Mardin was born into an aristocratic Istanbul family. His father was then manager of the Turkish Bank in Cairo, and Mardin vividly recalled, as a year-old, German planes bombing the city while his family hid in the bank's basement. After the war, the family returned to Istanbul. They listened to American music and, noting her son's enthusiasm, Mardin's mother had him enrolled for piano lessons. Back in Istanbul he was reluctant to follow his father into the family business, a chain of petrol stations, dreaming instead of concentrating on music.
It was then that he met jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie. I had the chance to meet him, and he wound up playing one of my pieces and giving me some pointers," recalled Mardin. After graduation he taught there for a year. A Mardin composition impressed Atlantic's co-owner Nesuhi Ertegun - also from Turkish aristocracy - and he was hired in as Ertegun's assistant and archivist.
Mardin later admitted that until then he had only listened to jazz, but having witnessed the rewards created by having a No1 single, he thought "Whoa, maybe I should concentrate on this. In he had more success with the Rascals when their summer anthem, Groovin', was a worldwide hit.
She had recorded several unsuccessful albums for CBS and Wexler was determined that the way to sell the vocalist was to produce her as a down-home, gospel-flavoured soul singer. Mardin continued to produce and arrange songs for Franklin across the s. Wexler then employed Mardin to arrange the strings for Dusty Springfield's classic Dusty in Memphis album. In he released the first of two solo albums, Glass Onion, whose relaxed jazz flavours found British popularity in when the song How Can I Be Sure?
In Mardin was paired with a struggling Scottish soul group, the laconically named Average White Band. His production emphasised their bright brass and dynamic rhythms, taking them to the top of the US album and singles charts. Mardin's gift for reinventing struggling artists was not overlooked by the entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who sent his charges, the Bee Gees, to work with him in Miami.
