Only Time Can Tell (1985): Gary Marks's First Rock Album
The first rock album by Gary Marks, American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and author.
Gary Marks Turns to Rock
Only Time Can Tell (1985), and the title track, were breakthroughs in Marks’s songwriting career.
"This album marked a real turning point for me. After three records built around folk and jazz, this one moved toward a more direct, rock-oriented sound, where I could feel the rhythm carrying the song."
The Title Track's Second Life
The title track was picked up by the publisher Famous Music/Paramount, a strange and wonderful surprise for a song Marks once said had no hook. Teresa Trull recorded her own version on her 1986 album A Step Away.
A Second Album Folded Into This One
According to Marks, "In 2025, I found that a number of tracks from both Past the Nightwatch and Only Time Can Tell had been corrupted beyond recovery, so I combined the surviving songs from both into a combined digital release under the Only Time Can Tell title, which is the version available on my website now."
Past the Nightwatch was a continuation of Marks's unique rock style, in a similar vein to Only Time Can Tell and The Real World. It never went further than a cassette recording, but Past the Nightwatch was very well-received:
What Critics Said About Past the Nightwatch
Oakland Tribune: “Gary Marks: Past the Night-Watch,” June 2, 1991
“Marks sings his latest compositions in an acoustic-electric, folk-rock style reminiscent of early Jackson Browne (he has been compared by other critics to Steve Winwood and Bruce Hornsby). Among the players are lead guitarist Stef Brinbaum [Stef Burns] and reedsman Paul McCandless of jazz band Oregon.... Marks shows a knack for turning a mature lyric about love, relationships and finding a place in the world into a catchy and memorable song, something rare in pop music these days.”
San Francisco Bay Guardian: “Gary Marks, Past the Nightwatch,” Best of San Francisco & The Bay Area (18th Annual Salute), July 31, 1991
“The one distracting aspect of this Bay Area songwriter’s sixth self-produced album is that it keeps bringing to mind all the singers who should be covering his material — from Cris Williamson and Teresa Trull (who have recorded such Marks compositions as ‘Soulful Days’ and ‘Only Time Can Tell’) to Bonnie Raitt and Joe Cocker.”
Only Time Can Tell is where Gary Marks the rock songwriter arrived. It carried through The Real World, Past the Nightwatch, If All They Said Was True, and every album thereafter.
Only Time Can Tell on Musicbrainz