Mashmakhan was one of those mysterious bands who was often referenced in articles related to April Wine. Drummer Jerry Mercer came from the band, and later incarnations would spit out guitarist Steve Lang and Brian Greenway (not at the same time) all of whom would land in April Wine and be part of the classic line up. This just added to the mystery. What was Mashmakhan?
I found a slightly beat up copy a while ago and I'd finally get my answer.
The first clue should have been the hippy dippy trippy cover. The kaleidoscope image of the floating heads was a give away, but then again it was the '70s. I have friends who had family portraits that had superimposed images that looked similar so it was actually more normal than it seemed.
The second clue, and one I was not aware of until I started reading up on the band was that a drug dealer in Montreal sold a variety of hash called mashmakhan. Yeah I'm sure the kids thought that was far out man.
From the first track, this was very different than April Wine. I don't think I was expecting hard rock, I actually don't know what I was expecting. However, it wasn't a surprise either. I just sat back and took it in. Herbert Aronoff from The Montreal Gazette wrote, "with roots deep into the natural goodness of music like black rock and blue soul ..." I didn't hear that, what I heard was trippy and a little bit psychedelic with progressive rock and jazz fusion elements. What do I know? I was seven when this came out.
Pierre Sencal who wrote the songs was a multi-instrumentalist who played the organ, piano, flute, saxophone, and looked after the arrangements. The rest of the band was comprised of Rayburn Blake who provided guitar and vocals, Jerry Mercer on percussion and vocals and lead vocalist and bassist Brian Edwards.
Released in 1970 this was very much a '60s infused collection of songs, or as they're noted on the record label, bands. I don't think I've even seen that before. I thought that was really cool. While this kind of meandering pop isn't really my thing it was enjoyable, and boy howdy them boys could really play.
Reading up on the band this album apparently contained a big hit, "As the Years Go By" which didn't ring any bells ... until the bells started ringing when I heard it. Goodness,
that was Mashmakhan? So I check my library and sure enough I had the song on a CD Box Set called
Oh What a Feeling back when the Junos put out a few celebratory collections. They were awesome, and I remembered the song, but made no connection to the band. Interestingly "As the Years Go By" was a late addition to the album and was considered a silly novelty song that really wasn't like anything else on the record. Just goes to show you never know what will catch on.
The album was a fun listen, and while I'll likely not listen to it a lot it was certainly an ambitious effort. It also answered a question that had been percolating in my brain for a few decades ... what was Mashmakhan?
This was Mashmakhan.
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