I'm Your Puppet. Woody Guthrie - I don't want your green back dollar, I don't want you silver chain... Willy Deville (Venus of Avenue D, check out those finger snaps on the off beat ...), The Who, the Clash and other disciples of Mose... The Kinks ofkourse. The Young Rascals (Ain't gonna eat out my heart anymore...Dino Danelli one of the coolest drummers in the world), Elvis I like skinny Elvis I like fat Elvis, Chuck(I love Nadine---what a groove... and I was campaign shouting like a southern diplomat!), Bo Diddley (The mighty Bo- he friggin wrote I'm a Man...), One of my best friends Jimmy Sullivan-(whether he knows it or not) we met in college. We were both performing at a college talent show (based on the gong show) we both got gonged pretty much immediately. Jimmy has been a barometer of good taste for me and even introduced me to Keith Richards. Jimmy is the real deal, lent me a guitar when mine got stolen and has tried to further my cause whenever he's had the chance and also story teller extrodinaire. He should write a book of the things he's seen. Warren Zevon- I had the honor of touring with him. We took walks through convenience stores and bought junk food. He jammed with us a few times. His bandmates Jennifer Condos, Frank Simes and Ian Wallace were so great to me and my band mates. They all made our maiden tour a real pleasure. Sam Shepherd wrote True West---Buried Child...acts, married to Jessica Lange--life is good for Sam...), John Osbourne - Look Back in Anger, Luther...I was the young man with the horn or so my girlfriend at the time told me... Harold Pinter (... ellipsis...), David Mamet ..., Harry Dean Stanton - He quoted Sam Shepherd to me and I almost cried. Marlon Brando(unreal I think he probably tried everything you could try and tried them several times), Bridget Bardot Bonnie and Clyde with...Serge Gainsboro, Chief Jay Strongbow -Always the fair fighter..hero to children and adults, James Elroy (Bleak and beautiful), Elmore Leonard (Great dialog and weirdly comforting to me), Blind Willy Johnson (Dark was the night baby...if that don't spook you...), Don Delillo - love his take on the Kennedy conspiracy, Ry Cooder Tone and space and dark was the night, Jim Thompson The Killer in Me, George Jones , Richard Thompson He had blood dripping down his face at Lupo's one night...shoot out the lights allright, Jimi The one and only...I Don't Live Today has TONE, the solo in the Wind Cries Mary is a masterpiece, Sly- Black, White, Male, Female band...he played a show at a little bar across the street from Green Airport in RI in the 80's, Elmore James The magic amp the sound of that slide the Sky is Crying and that wonderful wail of a voice, Yardbird (CHI CHI the atmosphere changes when he's on my stereo..) and Yardbirds I ain't got you...Keith Relf...and those other guys...and Byrds Eight Miles High- voices and twelve strings wrapping all around you , Neil Young(Nervous system and epiletic visions), Buffalo Springfield BLuebird, Rock n Roll Woman...ok Stephen Stills..., Trane Naima closer to God, Jeff Beck ...Shapes of Things, Definitely Maybe, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat...so I guess that means Mingus too, Steve Earle - I Ain't Ever Satisfied....Tom Waits I saw him at the Paradise in Boston in the late 70's...he had a piece of twine for a guitar strap and a little black hat --Small Change, Hang On Saint Christopher, Jesus Gonna Be Here, Bacharach and David ...This Guy's in Love With You was the first song I heard after they announced Bobby Kennedy got shot, Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons what a recording!! John Ford --- The Searchers with John Wayne in the doorway..., Paul Schrader - I loved Blue Collar and I loved Richard Prior and Harvey Keitel in it , Marty Scorcese I am not worthy to eat your flesh...I am not worthy to eat your flesh..., Gotta mention Billy Wilder- Sunset Blvd, Stalag 17, Some Like it Hot, Lost Weekend... jeeesus!! ....Peter Guralnick- I'd like to shake his hand---turned me on to Charlie Rich, Howlin Wolf and the unsung heroes of American music, Raymond Carver , Minute Men at the Living Room a long time ago- D. Boone was beautiful History Lesson...yeah baby...Nelson Riddle (especially his arrangement on Angel Eyes), I love Linda Manz- she was great in The Wanderers, Out of the Blue and Days of Heaven- (He bought huh fuh --) Andy Paley, Mark Linnet, pop music is folk music, I like AC DC- and John Hiatt, Dionne Warwick, Jack Nicholson, Aretha Franklin, Mabel John, Gladys Knight, Bugs Bunny, Bulwinkle, Anne Ross, Richard Pryor, Coffee Milk and weiners, my son Danny.Rolling Stones (see blog regarding maracas), Robert Johnson (Dickie Reed and I listened to his lp many years ago from end to end and we had to play some hymns to get rid of the weird spirit that was lurking in the room after that record finished...no lie, Beatles...And all I want to do is thank you girl...plus Hey Jude, Here Comes the Sun, Tomorrow Never Knows. Beach Boys -The Warmth of the Sun, Girl Don't Tell Me, Sail On Sailor (Blondie Chaplin) Brian, Carl and yes Mike Love (ask Joey Ramone...)..I'm getting bugged driving up and down the same old strip!! My friend Rudy Cheeks turned me onto Mose Alison many years ago and now he's my fave- the coolest voice and a version of You are my Sunshine that will tear you to pieces. When I saw him play that song, it was like the first time you see a whale jump out of the ocean. Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Booker T and the MGs, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra (Hey Drink up all of you people...Bob Dylan the master. Allman Brothers - live at the Fillmore- it's cool to hear Duane give the songwriting credits when introducing the songs, Derek and the Dominoes, Valerie Carter- one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, Arthur Alexander - Anna- You Better Move On, Bonnie Raitt- blues goddess, Patti Smith - poet, rock goddess - Oh I see your stare spy spy spyraling up there, Doc Pomus - Viva Las Vegas- Lonely Avenue- lived down the highway a bit..wish I visited him, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry- We Gotta Get Out Of this Place, Kicks, Hungry...holy moly...Leiber and Stoller...two white Jewish guys who wrote some of the great R and B classics...Brill Building and 1650 Broadway...Goffin and King, Carol King alone...The Flaming Groovies - Shake Some Action is one of the greatest rock n roll songs ever written. It has all the elements of great rock n roll- guitars galore, a sense of doom and redemption. Produced by Dave Edmunds with shitloads of compression. NRBQ- played the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald...Three Hundred Pounds of Joy and some Monk, Iggy Pop - Crooner extraordinaire, Jonathan Richman - She Cracked, Roadrunner, I'm in Love With the New Bank Teller, Back in Your Life...but now his fans are a bit....hmmm Moony-ish?, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones - Flying Cowboys is one of my favorite songs...she sings like a saxaphone, Laura Nyro wrote and sang Stony End -but Barbara Streisand does it great I don't care what you think, Stone Souled Picnic and Wedding Bell Blues by the 5th Dimension are beautiful and I will always stop my dial when they are on my radio
more to come
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