Marc's Music Museum - the musical career and history of Marc W. McCord
Rock 'n Roll Will Never Die!

Marc W. McCord
Every picture tells a story, don't it?
Marc W. McCord, 1978



Jimi in Heaven



Jimi burns his guitar



Dead Net
Grateful Dead Home Page
About The Maestro


Since 1954, when I attended my first symphony concert, I have loved music as something more than merely background noise. Our 1st grade class attended a Dallas Symphony Orchestra presentation of Peter and the Wolf where I was introduced to the power and the passion of music, especially classical music, and my love for music is stronger today than ever.

My parents enrolled me in piano lessons that same year, but our school had only non-functional keyboards for learning fingering techniques, and they produced the "sounds of silence". Because I could not hear any progress, coupled with the desire to play sports with my friends, and a total lack of vision about a future musical performing career I dropped out of piano classes, and have been kicking myself ever since.

Then, in 1965, my younger brother Bill had acquired a Fender Telecaster after being inspired by Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughan who lived the next street over and a couple of blocks down from us, but Bill soon gave it up. My dad was about to sell the guitar when I decided to try my hand at it.

A friend at our church started working with me, teaching me to play Wine, Wine, Wine (Iknow, I know! That's not what you expect from a guy who sang in the sanctuary choir at a very large Baptist Church in Texas), and a few Peter, Paul and Mary songs. It didn't take long before I was hooked! I bought a Fender Stratocaster, the 399th ever made, and really got into rock 'n roll. I was a junior in 1964 when I formed my first band called "The Extortions" (I was headed to law school and thought the name sounded great) with 3 guys who played in the Kimball Knightbeats, our high school jazz band. We played a lot of local parties and weekly played pavilion parties at night at a local park in Dallas perfecting our style on early R&B tunes recorded by the Rolling Stones, along with the music of The Byrds, The Beatles, The Ventures, The Dave Clark Five, Gerry and The Pacemakers, and other great artists of the day.

In 1967, I ventured out to San Francisco where I formed an acid-rock bank called Licorice Tadpole, and began studying music theory, composition,and performance. It was at this time that I began serious composition which resulted in my writing over 600 songs and a couple of symphonies for rock band and orchestra. One piece, called White Lightning was a 75-minute piece in four movements in which I used 5 guitars, four of which were tuned to different slack key tunings.

By 1972, I had become dissatisfied with my manager and formed a company called Burning Heart, Inc., an artist management and production company handling my own career and those of several Dallas-area bands (I just had to get back to Texas). I also formed a concert production and promotion company called Black Cobra Productions and began producing major recording artist concerts for Frank Zappa and the Mothers, Gary Wright, Ten Years After, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Emmylou Harris (sweet lady), and numerous other recording artists.

Then it happened! In 1973, a guy who was supposed to be a good friend broke into my house and stole 6 priceless guitars including my old Stratocaster. It demoralized my altruistic image of our generation, and started the end of my musical career as a performing artist. By the end of 1975, my uncle who financially backed our concert production business was killed in a crash of his Cessna 337P Skymaster, and the weight of that loss devastated me, destroying my creative urges. I turned to the blues, but became quite despondent and eventually left the music business in 1979.

During my late career I witnessed the passing of Jimi, Janis, Jim, Mama Cass, Jim Croce, Tim Buckley, and 3 members of Lynard Skynard, whom I had promoted. In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, "The times they were a changin' ". Many more of my friends and fellow musicians were to succomb to the inevitable over the next 25 years, and all of them are sorely missed by millions of fans around the world, but their legacies live on in the recorded music they left for therest of us to continue enjoying.

By 1979, I had moved on into video production and electronics, inspired by the foot pedal magic of Jimi Hendrix, and went back to college to get my degrees in electronics and avionics. In 1982, I became a field engineer on IBM Systems 3x, and started playing the stereo much more than an instrument.

I became a Dead Head in 1966, the first and only fan club I ever joined, and am still actively on the mailing list. I mourned the recent passing of two good friends - Frank Zappa and Jerry Garcia, both of whom had a significant effect on my life. I listen to their music religiously! My other music loves include Ry Cooder (the greatest slack key, no, make that the greatest guitarist on the planet), Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa (my main man), The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Dire Straits, The Doors, Eric Clapton, Hot Tuna, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Leo Kottke, Little Feat and hundreds more including almost all jazz and classical performers.


Frank ZappaBilly Vera and the BeatersDark Side of the Moon13th Floor ElevatorsJimmy Buffett
Click on the icons above to visit the home pages of
Frank Zappa, Billy Vera & The Beaters, Pink Floyd, The 13th Floor Elevators or Jimmy Buffett.

Morph Guitars

Frank Zappa Jimmy Carl Black
Billy Vera & The Beaters Steely Dan
Ry Cooder Grateful Dead
Pink Floyd Alan Parsons Project
Norton Buffalo Roy Rogers
Little Feat Margaritaville
Jackson Browne Linda Ronstadt
Emmylou Harris Texas Tornados
13th Floor Elevators Sir Doug Sahm
Amazing Rhythm Aces Genesis
The Moody Blues Jethro Tull
The Rolling Stones Mark Knopfler
Huey Lewis and the News Taj Mahal
Robert Cray Band Steve Winwood
Eric Clapton Fleetwood Mac
The Doors Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Jazz Orchestra Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Steven Fromholz Bugs Henderson
Gary P. Nunn George Strait
The Party Crashers Buddy Whittington
John Mayall John Prine
Willis Alan Ramsey Marcia Ball
Guy Clark Kinky Friedman
Bonnie Raitt George Thorogood and The Destroyers
The Sons of Champlin Count Blue
J. Geils Band Deep Purple
David Bowie Al Kooper
John Hiatt Tommy Shannon

Morph Guitars

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I first met Jimmy Carl Black in 1974 or 75 while promoting a concert tour with Frank Zappa and The Mothers. Jimmy was born and raised in Anthony, Texas, a small suburb located between El Paso and the New Mexico State Line. We were preparing for a concert at the El Paso Civic Auditorium when Jimmy walked onto the set and began a conversation with Frank. During the sound check Jimmy joined The Mothers on stage and performed several of the old "doo wop" standards that had been a staple in the early Mothers of Invention repertoire. During the concert that night, without missing a beat, the band did a segway into a 15-minute "flash from the past" as Jimmy joined them onstage to perform several numbers from "Freak Out", the first album of the Mothers.

Over the years Jimmy and I often exchanged e-mails, and he told me of his cancer some three or four years ago. I knew that it had gotten progressively worse over the past two years, and it caused him to cancel some scheduled concerts with "The Muffin Men" and "The Grandmothers", both of whom performed his music as well as some of the early Mothers' music. Jimmy was a kind and thoughtful man, as well as a great friend.

Jimmy died Saturday, November 1, 2008, of complications related to cancer in his current home of Siegsdorf, Germany. Jimmy's wife Monika is a school teacher and native of Germany, where Jimmy has lived since 1995. He is also survived by three sons and three daughters. I hope they know and realize what a great and kind man their dad was. I remember Jimmy as a great friend and a super musician who was the original drummer for The Mothers of Invention, one of my personal Top Three favorite bands of all times. R.I.P., Jimmy. You will be missed by those of us who knew and loved you.

Jimmy Carl Black


On November 18, 1999, Doug Sahm succumbed to a heart attack in Taos, New Mexico, and the world lost a creative genius who brought much joy to many people. I first heard Doug with the Sir Douglas Quintet and their hit song "She's About a Mover" in the mid 60's, then on into the Texas Tornados. Doug's music was always entertaining and uplifting. A memorial fund has been established for receiving contributions to be used for a yet-to-be-fetermined project. Some suggestions include a statue to be placed in Austin, a medical clinic for musicians, and a baseball diamond where kids of all ages can enjoy a sport that Doug loved. Please visit the photo link below for more information on the Douglas Wayne Sahm Memorial Fund.

Douglas Wayne Sahm


Links to Graphic Arts Resources

Some of the images used on this page, as well as my other pages, came from the sources whose links are in the table below. I would like to gratefully acknowledge my appreciation of their fine artistic talents, and express my gratitude for their having made these images available without charge. Please visit these sites for great images of all kinds when you are building your own personal web pages, and contact the web masters at these sights for information regarding commercial usage licensing of their work.

AndyArt Clipart Connection
Icon Bazaar Icon Depot


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Marc W. McCord dba CobraGraphics
© January 10, 1997. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 1997-2009, Marc W. McCord dba CobraGraphics. All rights reserved. CobraGraphics, Canoeman.com, Lone Star Paddler, Southwest Paddler, Canoeman River Guide Services and US Concierge Services Guides are exclusive tradenames and trademarks of Marc W. McCord dba CobraGraphics. The textual, graphic, audio, and audio/visual material in this site is protected by United States copyright law and international treaties. You may not copy, distribute, or use these materials except for your personal, non-commercial use. Any trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All original photos on this web site are the exclusive property of Marc W. McCord, and may not be copied, duplicated, reproduced, distributed or used for any purpose except upon prior written permission under penalty of US and International laws and treaties.


Last updated November 5, 2008