David Lee Marks (born August 22nd 1948) is an American guitarist known for his tenure as one of The Beach Boys early in their career.
Growing up in Hawthorne, California, David was a childhood friend of Carl Wilson. They both had a passion for rock'n'rolll and started practicing guitar (David had lessons from John Maus). Meanwhile, The Beach Boys were formed after the release of their first single "Surfin'", however Al Jardine left the band in order to study dentistry. This led Brian Wilson to hire David as a rhythm guitarist, making him the youngest member of the band at age 14.
His tenure as a Beach Boy was quite short. Due to his young age, he didn't contribute much to the band whether it comes to playing the guitar (solos were done by Carl) or singing (he stuck to backing vocals). Occasionally, when Dennis Wilson would sing on stage, he would play the drums. He left the band in 1963 after playing on four albums. Reasons why vary, from being fired by the manager/father figure Murry Wilson after an argument, to wanting to focus on a solo career. Nevertheless, David started his own band called The Marksmen which had a short run of 2 years (Murry Wilson put pressure on radio DJs to avoid playing their music which led to a lack of airplays). David kept playing for other bands in California, including Band Without A Name, Moon, Colours and Delaney And Bonnie. David grew tired of the Californian music scene and left for Boston where he studied jazz and classical guitar.
He had a brief return with The Beach Boys on stage in 1971. Mike Love offered him to join back the band but he refused. He went on to play as a session guitarist for various artists such as Leon Russel, Gary Busey or Warren Zevon (he also played guitar on Brian Wilson's cancelled album Sweet Insanity). He eventually reintegrated The Beach Boys during the late nineties as a touring guitarist and left due to health issues. He was part of the 2012 reunion of the band and finally made his return album-wise with That's Why God Made the Radio. Afterwards, he resumed touring as a solo artist and occasionally played alongside Mike Love and Bruce Johnston or with Brian Wilson and Al Jardine. Recently, he was part of the revival of the band California Music.
Discography:
- 1992 - Work Tapes
- 2003 - Something Funny Goin' On
- 2006 - I Think About You Often
His work provides examples of:
- The Baby of the Bunch: At only 14, he was the youngest Beach Boy when he joined the band.
- Back for the Finale: He joined back The Beach Boys for the recording of That's Why God Made The Radio and what could be considered as the band's last world tour which took place in 2012.
- The Big Guy Mike Love and Brian Wilson are 6ft 3 inches. David is 6ft 5!
- Childhood Friends: David and Carl Wilson who both had a passion for rock'n'roll and playing guitar.
- Cool Shades: He constantly wears them since the 2010s
- Dolled-Up Installment: The Salute NASCAR album from 1998 features him alongside Bruce Johnston and Mike Love. However, it is mostly a Mike solo album and David didn't contribute anything on it.
- I Am the Band: The Marksmen, which was renamed "Marks & The Marksmen" on a compilation featuring all their songs.
- Lesser Star: David may be the least popular Beach Boy due to his short tenure, his young age which didn't allow him any creative control early in the band's career, and his departure which happened before the band hit worldwide popularity. He came back in the public's eye thanks to the 2012 reunion but didn't contribute much on the album they made for the occasion.
- Sixth Ranger: On the second line-up of the band, after Al Jardine left and before he came back.
- Step Up to the Microphone: He never sang lead vocals on a Beach Boys song but he did perform some of them live, including Getcha Back.
- Two First Names: And a third one, if you count the Lee as his middle name.
