Moon

Moon emerged briefly as a late-sixties psych-pop supergroup whose chief distinction lay in the participation of ex-Beach Boy David Marks on lead guitar. Already twenty, Marks had compiled an extensive résumé. At fourteen, around 1962, he entered the Beach Boys as rhythm guitarist after neighbor Al Jardine temporarily withdrew to study dentistry; the Wilsons lived nearby in Hawthorne, California. Marks performed on the band’s first four albums and on singles such as “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Surfer Girl.” With Jardine’s return, the sixteen-year-old Marks fronted Dave & the Marksmen, whose regional successes included “Cruisin’,” “I Wanna Cry,” and “I Could Make You Mine.” He next assembled the Band Without a Name, which cut two singles for Tower and Sidewalk and functioned as house band at two Sunset Strip clubs between 1965 and 1966. Leaving that unit, Marks formed Moon with organist-pianist-vocalist Matthew Moore, composer of most of the group’s material. Moore’s earlier band, Matthew Moore Plus Four, had recorded for GNP Crescendo, and he himself had released solo sides on White Whale and Capitol. Bassist David P. Jackson, formerly of Hearts & Flowers (two Capitol LPs in the late sixties), and drummer Larry Brown (ex-Davie Allan & the Arrows and veteran of numerous film scores plus Mike Curb–produced Sidewalk and Tower sessions) completed the rhythm section. The members of Moon took up residence at Continental Recorders in Hollywood and tracked two Imperial albums—Moon Without Earth in 1968 and the self-titled Moon in 1969. Marks later recalled that the sessions were conducted under the influence of LSD and yielded music that sounded “like a cross between the Bee Gees, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix.” Bassist Andy Bennett also belonged to the lineup, while Jim Keltner supplied occasional session drumming. After Moon disbanded, Marks worked as a studio musician with Denny Brooks, Delaney & Bonnie, and others. Marks, Moore, and Jackson subsequently appeared, together with members of Colours and the East Side Kids, on Buzz Clifford’s See Your Way Clear. In August 1997 Marks rejoined the Beach Boys when Carl Wilson’s cancer halted touring; he also performed with Mike Love’s Beach Boys until Hepatitis C forced his departure. He established the nonprofit Artists Against Hepatitis and became national spokesman for the Hep C Hope Foundation. More recently he has toured with Beach Party!, comprising former members of the Beach Boys’ road band. Moore participated in Joe Cocker’s 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour, preserved on record and film (Cocker sang Moore’s “Space Captain”), then enjoyed a career as session vocalist and keyboardist, issued solo albums, and ran his own label, New Decade. David P. Jackson later played bass with Dillard & Clark, while Larry Brown performed with Gunhill Road and Tony Allwine and served as the official voice of Mickey Mouse.