Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush

A Canadian rock group started around 1970, simply known as <a href="spotify:artist:3IAM7YLkT7QvJPseQ6f9j7">Mahogany Rush</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Frank Marino</a>'s name was added later. <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> served as the lead singer, guitarist, and percussionist. Other members were bass guitarist Paul Harwood and drummer Jimmy Ayoub. In the early '80s, rhythm guitarist Vince Marino, <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Frank</a>'s brother, was added to the lineup. A couple of years after that, Ayoub walked, and drummer Tim Biery stepped in to replace him. <a href="spotify:artist:3IAM7YLkT7QvJPseQ6f9j7">Mahogany Rush</a> released its debut album in 1973. It was the first of more than a dozen full-length recordings the group completed over the next two-plus decades.

The leader of <a href="spotify:artist:3IAM7YLkT7QvJPseQ6f9j7">Mahogany Rush</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Frank Marino</a>, was born in Montreal, Quebec in the winter of 1954. He had a troubled childhood. As a young teen, deep into drugs like LSD, <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> indulged too much, and found himself hospitalized. He had always loved psychedelic and hard rock music, like that of <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>, and time in the hospital, with a clear head, gave him a chance to really listen and hear the music. As part of his recovery, he was offered the chance to use a musical instrument. He was a drummer, but since none were available, he picked up a guitar. Over the next couple of months, <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> taught himself to play, and to do so amazingly well.

Fresh out of the hospital, and trying to keep his thoughts off drugs, <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> pulled together some friends and formed a band that hopped around doing small gigs where and when they could. Many members came and went before <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> found the right fit with Ayoub and Harwood. That was when the true <a href="spotify:artist:3IAM7YLkT7QvJPseQ6f9j7">Mahogany Rush</a> was born.

After a couple of years of seeming to get nowhere fast -- or at all -- the band finally recorded a debut album, Maxoom, released under the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kot%27Ai+Records%22">Kot'Ai Records</a> label in 1973, when <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> was only 17. Between then and 1976, the group finished three more albums, Child of the Novelty, Strange Universe, and a self-titled offering. That latter appeared under a new label, the major <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a>. The next year the band lengthened its name to Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush. It stayed under contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> into the '80s, recording a number of albums, including World Anthem, Tales of the Unexpected, What's Next, The Power of Rock 'N Roll, and Juggernaut.

Around the middle of the '80s, the group landed a deal with Maze Records. The result was the album Double Live. <a href="spotify:artist:4N7EfXrDs4KJFXuN2BIuCT">Marino</a> also recorded a solo album, Full Circle, under the label. Around that same time, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush seemed to have called it quits, at least for that decade.

In 1995, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Beat+Records%22">Big Beat Records</a> put together three of the group's early albums onto a two-CD set. A best-of album followed a year later, bringing back old fans, and growing a brand new batch to go with them. In 2000, the group recorded an independent release, Eye of the Storm. ~ Charlotte Dillon, Rovi