The Music's Over

but the songs live on forever

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Subscribe

Posts Tagged ‘The Garden Club’

Died On This Date (January 8, 2013) Tandyn Almer / ’60s Singer-Songwriter; Wrote “Along Comes Mary”

Posted by themusicsover on January 8, 2013

Tandyn Almer
July 30, 1942 – January 8, 2013

tandyn-almerTandyn Almer was a mysterious Minneapolis-born singer-songwriter whose biggest contribution to popular music came by way of his “Along Came Mary,” a 1966 Top Ten hit as recorded by the Association.  Just a teenager when the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis caught his ear, Almer, a future member of Mensa, decided to quit high school and move to Chicago to become a jazz musician.  By the ’60s, he found himself in Los Angeles, where he set his sights on rock music.  Over the next few years, he collaborated, as a songwriter or producer, with such acts as Dennis Olivieri, the Purple Gang, and the Garden Club.  During the ’70s, he wrote songs for A&M Records where he co-wrote the Beach Boys‘ “Sail On Sailor,” and “Marcella.”  Outside of music, Almer invented the Slave-Master water pipe which was called “the perfect bong” by at least one how-to manual.  By the ’80s, Almer was all but out of the music business, and living in Washington D.C. where he wrote songs for an annual comedy review put on by Hexagon, a D.C. based non-profit organization.  In recent years, Almer was reportedly in ailing health – suffering from heart and lung disease, until he passed away on January 8, 2013.  He was 70.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus at Bob Dylan Examiner for the assist.


Posted in Musician, Rock, Singer, Songwriter | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Died On This Date (January 8, 2013) Tandyn Almer / ’60s Singer-Songwriter; Wrote “Along Comes Mary”