Mark Spoelstra

about

Mark Warren Spoelstra (June 30, 1940 – February 25, 2007) was an American singer-songwriter and folk and blues guitarist. He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He began his musical career in Los Angeles in his teens and migrated around to wind up in New York City in time to take part in the folk music revival of the early 1960s. He is best remembered for his activity in the Greenwich Village area. He performed with Bob Dylan soon after Dylan's arrival in New York City, was a contributor to Broadside Magazine and recorded a number of albums for Folkways Records and other labels. Raised as a Quaker, Spoelstra's career was put on hold from 1963–1965, when he performed alternative service as a conscientious objector in Fresno, California. In the mid 1960s, he frequently performed at the Ash Grove in West Hollywood—where a man from New York who had reinvented himself as Taj Mahal comprised the house band—and was known for his contemplative compositions, which sometimes reflected incidents in his part-time career as a school bus driver. He later settled in Northern California, where he lived, primarily near Stockton, until his death. He withdrew from the touring life in the early 1970s to raise a family. In the mid 1970s, he became a minister and used his musical talents as a means to preach his spiritual messages. He worked for a number of years as a tour bus driver in Yosemite National Park. Throughout, Spoelstra remained in touch with his music. In 2001, he recorded

top songs

albums

Five & Twenty Questions

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The Songs of Mark Spoelstra

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Classic Folk Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

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The Best of Broadside 1962-1988: Anthems of the American Underground from the Pages of Broadside Magazine

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Classic Folk Music From Smithsonian Folkways

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Classic Folk Music (From Smithsonian Folkways)

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Mojo Presents Dylan's Scene

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Mark Spoelstra Recorded At Club 47

State of Mind

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Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1

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DYLAN'S SCENE

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Mojo—Dylan’s Scene

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