14 Facts About Harvey Mandel

Harvey "The Snake" Mandel was born on March 11,1945 and is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat.

Harvey Mandel then met the pioneering San Francisco disc jockey and producer Abe "Voco" Kesh, who signed Mandel to Philips Records and produced his first solo album, Cristo Redentor, in 1968.

Harvey Mandel recorded with Barry Goldberg on a bootleg from Cherry Records and recorded with Graham Bond.

Harvey Mandel cut two more solo LPs for Philips, Righteous and Games Guitars Play, followed by four more solo albums for the independent record label Janus in the early 1970s, which included Baby Batter.

Mike Bloomfield joined them for the first set, and Harvey Mandel came in for the second set.

Harvey Mandel stayed with Canned Heat for a year, touring and recording material which appeared on three albums.

Harvey Mandel is on the Live in Europe album recorded prior to the death of Alan Wilson.

Harvey Mandel is heard playing on the two albums from that period USA Union and Back to the Roots.

When Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor left the band, Harvey Mandel was given an audition as his replacement.

Harvey Mandel recorded two tracks with the Stones for their 1976 album Black and Blue: "Hot Stuff" and "Memory Motel".

Harvey Mandel acted in the 1996 film Chalk playing a surfer, which was directed by Rob Nilsson.

In 2014, Harvey Mandel collaborated with the herbalist Ron Teeguarden on an album titled Dragons at Play, which consisted of nine tracks.

In 2015, Cleopatra Records issued a six-disc retrospective of Harvey Mandel's career featuring the first five of Harvey Mandel's solo albums, and a sixth disc containing a live performance from the Matrix Club in San Francisco, on December 24,1968.

In 2017, Harvey Mandel released the 10 track album Snake Attack.