Marcus was the psychedelic alias of erstwhile New York folkie/jack-of-all-musical-trades Rusty Evans, born Marcus Uzilevsky in Brooklyn. After graduating from New York’s School of Art and Design, in 1958 Evans made his recorded debut, releasing the rockabilly efforts “I Lived, I Loved, I Lost» and “Midnight Special» on Brunswick; a year later, he resurfaced on HIP with “Talkin’ from Your Heart.» By 1962 Evans was a staple of the Greenwich Village folk circuit, sharing stages with Bob Dylan, David Crosby and Fred Neil; in 1964, he recorded his first LP, Songs of Our Land, followed later that year by Railroad Songs. After one more stab at folk success with 1965’s Live at Gerde’s Folk City, Evans discovered the nascent psychedelic scene during a brief stop in Los Angeles, where he also recorded the 1965 Musicor single “1983»; upon returning east, he landed in Philadelphia and formed his own psych band, the Deep, with Mark Barkan, David Bromberg and others. Signing to Cameo-Parkway, over just two days in August 1966 the Deep recorded their lone official album Psychedelic Moods of the Deep, one of the more rare and fascinating byproducts of its time; virtually the same lineup later reunited as Freak Scene, releasing 1967’s Psychedelic Psoul on CBS. (A series of related CDs culled from the sessions in questions later appeared on Collectables). With songwriter and producer Teddy Randazzo, Evans then co-founded Eastern Productions, signing the bands Third Bardo and the Facts of Life—for the former, Evans and Victoria Pike authored the psych cult classic “I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time.» In 1967 he moved to Los Angeles, working as a staff producer for the Take Six label and helming sessions including the Nervous Breakdown’s “I Dig Your Mind.» After a stint working with producer Matthew Katz, in 1969 Evans reclaimed his birth name to release a self-titled LP on Kinetic as simply Marcus—a minor classic of richly orchestrated psych-folk, like much of his work it is a fascinating relic of a particular time and place, in this case San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district in the post-Summer of Love era. Evans then dropped out of sight for about a decade, returning to his folk roots for his 1979 comeback effort Life’s Railway to Heaven; in 1988 the Arlington Symphony Orchestra performed his Folk Symphony for Sara, and at the dawn of the new decade he later adopted yet another alias, Uzca, to explore world music and ambient on the LPs Slice of Light and Gypsy Dreams. In 2000 Evans truly traveled full-circle, forming the rockabilly combo Ring of Fire with son Danny and releasing a self-titled tribute to Johnny Cash. Under his birth name, he’s also enjoyed a measure of fame for his landscape art. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Nine times out of ten it seems that heavily hyped albums turn out to be major disappointments. 1979’s «From the House of Trax» is one of those one out of ten exceptions — it lives up to and even exceeds the hype!!! I can’t say I know a great deal about Marcus McDonald. He was apparently from Kentucky, but relocated to Indiana, where this album was recorded at Trax Studios (hence the title). Produced by Jim Fergusson, this private press release is also an exception in that it sounds far more accomplished that most such vanity products. Literally dripping with spooky, heavily treated vocals, heavy guitar and psych moves, tracks such as ‘Locked Inside a World’, ‘A Trip In Time’ and ‘The City of InBetween’ are great. Exemplified by tracks such as ‘Gary’s Song’, ‘I Want To Fly’ and ‘Right Inside of You Baby’, the ‘B’ side opts for a slightly more mellow attack, but is every but as impressive. Tuneful and concise (most of the nine selection clock in under four minutes), this one’s a must own classic. Besides, it’s a wonderful album to crank up on a good stereo system. (As far as I can tell this is one of the real things — packaged in a plain disco cover with the bluish title past on over the center hole. This one’s retained it’s blue color (some tended to turn green with time)). SOURCE: www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/MARCUS.htm
personnel:
— Doug Fisher — keyboards
— Al Jones — bass
— Jeff Kruer — percussion
— David Ledger — keyboards
— Marcus McDonald — vocals, guitar, keyboards
— Will Naugle — bass
— John Pring — lead guitar
— Butch Stultz — rhythm guitar
— Terry Tyler — rhythm guitar
1.
You’re Playing With Fire (intro)
2. Locked Inside A World
3. A Trip In Time
4. The City Of Inbetween
5. Sweet Inspiration
6. Gary’s Song
7. Captain Zella Queen
8. I Want To Fly
9. Right Inside Of You Baby
10. Satan
11. You’re Playing With Fire (outro)
