Mark Craney

[Frank Godiva]

I don’t know if Mark was an actual Sonor endorser; but he did play a very large Signature kit at one point.

Two things I find very interesting about MC. He played in the band that saw Steve Smith get his first Sonor kit.

“December 1975, at the age of 23, Craney moved to Los Angeles and quite amazingly landed a high profile gig within a month of unpacking his bags. Burgeoning jazz great Jean-Luc Ponty was about to tour in support of his album Aurora and was in need of a drummer. Through a musician friend from back home, Craney was able to get an audition and landed the gig. He spent a mere nine months with Ponty, touring as well as recording the classic album Imaginary Voyage (1976) during that span. He also switched from traditional to matched grip at this time. “

His father, himself a drummer, passed along his own unique approach to drumming: he was a right-handed player playing a left-handed kit. Having been repulsed by an eighth grade drum teacher who tried to change his unusual approach, the young Craney was self-taught to an unusual degree.”

https://vancouverdrummer.blogspot.com/2 ... y.html?m=1

[SonorBart]

Mark left after recording Imaginary Voyage to tour the Private Eyes album with Tommy Bolin (Tommy grew up in Sioux City, IA, so he and Mark knew each other) and Steve Smith got hired to do the JLP tour. Yes, Mark was an endorser: Here's his pic in the '82 catalog from the same photo session as the snare and hi hat pic. They were taken at the house he bought here in Sioux Falls after he moved back from L.A., not too long after the '81 Jethro Tull 'A' tour. He had been a Ludwig endorser wih Tull, was with Sonor for about a year, and then switched to Gretsch in '83. I took lessons from him in his drum room on the other side of those sliding patio glass doors. Many of the 70's homes, including that one, have been razed in the past 25 years to make room for medium sized mansions. It's a beautifully wooded and hilly neighborhood and I often ride my bike there. He was a world class drummer, a genuinely nice guy, very humble, and had very dry sense of humor. I miss him. I'm pretty sure he later soid the Bubinga Sigs to a guy in Brazil.

[_spelman_]

Didn't he play Gretsch after Sonor? In the Modern Drummer 1983 story he played Gretsch. How long was he with Sonor?

The Jethro Tull A tour was between Oct 1980 and Feb 1981 (when he played Ludwig). I would think he played Sonor in 81-82, then Gretsch from 1983.

Modern Drummer June 1983:

[SonorBart]

Yes, Gretsch was after Sonor. I just edited my previous post. Sonor was late '81 - '82. He had played Gretsch on the Gino Vannelli Brother to Brother tour before moving to Ludwig.

[SonorBart]

Mark was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at around age 13, so his parents, John and Daisy, bought him a kit. As mentioned in the article Frank quoted, John had played when he was younger, setting up left handed even though he was right handed. The story was that he had seen a picture of Buddy Rich with the negative reversed, so that's how he played and set up Mark's kit.

[SonorBart]

Here's a pic of Mark playing his clear Fibes kit (the Billy Cobham influence) with Tommy Bolin.