Mark Andes

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 Robert Mirabal.

Early life Andes was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Los Angeles, one of two sons of actor Keith Andes (1920–2005).

Career 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 1995, he joined up with Native American musician Robert Mirabal to collaborate on his album entitled Mirabal.

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.

In 2012, Andes played with Kenny Cordray & Love Street on the album titled It Takes Everything.

Andes began playing with Firefall again in 2014, becoming the third original member in the band's current lineup, along with Jock Bartley and David Muse.

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).

Discography Spirit Spirit – 1968 The Family That Plays Together – 1968 Clear – 1969 Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus – 1970 Farther Along – 1976 The Thirteenth Dream – 1984 Rapture in the Chambers – 1989

Jo Jo Gunne Jo Jo Gunne – 1972 Jumpin' the Gunne – 1973 Big Chain – 2005

Firefall Firefall – 1976 Luna Sea – 1977 Élan – 1978 Undertow – 1979

Heart Passionworks – 1983 Heart – 1985 Bad Animals – 1987 Brigade – 1990 Rock the House Live! – 1991

Solo Real World Magic - 2009

Other appearances John Fahey: The Yellow Princess – 1968 Richard Torrance: Anything's Possible – 1978 Jay Ferguson: White Noise – 1982 Kim Carnes: Café Racers – 1983 Joe Walsh: The Confessor – 1985 Eliza Gilkyson: Legends of Rainmaker - 1989 Dan Fogelberg: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed...and Some Blues – 1994, 1995 album released 2000 Mirabal: Mirabal – 1997 Robert McEntee: Preserving the Error – 1999 Iain Matthews: A Tiniest Wham – 2000 Jackie Lomax: The Ballad of Liverpool Slim – 2001 Jon Dee Graham: Hooray for the Moon – 2002 David Lee Holt: Perpetual Motion – 2004 The Champion Sisters: Unfit to be Tied – 2011 John Egenes: The Stone Soup Sessions – 2011 Kenny Cordray & Love Street: It Takes Everything – 2012 Peter Blast: Painting Without Canvas – 2015 Peter Blast: Wind Horses – 2017 Chardeau: Fauves & Pastels – 2015 Chardeau: Sanguines – 2017 Mark Taylor Project: Tales From The Yellow Rose – 2021 Tommy Taylor (musician): Across The Stars – 2023