"Your One Stop Talent Shop!"
About Us / Founder
Mark Schwartz
(405( 751-7760
My early musical influences are the Everly Brothers and Ray Charles. Remember Ray's first country album? And, of course, Elvis Presley! Since I grew up in a small town I had to go to a store named TG&Y, which was similar to the Wal-Mart stores today, in order to pick up the latest "45 rpm records" so I could listen to my favorite artists. By that time I could already read music because of my piano lessons which I started when I was 4 years old. But my piano teacher could only help me with the standard method books.
I remember her I asked if she could help me with the songs I was hearing on the radio. Bless her soul. She picked me up a boogie-woogie piano solo book with a "stick" man on it. Ummmm... not exactly what I was hearing on the radio. Guess we had a small communication gap during my teenage years you think?
So, back to TG&Y. Out of my deep desire to learn what I was hearing on the radio I would walk from my house to the downtown area of my hometown, Watonga Oklahoma. Of course I had to cross a raging river and dodge tornadoes in order to get there, but I would make it. After returning home and continuing to battle the above... hehe! I would play the record(s) I purchased and transcribe every single note off of the recordings.
Okay... I know that may sound a little insane transcribing music note by note but it's how I learned to play "POP" music, which had influences of country music back then. I was also very sick when I was younger with asthma so not being able to play outside with my friends, or play sports including many other activities, I spent most of my time indoors. So music really became my friend.
When I was 14 years old I started going to teen hops sponsored by the radio stations WKY & KOMA at Watonga's City Hall building, also located in the downtown area. One of the touring, the main attraction, the band that I dreamed every night of joining after hearing them for the first time was Ron Smith & The Centuries.
When I graduated from Watonga High School in 1966 I started my freshman year at Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Oklahoma. During my freshman year my father passed away with lung cancer on May-Day, 1967. I'm not sure of the exact date but close to that time Bob Mill's who played saxophone with the above mentioned band "The Centuries" father also died in an automobile accident. Bob approached me in the Spring semester at South Western where he was also attending and asked me if I wanted to audition for The Centuries. Wow! Wow! Wow! A dream come true - and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I passed the audition and that is when my music career really started.
During the time I was with The Centuries the rhythm/lead guitar player, Stan Stotts taught me how to listen to each players parts and blend in with a band. He was a huge influence on my musicianship as well as Ron Smith. This might seem trite, but I earned enough money to move my family (after my father's death) to Oklahoma City and start a new life for us. It also helped me to acquire enough money to continue my college education.
During the time I was with the Centuries I purchased a Hammond B-3 organ, which i paid a fortune for. A huge responsibility for a seventeen year old at the time. It put a new sound to the Centuries and everyone seemed to like it, or at least they said so. LOL! All through those early years I still did not have a music instructor to help me learn pop music. So I would sneak into the Esquire Club and other night-spots to listen to a group named "The Jades" alias "Third Avenue Blues Band." I would watch their organ player (Harland Rogers) "comp" chords while playing the bass parts with his left hand on the B-3's lower keyboard. I would sneak in the club as I was not old enough and sit behind the band in a booth to watch Harland's hands gluide across the keyboards. It was a great learning experience and eventually after many long hours of practice I was able to do the same.
Oklahoma City was steaming with talent during those years. Out of the Third Avenue Blues Band, Harland Rogers (organ) Bill Maxwell (drums) and Hadley "Hawkins" Smith (guitar) went on to play with Andrae Crouch And The Disciples. At present Hadley is performing with Neil Diamond and the last I've heard of Harlen he was performing with Ricky Skaggs.
Another Hammond Organ B-3/Harmonica player was Steve Hardin who was also a huge personal influence on my music career. Steve was setting new trends with the "new" music being heard in the local clubs. A story I remember was when Steve was performing at the Hilton Inn on I-40 and Meridian, in Oklahoma City, his band would take a break and Steve would go out into his van and lift weights. Then he would return and blast those keys! Steve ended up touring with Glen Campbell.
After the "bands" I rented my Hammond B-3 out to groups/artists that would play concerts here in the Oklahoma City and Norman area, to include Elvis Presley, Sly And The Family Stone, Black Oak Arkansas, to name just a few!
Of course my earliest musical influence was my older brother, Anthony (Tony) D. Schwartz. He played piano with the #1 Army touring band "The Jazz Ambassadors" alias Glen Miler Band in the late sixties. A multitude of musicians came through that band including Steve Gadd. I would sit behind Steve and watch him play drums during the sessions at the army base in Fort Mead, Maryland. Steve actually changed the way many drummers played - the transition between early rock drums and the R&B styles. A familiar intro Steve came up with was the beginning drum part on "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon. What an experience not only to watch him play but to also be around him. I hope Steve realizes how many players of all ages he has influenced over the years.
Also, Paul Bowmen, a drum teacher who came out of the Navy Band was my drum instructor while Stan Stotts and I were going to college at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma. Another huge influence on me in music theory and orchestration was Dr. Dillon, also taught at Central State.
After the Centuries I started a band called The Mark IV and soon afterwards I started another band called Starflight. One evening Billy Preston came up on stage and played with us for a set.
As of now I'm still in music. After many years of performing I opened up a music school/recording studio, Super Key Music Studios and Super Key Recording, of which I operate to this day... and the next day and the next... haha! Two of my students are now working in major studios in Nashville. I helped produce an album with The Praire Twins and Riders In The Sky which was up for "Best Album Of The Year" at the WMA Western Music Awards in Las Vegas. My students have also made it to the finals in the American Idol Contest .
One thing I have a hard time understanding is that I started out in a garage (garage band) and now the studio I have is a garage conversion. Ummmm... what kind of irony is that?