Mashmakhan was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 fusion band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 that was most active in the early 1970s, and is best known for their hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 "As the Years Go By

As the Years Go By

"As the Years Go By" is the first single by rock fusion band Mashmakhan from their self-titled debut album. The single was first recorded in Columbia B Studios and was released as the first single to Mashmakhan's self-titled debut album. The other single "Days When We Are Free" was used as the...

."

History

Members Pierre Senecal, Brian Edwards and Rayburn Blake first met in 1960 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. Their drummer did not show up one night for a gig

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

, so Jerry Mercer

Jerry Mercer

Jerry Mercer is a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with the groups Mashmakhan and April Wine.-Personal life:...

 was brought in and ended up joining the band. Edwards quit shortly thereafter, but the other three continued to perform on the local scene under names like the Phantoms, Ray Blake's Combo and the Dominoes.

By 1965 they were calling themselves The Triangle, and backing up local R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 singer Trevor Payne

Trevor W. Payne

Trevor Winston Payne, CM, is a Canadian musician and member of the Order of Canada .He was born in Black Rock, Barbados, on the 21 December 1948. He became a Canadian citizen in 1982, the country he moved to in 1958. He and his family landed in the city of Montreal where he still resides today...

. They backed up Payne for four years until being discovered by record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Bob Hahn, who helped them get signed with Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. Edwards rejoined the band and they changed their name to Mashmakhan, after a variety of hashish

Hashish

Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...

 sold by a local dealer, to appeal to a modern audience.

Senecal's penned

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 "As the Years Go By

As the Years Go By

"As the Years Go By" is the first single by rock fusion band Mashmakhan from their self-titled debut album. The single was first recorded in Columbia B Studios and was released as the first single to Mashmakhan's self-titled debut album. The other single "Days When We Are Free" was used as the...

" was released off their debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 in an edited form, and was the group's first hit; it sold 100,000 copies in Canada and 400,000 copies in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (on the Epic

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

 label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

). The band actually wrote the song as a novelty

Novelty song

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

 addition to their album, not expecting it to gain serious recognition. The single also sold 400,000 copies in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. This disc

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 sold over one million copies globally, and received a gold disc

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

. The two follow-up singles were "Gladwin" and "Days When We Are Free".

In 1971, Mashmakhan was one of two contributors to the musical score of the NFB film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Epilogue/Fieve, which was directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by William Pettigrew. "Couldn't Find the Sun", written by Rayburn Blake for the movie

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, was included on Mashmakhan's 1971 album The Family. This album also did well in Japan, but the band realized little domestic success and split up shortly thereafter.

Blake joined the Lisa Hartt Band and also recorded some solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 material, and Jerry Mercer joined April Wine

April Wine

April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969. According to the band, they chose the name 'April Wine' simply because members thought the two words sounded good together...

. The original group was revived twice in the late 1970s by Aquarius Records with future April Wine members Brian Greenway

Brian Greenway

Brian Greenway is a Canadian guitarist, vocalist, and harmonicist, most recognized for playing in the Canadian rock bands April Wine, Mashmakhan, and the Dudes...

 and, later, Steve Lang

Steve Lang

Steve Lang is a Canadian musician best known for his role as a bassist in the rock band April Wine from 1976 to 1984. Lang replaced then-bassist Jim Clench in 1976. When April Wine reformed in 1993, Steve Lang was not amongst the line-up.Steve Lang is also the father of Canadian musician Erin...

.

Mashmakhan later experienced significant renewed interest with the release of the film Festival Express

Festival Express

Festival Express is a 2003 documentary film about the eponymous 1970 train tour across Canada taken by some of North America's most popular rock bands, including The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends...

, which featured colour film of the band performing two songs during the Festival Express concerts in Canada in 1970.

Discography

Albums

Title	Release Date	Label
Mashmakhan Mashmakhan (album) Mashmakhan is the self-titled debut album of rock fusion band Mashmakhan. Mashmakhan first debuted with the single "As the Years Go By" which became a major success selling millions of copies around the world. After three singles, Mashmakhan released their self-titled debut LP album. After the...	1970	Epic Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
The Family The Family (Mashmakhan album) The Family is the second studio album by Canadian Rock fusion band Mashmakhan.-History:In 1970, Mashmakhan released their self-titled debut album, which released three successful singles and garnered critical acclaim...	1971	Epic
Mashmakhan/The Family Mashmakhan/The Family Mashmakhan/The Family is a 1995 album by the Canadian rock band Mashmakhan, compiling both of their early 1970s albums.- Production :Mashmakhan debuted in 1970 with three singles, "As the Years Go By", "Gladwin" and "Days When We Are Free", which were compiled into their self-titled debut album...	1999	Collectables Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels....