Archive Catalogue – Thursday 15th June 2017

Guitars

Mark Griffiths – A Collection of Guitars and Related Items

A young Mark Haydn Griffiths

Mark Haydn Griffiths was born and educated in Northampton, England. At school, his only real interests were sports and music. Mark’s love of the guitar started, when he heard recordings by Hank Williams , The Everly Brothers and James Burton (with Rick Nelson ). His father encouraged him and bought him his first guitar and it soon replaced sport as the most important thing in his life. He left school at fifteen after being offered a job teaching guitar to young students at the Northampton Guitar Studios. Listening to many different guitarists, such as Lonnie Mack, Hank Garland, Chet Atkins, Johnny Smith and Hank Marvin, Mark’s musical tastes and influences grew ever wider. Most evenings and week ends were taken up playing with hometown groups, until the offer came to join Harsh Reality a blues/rock group singned to Phillips records. They made one album ( ‘Heaven & Hell’ ) that disappeared without trace. The producer of that album ( Fritz Fryer) recommended Mark on to other artists and through those connections, he was asked to join Matthew’s Southern Comfort on lead guitar. Their MCA recording of Joni Mitchell’s ‘ Woodstock ‘ became a world-wide hit reaching number one in the U.K.

Mark with Matthews Southern Comfort on Top of the Pops

In 1972, on Mark’s first ever U.S.tour, he got hooked by the groundbreaking album ‘ What’s Going On ‘ by Marvin Gaye. The bass parts, by the late, great James Jamerson, inspired him to take up the bass virtually overnight. This move to bass, almost eclipsed his guitar playing for the majority of his career. Mainly known as a bassist, he has now rediscovered his love for the guitar and now splits his playing time between the two instruments.

Mark, live with the Shadows

Since those early days, some of the artists Mark has recorded and toured with include …. Al Stewart, The Everly Brothers, Sonny Curtis, Duane Eddy, David Essex, Mark Knopfler, Tom Hall, Bonnie Tyler, Mike Berry, Billy Connolly, Deniece Williams, Jeff Lynne, Neil Innes, The Rutles, John Verity, The Ginger Pigs, Dobie Gray, Willy Russell, Bill Perry, Gallagher & Lyle, Nina Hagen, Dennis Loccoriere, Iain Matthews, Peter Frampton, 3 Boxes, Plainsong, Any Trouble and Sir Cliff Richard. Mark has been The Shadows and guitar legend Hank Marvin ‘s regular bassist, for many years. Mark was a guest on Albert Lee’s 70th birthday party and has recently finished a tour of Holland and Germany with old friends Iain Matthews and Andy Roberts, as Plainsong. Promoting the album ’ Re-inventing Richard, ‘ the songs of Richard Farina.