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All Music Guide:
In the wake of Bob Dylan's breakthrough success in the early '60s, countless other similarly styled folk artists followed, including singer/guitarist Mark Spoelstra. Born on June 30, 1940, in Kansas City, MO, but raised in California, Spoelstra eventually relocated to New York City, where he began playing at coffeehouses and clubs (often performing as a duo with none other than Dylan himself). Shortly after the dawn of the '60s, Spoelstra was signed by Folkways Records, issuing a pair of recordings in 1963: Mark Spoelstra Recorded at Club 47 Inc. and Songs of Mark Spoelstra with a Twelve-String Guitar. 1965 held great promise for Spoelstra, as he signed a new record label (Elektra), issued his third release overall, Five & Twenty Questions, and played at the Newport Folk Festival. But after one more release, 1966's State of Mind, Spoelstra's music career was put on hold as he served in the U.S. military.
After fulfilling his military duties, Spoelstra picked up where he left off, releasing a self-titled release for Columbia Records in 1969 and touring the United States, Canada, England, and Holland. But once more, mainstream success eluded Spoelstra. Now having to support a family and failing to make ends meet, he completely turned his back on music and turned his attention to religion. But by 1974, Spoelstra had enrolled in the Two Year Discovery Art Guild Internship Program of Intensive Bible Study at Peninsula Bible Church, in Palo Alto, CA, eventually leading to him becoming a minister of music. Spoelstra subsequently began issuing albums once more, such as 1976's gospel-based Somehow, I Always Knew, among others. On February 24, 2007, after a short battle with cancer, the singer passed away.
Wikipedia:
Mark Warren Spoelstra (June 30, 1940 – February 25, 2007) was an American singer-songwriter and folk and blues guitarist.
He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He began his musical career in Los Angeles in his teens and migrated around to wind up in New York City in time to take part in the folk music revival of the early 1960s. He is best remembered for his activity in the Greenwich Village area. He performed with Bob Dylan soon after Dylan's arrival in New York City, was a contributor to Broadside Magazine and recorded a number of albums for Folkways Records and other labels.
Raised as a Quaker, Spoelstra's career was put on hold from 1963–1965, when he performed alternative service as a conscientious objector in Fresno, California. In the mid 1960s, he frequently performed at the Ash Grove in West Hollywood. He later settled in Northern California, where he lived, primarily near Stockton, until his death. Withdrawing from the touring life to raise a family, Spoelstra and his wife Sherry embraced Christianity in 1969 and in the mid 1970s, became a minister and used his musical talents as a means to preach his spiritual messages. In the late 1970s, he recorded and released two albums of Gospel music, Somehow I Always Knew and Comin' Back To Town.
Retiring from music in the early 1980s, he worked for a number of years as a tour bus driver in Yosemite National Park. Throughout this period in his life, Spoelstra remained in touch with his music. In 2001, he recorded an album entitled, Out Of My Hands for the Origin Jazz Library label; the first record he'd made in 20 years. The album is a mix of new songs written for the album and some of his old favorites. In his later years he returned to the stage to perform on a limited scale. He would perform until the summer of 2006 when illness forced him to stop. Several of his albums recorded for Elektra Records, long out of print, have been recently reissued. An album of Gospel songs recorded prior to his death is planned for release, according to his website.
Spoelstra died from complications of pancreatic cancer at his home in Pioneer, California on February 25, 2007.
