Harvey Mandel

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Harvey Mandel
Mandel performing in 1977
Background information
Born	(1945-03-11) March 11, 1945 (age 79) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Origin	Morton Grove, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Rock, blues, blues rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Epic, Philips, Bellaphon, Janus, Repertoire, BGO, Ovation, Western Front, Clarity, Lightyear, Orchard, Electric Snake, Wide Hive, Tompkins Square
Website	www.harveymandel.com

Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945)^[1] is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.

Early life

Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Career

His first recording was the album Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's Southside Band in 1966 with Charlie Musselwhite.^[2] Described in Legends of Rock Guitar (1997) as a "legendary" album, it was influential in bridging the gap between blues and rock and roll, with Mandel's "relentless fuzztone, feedback-edged solos, and unusual syncopated phrasing."^[3] He relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, performing often at The Matrix, a club where local favorites like Jerry Garcia or Elvin Bishop would sit in and jam. He then met the pioneering San Francisco disc jockey and producer Abe "Voco" Kesh (Abe Keshishian), who signed Mandel to Philips Records and produced his first solo album, Cristo Redentor, in 1968.^[2] Mandel recorded with Barry Goldberg on a bootleg from Cherry Records and recorded with Graham Bond. He cut two more solo LPs for Philips, Righteous (1969) and Games Guitars Play (1970), followed by four more solo albums for the independent record label Janus in the early 1970s, which included Baby Batter.^[2]

On the night that

With Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor, Mandel joined John Mayall's band for the next two years.^[2] He is heard playing on the two albums from that period USA Union and Back to the Roots. In 1972, he teamed up with Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Randy Resnick on guitar, Victor Conte on bass, and Paul Lagos on drums to form the band Pure Food and Drug Act, which released one album, Choice Cuts.^[2] During the 1970s Mandel released the albums Baby Batter (1970), The Snake (1972), Feel the Sound of Harvey Mandel (1974) and Shangrenade (1973),^[2] in the latter employing the technique of two-handed tapping. He also released an instructional video, Harvey Mandel: Blues Guitar & Beyond.

When

Mandel acted in the film Chalk, which was directed by Rob Nilsson.

In 2009, Mandel and Larry Taylor reunited with

Harvey Mandel and the Snake Crew was released in 2006. Notable guest performers included

In 2016, Harvey, along with Ryley Walker's backing band,^[4] entered the recording studios at Fantasy Records, Berkeley, for two days of live studio recording, which resulted in the eight self-composed tracks which made up the album Snake Pit.

In 2017, Harvey released the 10 track album Snake Attack. According to Harvey, "I wrote all the songs, performed all the instruments and mixed and mastered all the songs myself. Working in my own home studio allowed me to do all sorts of great guitar overdubs that I'd never have been able to do in a regular studio."^{[citation needed]}

Solo discography

• 1968 Cristo Redentor (LP, Philips PHS 600-281)
• 1969 Righteous (LP, Philips PHS 600-306)
• 1970 Games Guitars Play (LP, Philips PHS 600-325)
• 1971 Baby Batter (LP, Janus JLS-3017), also released as Electronic Progress (Bellaphon, Germany)
• 1972 The Snake (LP, Janus JLS-3037), with Don "Sugarcane" Harris
• 1972 Get Off in Chicago (LP, Ovation OV/1415)
• 1973 Shangrenade (LP, Janus JLS-3047), with Don "Sugarcane" Harris
• 1974 Feel the Sound of Harvey Mandel (LP, Janus JLS-3067)
• 1975 The Best of Harvey Mandel (LP, Janus 7014)
• 1993 Twist City (CD, Western Front WFE 10022)
• 1995 Snakes & Stripes (CD, Clarity Recordings CCD-1013)
• 1995 Harvey Mandel: The Mercury Years (Includes first 3 solo albums) (CD, PolyGram Records 314 528275-2)
• 1997 Planetary Warrior (CD, ESP/Lightyear/WEA, 54215-2)
• 1997 Emerald Triangle (CD, Electric Snake Productions ESP-9701)
• 1999 Snake Live (CD, MP3.com)
• 2000 West Coast Killers (Includes 2 tracks missing from 2003 "West Coast Killaz") (CD, MP3.com)
• 2000 Lick This (CD, Electric Snake Productions)
• 2003 West Coast Killaz (CD, Electric Snake Productions)
• 2003 NightFire featuring Harvey Mandel/Freddie Roulette (CD, Electric Snake Productions NF1470)
• 2004 Blue Marble (CDr, Unreleased Studio w/ Terry Haggerty in possession of collector)
• 2006 Harvey Mandel and the Snake Crew (CD, Electric Snake Productions)
• 2009 Live at Biscuits & Blues (CD, Electric Snake Productions)^[1]
• 2014 Dragons at Play (CD, Electric Snake Productions)
• 2015 Snake Box (Includes first five solo albums plus "Live at the Matrix", San Francisco, CA, Tuesday, December 24, 1968) (CD, Cleopatra CLP-CD-2100)
• 2016 Snake Pit (CD, Tompkins Square TSQ 5296)
• 2017 Snake Attack (CD, RockBeat Records ROC-3357)
• 2018 Live at Broadway Studios, San Francisco (CD, RockBeat Records ROC-3366)
• 2019 Smoke This (CD, Out The Box Records)
• 2022 Who’s Calling (CD, Tompkins Square TSQ 5920)

References