No one really knows where Walkin' Cane Mark is from. Someone once said that Mark was born under a cactus deep in the Arizona desert. Others have been heard to state that an infant Walkin' Cane came crawling out from the Superstition Mountains one day after the worst monsoon storm in Phoenix history. A fifth generation musician he was born with the soul of a Gila monster and the voice of a grizzly bear. The Walkin Cane Mark Show is a mixture of raw Rhythm & Blues, Rock, Blues and a whole lotta Soul.
The great Willie Dixon dubbed Mark, "Walkin' Cane Mark" in 1988 when he was recovering from a crippling car accident. It was also Willie who first recognized Mark's passion for blues & soul music. Fronting his first band (a seven piece horn band) at the ripe old age of 21, Cane quickly began to gain the reputation of an intense showman. "I love music, I used to fall into a kind of trance because of it and what could happen...did!”
Snooky Pryor (known to be the first player to amplify his harp post WWII Chicago) taught him how to drive a band with his harmonica like a steam engine. Nappy Brown showed Mark how to signify, shout & channel emotion into every tune. Junior Wells made Mark FUNKY! "You don't pick the blues the blues picks you" the late great harmonica player (Junior) once told Mark, and pick him it certainly did. Mark has the reputation of being one of the youngest “Old School Style” harmonica players in the southwest.
“You have four notes in your whole range. You can’t act, and you can’t dance,” sings a false Freddie Mercury to a false Frank Sinatra in one of the Epic Rap Battles of History on YouTube (yes, it’s a real thing). Some have accused “Ol’ Blue Eyes” of talking his way through many a tune, although in a voice that makes hearts melt and lovers swoon. This is not the case with Phoenix, AZ’s “Walkin’ Cane” Mark Brehm. He simply talks. Moreover, his voice sounds dazed, as if he’s just awakened from a long, deep sleep. It’s a crying shame, because his talent on harmonica is quite apparent. Having learned his first licks from Snooky Pryor, one would expect nothing less. It’s also clear Mark loves the blues, and isn’t tempted to dilute it with rock, soul or jazz. His latest album, Tryin’ to Make You Understand, contains twelve tracks with countless notes on harp and guitar, but very few truly musical vocal sounds. Such is hard to reconcile.
According to his webpage, “Walkin’ Cane Mark was born under a cactus in the heart of the Arizona desert. Surrounded by five generations of bluegrass based musicians, it’s ironic that instead of playing country-based music like his relatives, he quickly followed a passion for gritty blues, R&B and classic soul music early on…A fateful encounter with (Howlin’ Wolf drummer) Chico Chism literally by the back door of a Stevie Ray Vaughn concert would change Mark’s life forever…The great Willie Dixon dubbed Mark ‘Walkin’ Cane Mark’ in 1988 when he was recovering from an injury. ‘He saw me walking around with a cane and knew my name was Mark, and out of his mouth came Walkin’ Cane Mark and it stuck.’ It was also Mr. Dixon who first recognized Mark’s passion for the blues. ‘I asked him if he had a song I could do, and he gave me “The Gravedigger”, saying, ‘Mark, this song is for you — you record it,’ (shortly before his passing Willie heard Mark’s version of “Back Door Man” and said it was one of the best versions he had EVER HEARD). ‘My all too short relationship with Big Willie Dixon was one of the fondest of my lifetime.’
Along with Walkin’ Cane Mark on lead singing and harmonica are Kirk Hawley on guitar and mandolin, Brenden McBride and Gordon Lynde Jr. on bass, and John Rumbaugh on drums.
Out of four covers and eight originals, the following is the keenest example of traditional blues:
128kbps
Tracklist:
01. Somebody's Walking in My Home 04:10
02. Tryin' to Make You Understand 04:36
03. Arizona Woman 04:29
04. Rock & Roll Records 03:22
05. Ellada Ellada 02:17
06. That's How I Got to Memphis 03:35
07. Let Me in While You Can 04:28
08. (I'm) a Fright Train 03:28
09. Take Me Back to Bergen 03:21
10. The Devils @ My Door 05:53
11. Ocean Full of Women 03:23
12. Eddie's Boogie 04:12
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