Hey, all.
I have since been in touch with Joe Mack's daughter Stephanie and she has been super helpful for me. We are both currently researching albums Mack played on uncredited.
So, I need to rescind my comments of Mack playing on the Liz Damon's Orient Express and Betty Everett; Orient Express was recorded on the west coast, so I'm pretty sure someone from the Wrecking Crew played bass (not sure who, except I can't link it to Ray Pohlman, Max Bennett, or any pick player like Kaye or Osborn; the bassist uses their fingers). Stephanie told me the Betty Everett album may have been recorded in Chicago. After studying their style and being even more familiar with Mack's style, he did not play on either of those. Mack exclusively only played on east coast recordings (Philly, New York, etc.)
Here's a few albums/songs that she did confirm to me:
Keith - 98.6 (It's also safe to say he played on Keith's Out of Crank album)
Jay & The Techniques - Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie
Bunny Sigler - Let The Good Times Roll
The Toys - The Toys Sing "A Lover's Concerto" and "Attack!"
Spanky And Our Gang - self-titled album
The Chiffons - Sweet Talkin' Guy
Steam - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Judy Collins - Both Sides Now
Jean - Oliver
The Lovin' Spoonful - Revelation: Revolution 69
She also told me he did a lot of/most of the Cameo-Parkway stuff like Charlie Gracie's "Butterfly", where I think she told me he used an upright bass.
Now here's where we could use some outside assistance; Stephanie told me that her father played for Al Hirt, but we don't know which album/songs he played on. Maybe some homework for anyone up for the task.
Around the late 60s/70s, Mack was the primary bass player for producers Jeff Barry and Jerry Ross. The Jerry Ross stuff is easy to tell not only by Joe's distinctive playing style, but the unique sound of his Fender Precision Bass. In addition, there is a Billboard article about Joe Mack, where it mentions Ross "wouldn't even go into the studio without Joe". For the Jeff Barry stuff, I actually had this confirmed by Ron Dante (Mack played on his Brings You Up album), in that Ron told me Mack was Barry's goto bassist, and that Barry really respected Mack, which means Mack also played for the other bubblegum pop acts besides the Archies including The Globetrotters and The Chan Clan. He would have also played on the Monkees' Changes album (again, his distinctive P-bass sound is on there). He also would have done Lay A Little Lovin' On Me by Robin McNamara. Also check out the Bobby Bloom Album, particularly the track "Heavy Makes You Happy"; Joe really plucks those LaBella flats on that one.
If there's anything you guys want to know about Joe, let me know and I'll pass it along to Stephanie. She is happy that people appreciate Joe's music. We both started up a Facebook fan page for her father, and there are some never-before-seen photos of Mack you can take a gander at, including him playing with Bob Dylan.
