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

Tandyn Almer
July 30, 1942 – January 8, 2013

Tandyn 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.