T-Rex: The Tragic Death of Marc Bolan
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- Опубликовано: 12 янв 2023
- The tragic death of T-Rex's Marc Bolan
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#trex #marcbolan
I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
Marc Bolan is best known as the frontman of T Rex. In the early 70s, he and the band led a musical movement known as glam rock, which combined heavy hooks with extravagant displays of fashion. T Rex would experience critical and commercial success in their native UK during this time and would also prove extremely influential in America. By 1977, following a brief commercial decline, the band were in the midst of a strong comeback, but Bolan would die in a serious car wreck at 29 years old. While the crash itself was undisputed, it turns out that the circumstances around the crash contrasted with what was first reported. That’s what we’ll discuss in today’s video.
Bolan was born Mark Feld on September 30th, 1947, in the east London borough of Hackney, to an English mother\ Ashkenazi Jewish father. Both parents came from a working-class background, with his mother operating a food stall on Berwick Street Market at the time, while his father was a truck driver. Although that meant that the family sometimes struggled to make ends meet, Bolan nonetheless had a happy childhood with his older brother Harry. Harry would comment on the time his brother’s larger-than-life presence took shape when he was five years old, recalling in the documentary Marc Bolan, The Final Word,
“He would adopt a frontman [persona] like Clark Kent and Superman, and his first one was Mighty Joe Young. He was the big gorilla and nobody could beat him. He [always had] a front, and ‘Marc Bolan’ was [one of them],” he’d say.
The family would relocate to Wimbledon, and it was at this point that Bolan was drawn to music. By age 9, his mother bought him his first guitar, and after a few years of simple strumming, he’d gradually become proficient by teaching himself how to play. According to Bolan, the 1956 film The Girl Can’t Help It, would fuel his ambitions for becoming a rockstar. Realizing that his instrument could supplement as a fashion accessory while he moved around, he’d take a cue from some of his rock n’ roll heroes, saying,
“I remember seeing Eddie Cochran. The way he held his guitar, unmoved, looked good. Little Richard put his foot on the piano, and I thought that was outrageous. I thought Elvis was the man, because he really used to wiggle his bum…and that influenced me incredibly. I was impressed with the fact that he always had a guitar [on him]. That, to me, was the ultimate showman thing, just sort of pushing it behind his back and throwing it around.”
By August 1965, the 18-year-old musician made inroads in the music industry, signing a contract with Decca Records under the moniker Marc Bowland. He’d then adopt a popular folk-rock sound similar to artists like Donovan and Bob Dylan, and materialize it with the help of session musicians, but his first two singles, “The Wizard'' and its follow-up in 1966, “The Third Degree,” failed to make any impact, which resulted in him being dropped from the label. He had also been changing the stylization of his name several times up to this point. In the book Marc Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar, it’s said that the earliest instance involved changing the ‘k’ in his birthname, Mark Feld, to a ‘c’. As for how he’d eventually get to ‘Bolan’, the most common theory is stated by his brother Harry, who’d recall,
“Around this time, Mark was very friendly with the actor James Bolam. They fell out shortly afterwards, and I had a feeling it’s because Mark used his name as an inspiration.”
Actor Riggs O’Hara agreed, adding,
“Mark just changed the ‘m’ to an ‘n’… [and] liked the sound of it. He couldn’t understand why Jimmy was upset. He thought it was absolutely ridiculous that Jimmy thought he was going to be as big as Mark was. Mark always knew that he was going to be famous,” O’Hara would say.
By late 1966, things would start to look up for Bolan, as he’d successfully convinced legendary producer and manager Simon Napier-Bell to record him by himself with just his acoustic guitar. Napier-Bell soon became Bolan’s manager, and using his c 
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As a kid I spent a lot of time with Marcs parents, they were the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.
How did u meet them
A coverband guy that visited antiques road show said the same thing about his wife being friends with them . They gave her one of his long suit jackets and the guy wears it during shows.
Rest in peace, Marc. He was just two weeks shy of his 30th birthday when he died. He was one of my mum's favourite singers, pity that he didn't live longer, or enjoy the success of his career.
👍👍👍💙💙💙my eldest brother also died in a deadly carcrash in december 1992...he was always supporting me when I was in troubles...besides Marc left us too soon...r.i.p.!
Summer time in the 70's, listening to bands such as T Rex singing Hot Love was a teenage dream and an endless summer of love! Thank you for the memories Marc Bolan X
You're making me jealous
My mum was a huge fan of T Rex. She passed away last year. Everytime I hear T Rex, I immediately think of her doing her silly little jig to it. Miss you ma. She and Marc were taken far too soon. Love your videos man.
Sorry for your loss
My mother loved him too, I remember when he died, my mother was visibly upset. We both heard the news together from radio..my mother was a cold person , but this shook her, I was surprised..
Sorry about your mom. All the best to you, sir.
My condolences
J'espère qu'ils se verront au paradis.
Courage!
"I danced myself into the tomb"
Thanks for shining a light on Marc.
I was a huge Bolan fan in my mid-teens.
Visited his shrine in Barnes in 1986 and 2013 and his grave at Golders Green in 2015, each time when I was on holiday in the UK from Oz.
Onya Knackers!
@@DMSProduktions 😂
@@ComaDave ;o)
@nekropiate616 Aussies know! ;o)
@@DMSProduktions
We do 👍 🙃
I loved Marc Bolan as a teen and had posters of him and Trex on my wall. He was gorgeous and extremely talented. Still love their music ❤️ R.I.P. ❤
Marc never learned to drive because he had a premonition that he would die in a car accident according to some. Ironic since he liked cars and wrote songs about them " Jeepster" . Ringo Starr took the iconic photo that's on the album cover for The Slider. Marc was so cool, it was such a tragedy. Thanks for the video ❤️🌹✨🦢
Yeah he just didn't stop to think that you can die as a passenger as much as a driver. They don't call the passenger seat the death seat for nothing. Another great rocker dying way too young. RIP Marc. 💔
" I drive a Rolls Royce because its good for my voice " Classic lyrics by him with the ever so ironic twist.
Hmm I remember seeing a documentary where his first wife said that he wasn’t into cars at all, and merely put cars into his lyrics. But whatever…
Nope, despite what it says on the sleeve of The Slider, it was Tony Visconti who took that photo, not Ringo Starr.
Im afraid of cars. Evidently, so was he.
One of the genuinely underated performers of rock music and one of its most gifted performers. Made pop music truly exciting and colourful again and helped to pave the way for Mr Bowie and everyone that was to step through the door after them. But bolans shadow and influence was make its presence and influence felt in everything that followed from punk rock to Addam ant boy,George and beyond. Marc Bolan may have left this world behind but in many ways his presence and influence burns brighter than ever
Grew up listening to T.REX because of my mum. Still listening to their songs today. Even building an RC truck as a tribute to him with Marc and T.Rex themed airbrushing art work on it.
When all the kids my age were swooning over the Bay City Rollers and the Osmonds, I was rocking out to T-Rex. Marc's sound was unique and he's a much underrated guitarist.
Bolan was no guitar great.
But what he was; was a great tunesmith.
Idk if I'd say he's an underrated guitarist, but like the other guy said, he's good with tunes and he definitely had a unique style and sound.
@@danieleyre8913 And poet.
May his soul rest in peace. He was such a gifted musician. What I love most is the showman ship.,
First 7” single I bought was Jeepster ,b side- life’s a gas when it was released.
Still have it to this day.
And yes, my user name is in memory of the first 12” album I bought which I also still have 50 yrs on !
I still have mine.
I seen Marc Bolan when they were a duo called Tyrannosaurus Rex. They backed up Humble Pie at the Eastown in Detroit. :-) Peace
Always loved and was fascinated by Bolan, just a fantastic talent. It was not drugs or cancer or his lifestyle that killed him. It was a tree, a damn tree.
The car helped.
Her driving
@@leeevans2929 Yes. I think he and Bowie would have reconciled eventually and maybe even gone on tour together. Imagine that
@@Lamya65 LOVE that song, yes!
@@DukesMusic84 Bowie paid the school for his son after he died and his girlfriend 8not wife), was left with nothing.
Electric Warrior was one of my first albums and Bang A Gong one of the first songs I learned on guitar so T-Rex will always hold a special place in my heart. RIP T-Rex and Marc Bolan.
Same here my first LP and Bang a gong first song i learned on guitar i got that chop down pretty dang good now haha
Excellent review of the heart-breaking death of Marc.
His music still has a stand out quality and never sounds dated, well done on this and RIP Marc.
Marc Almond of Soft Cell was such a fan of Bolan that he changed the spelling of his name. Then went on to make a huge hit covering Gloria Jones song.
My dad took me to see the crash site not long after it happened, It was packed with people.
LONG LIVE T-REX!! Absolute genius rock God. There’ll never be anyone like him
Absolutely loved this beautiful man he went far to soon thank you for the music Marc RIP💕🌸
In 1971, a good friend of mine told me that Marc said he won't make it to thirty. "Electric Warrior" was THE album to own back then, and we didn't give his comment any thought.
The Russell Harty 1972 interview seemed that Marc wouldn't be coming back to future shows. Nobody took him seriously.
On September 16th, 1977, Marc proved to be tragically spot on. For a short period of time, he was unbeatable.
"Solid Gold Easy Action" was the first single I ever bought.
I could never understand
The wind at all
Was like a ball of love
I could never never see
The cosmic sea
Was like a bumblebee
And when I'm sad
I slide
I have never never kissed
A car before It's like a door
I have always always
Grown my own before
All schools are strange
And when I'm sad
I slide
I have never never
Nailed a nose before
That's how the garden grows
I could never understand
The wind at all
Was like a ball of love
And when I'm sad
I slide
Watch now I'm gonna slide
I was in a band as the singer and we covers including Get it On, and The slider , I loved doing those songs and I used to have a chuckle to myself thinking bout Automatic Shoes in Buick Mechaine
I recall in the Fall of 1977 working for "Wherehouse Records" [No! That is not a misspell] in California when a guy came in wanting to know if we carried any T-Rex albums. Wherehouse Records didn't have any, as it was a hit-driven retailer when it came to records sales. But I'll never forget the guy told me he was concerned there was going to be 'a run' of people buying up T-Rex albums, just as there was in August when Elvis Presley died, as Marc Bolan had just passed away.
In my youth back then I could have come up with a sarcastic comeback to that, but I didn't. As now an older and more tactful person, I'm glad I didn't.
Long time fan of T Rex and Marc Bolan here. You told me some new facts so thank you.
I remember that T Rex and Elton John were competing for number ones and that TR always kept EJ off the top of the singles charts except for one time - a duet wit Kiki Dee.
im a drummer always will be but i just love marc so much he moves so cool the fact he was so glam to me makes it 10x better really wish i saw him in the 70s. but yet again i wasn’t born yet but really wish i lived through the late 60s and 70s.
The Slider album was my favourite. I thought the grooves would wear out.
That was a very interesting and informative video. I knew Bolan had died in a car crash. But was not aware of the Rocker’s history up until that point.
Generation X owes a great deal of love and respect to Bolan and T-rex; they were the UK equivalent to SoCal’s Montrose in the ‘70s. It’s not that either of them were globally huge, but they were so influential that pretty much every rock band in the ‘80s claimed them.
In my mind he was one of the most underrated, influential musician songwriter .He never really received the praise and credit that he should have had .....
RIP Marc
what? He was HUGE and even had a TV show.
@@KarmicSalt but most people don't know him like jimi or jim so maybe he's not as big. He looks a lot like the guitarist from 🔫 and 🌹. Both Jewish
T-Rex were a HUGE influence to many of the hair metal bands.
David Lee Roth seems to think he inspired the 80s look. Lol
So was SWEET
Yes!
LOVED🌻❤️🌻❤️THIS MAN & HIS MUSIC 🎶 🎵 ❤️ 🎶🎵❤️🎶🎵 STILL MISSED 😥 😔 😥😔 NOW & FOREVER 😥😥😥🙏🙌✨️🙏🙌✨️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
This was very well put together. Thanks for clearing up misinformation.
nope....Gloria was drunk...she was drink driving and killed Marc.
@@KarmicSalt I just read up on the accident, and you are sadly 100 percent correct. I didn't want to believe it.
I remember the first time I heard ‘bang a gong’. I loved T Rex and Marc Bolan. RIP
Marc Bolan was one of my dad's idols and I was even named after him!
Me too! 🤜💥🤛
I hope your name is Tyrannosaurus Rex, epic.
@@gypsydildopunks7083 lol
Children of the Revolution was the song I remember the most huge teen fan from the 70's Aussie 🌈🌈🌈
RIP Marc Bolan… we will never know what might have been. It’s is so tragic. Thankful for the huge legacy of music and influence he left us. I will always be thankful ❤🎶
Thanks for video (he didn’t wear tights… tight trousers maybe but not tights!)
“20th Century Boy” is on the current rotation on my Spotify Favorites playlist. It’s a great pop and rock song.
I loved T REX ♥ I didn't know what happened to him 😢 😔
I actually live near where he died. The bridge has an unexpected curve. Cars could easily slam in the metal railing into a ditch if they dont turn right very slightly. To an American driving at 4am used to driving on the opposite side, it could easily throw that person off. Marc was on the side which would have hit the fencing first and then the tree. Because the bend is further up the road from where the car came to rest i think the crash happened further up from the tree
Gloria was DRUNK. After all these years people might want to change the story but she was drink driving and killed him
@@KarmicSalt she was later cleared, so where’s your proof? Also research about the Car itself instead of making a comment that suits your narrative.
And she was driving very very fast otherwise he wouldn't have died from such severe injuries.....😡😖
@@raymondroberts8709 Didn’t know you were there either, but I’d research a bit more if I were you about the many accidents around that spot…….
@@KarmicSalt I’ve often wondered if it was on purpose. He was supposed to get back together with his wife June who he never divorced. Makes you wonder IMO
It's too bad. It's so sad, but what can you do? 🤷🏻♂️ Marc Bolan at least leaves behind a legacy of good music, and for that, he will always be remembered. 🎤 🎸🔥
well you can learn to not drink drive. Gloria killed him drink driving
T-Rex inspired a lot of bands
I've not listened to T-Rex a lot but, I do know several of their songs and that many...if not the majority... of the bands I loved so as a teen in the 80s took their cues and styling from T-Rex. 🤘🏼💙
Truly a unique artist gone too soon
I was going to the gymnasium in the morning when I saw in the window near squere 5 well. I buy a newspaper and sit on the ancient Roman ruins (Zadar-Croatia.then Yugoslavia) and read. I am cry like baby. Missed for 3 hours and went to school crying
RIP Marc your up there with the great ones
I’m big fan of T-Rex, forerunners of hard rock, Bolan is one of the legendary singers, big respect
The T Rex film with Ringo is a good watch.
Can you cover Donovan? Soooo many great songs and I really feel like he's underrated
Don also writes of influencing Marc Bolan as does Pete Townshend write of Marc.😉
Marc used to rent out his Rolls Royce to other bands for photo shoots etc . and on the night he died it wasn"t returned on time ,so he went home in the Mini and by all accounts was driven everywhere fast by his girlfriend usually without seat belts ?. A accident waiting to happen in the middle of the night on a bad road .
I cycle past that tree every day. Still adorned with flowers and trinkets to this day.
It is. I used to walk past it every day when I was a postman as my round was in that area.
The tree is gone now so what do you mean
@@KarmicSalt where the tree was and where the shrine now is ya pedantic melon
@@brendanoprey762
🤭
Loved bolan his music was and still is amazing 👏
She killed him no doubt
I thought there should have been at least a mention of June Child, Marc's wife. He almost certainly wouldn't have gotten as far as he did without her. I often question the influence Gloria had on his life and career. And I'm not the only Trex fan who just can't really stomach her absolutely screeching over his vocals in some of those later recordings. June helped Marc shine, where Gloria was trying to outshine him, which was just not possible. Not to mention it was Gloria's brother that introduced Marc to cocaine. I think he was lost without June and made some really bad decisions in her absence. I also think he'd definitely still be alive If he hadn't started up an affair with Gloria.
Gloria killed him. She was drink driving and they want to change the story after all these years but the truth is she was drunk and killed him.
@@KarmicSalt Yeah, I agree. I don't even understand how "fans" of Marc can be supportive let alone defensive about her. She literally fled the country as soon as she was out of the hospital and never faced any charges for vehicular manslaughter as she SHOULD have.
@@natalie8212 because they were racist to her and blamed her for everything
@@AS-wj1du Race has nothing to do with it. There's no denying the facts.
You absolutely nailed it , Natalie. Between the age of 12-15 T.Rex was my life, I ate, slept and breathed Marc Bolan , he completely dominated this shy boy's teenage years. I saw T.Rex live in February `73 in my hometown of Nuremberg, Germany, my first concert ever. I was 13 , now I'm 63, but whenever I hear a T.Rex tune (doesn`t happen too often anymore) I'm immediately transported back to those early years (something only music and smells can do). Marc`s light shone bright but short. TANX was his farewell album to his fans, what came after that was unbelievable crap and had nothing to do with T.Rex anymore (no wonder Tony Visconti left).His break-up with June was the turning point and Gloria Jones his downfall.
It’s also a shame that Bolan was marketed toward adolescent girls, and is now remembered as a “teenybopper” act.
Because he was without question very musically talented and creative. And had he not perished: I think he would’ve kept making his brand of music into the 1980s, and possibly would’ve branched into movies like Bowie did.
Bolan could not follow up on his success in the US following the Electric warrior album…. The Glam scene quickly became crowded, and Bolan fell out of favor. Bowie survived because of better marketing and catchy tunes!
@@Slo-ryde Yes but I don’t see what that has to do with anything I typed about.
@@danieleyre8913 I guess you didn’t read the last sentence.
@@Slo-ryde You guess wrong.
Once upon a time there was an electric guitar nailed to the Bolan tree. The legend says that that guitar used to belong to Mark Bolan and I knew the guy who stole and kept in his living room.
The guitar seems some small scale rushed DIY guitar, painted by brush. It had written on it "who steals this guitar dies".
your friend is a pos
Did he?
THNX! 'Bout time Bolan got some love 🔥 do Bolin next
Gosh. The V.O. is so full of emotion and genuine pathos. It. Is. So. Easy. For. People. To Become Engaged. You will listen. You will like it. You will feel the pain. Feel it. Feel the sadness.
The man was a legend!So glad they put him in the rock hall of fame
Love T-Rex! RIP Marc
Very interesting R N R TS! Thank you.
I LOOOVE your channel. Ty my friend.
I used to deliver post around the area where he died and walked past the shrine to him every day. Such a shame.
T-Rex was on an American tour in 1974. Their opening band was a very new band called Kiss (I don't know what happened to that band) 😅
Bolan was so upstaged by kiss that he removed his band just 5 dates into an American tour. I think Bolan died on the same day as Elvis Presley.
Great video.
R.I.P Marc Bolan
You didn’t mention that he has a son from his relationship with Gloria Jones.
She sang the OG Tainted Love.
Interesting and informative. Thanks.
LOVE YOU MARC
Marc was the cool uncle of punk rock
With lyrics like "Automatic Shoes " that have intrigued me all my life 😊❤
'Life is the same and it always will be, easy as picking foxes from a tree' eerily prophetic.
Solid gold easy action 😉
I Love His Music...Tragic that he left us too soon. Only the Good Die Young, they say.
no, his wife was drink driving and killed him.
Thank you ❤
Gloria was drink driving. There is no way around it.
Again, where’s your proof? You were there then?……
Exactly.
I know a bit more than you, unless you didn't want to mention it, before his death he was talking with his good friend the genius Robert Calvert, also a poet in hawkwind about doing something called "Earth ritual" no doubt inspired by Calverts first "Space Riual" with Hawkwind. Calvert talks about it on an interview called "Ramblings at dawn"
Television Man is crazy, saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks...
Rip to him
Love t-rex and marc bolan still listen to the slider my all time fav album miss you marc wish you were still with us
Marc Bolan influenced more people than everyone realizes...I mean where do you think Slash got his top hat look from..He stole it from Marc and the cover of The Slider.
Really ? Axel stole a lot from Grand Funk too.
I am 60 and I loved Marc.
I had read an account years ago that Marc was long-convinced he was going to die in a car accident. The story said it was one of the reasons Gloria had been driving - because he never learned to drive. Several of his songs, though, glamorize (and sexualize) cars.
RIP, man, and thank you for the groovy tunes.
keep a little Marc in your heart❣❣❣
In 1972 me and my mates on a Friday Night would go to the Hammersmith Palais. They teased me about Mt attire. I bought a satin jacket a la Marc Bolan. And got the 👍
I bet you did 👌
I was devastated when Marc Bolan died 😱
Marc Bolan's passing was sad. It would have been more professional for him to divorce his wife before having an affair.
How could someone with such a gentle and polite talking voice belt out the songs as he did ?? I remember the first time I heard him talking and was gobsmacked 😂 He had something uniquely special about him . His prescious spirit is safe in God's care . 🕊️
Sad....bit crazy...liked their music...had his own style...quite handsome...have his LP...very hippy music..
....vtedy som zboznoval....Jeepster....R.I.P. Marc
Tie a purple mini round the old oak tree! I remember someone singing that back in the 80's and i never knew what it meant,till recently!
He was a musical
Genius ❤️
4:48 Their songs placed "respectably" at #1 and #2....
Yeah, that's pretty respectable I'd say.
I stil got our photo together love u Marc Bolan 🎤♥️💋🍒xx
Loved him ❣️❣️❣️
❤️ t rex
”Okay”... Yet another appaling ”documentary”
Why do cars just leave the road ? I don't understand it.
Killed by a drunk driver.Gloria jones.
He made some poor choices.....but not in the studio.
Great band
No such thing as an accident....who was driving? bet she had loads more "accidents" Peace be unto you.
I'm not too far from Barnes,so I've seen his memorial / crash site a few times..it was the reinforced concrete post that killed him..the car rested against the tree and stopped it from rolling down the bank.