As a young guitar innovator, Harvey Mandel soaked his playing in feedback and sustain, pushing his amps to the brink on early recordings with Charlie Musselwhite before making his way to San Francisco to rub elbows with Jerry Garcia and Elvin Bishop.
He soon landed a surprise gig with Canned Heat – and a few days later found himself in front of a massive crowd at Woodstock. “I didn’t realize it at the time how iconic that gig would be,” Mandel tells Guitar World. “Nobody did! It was pretty mind-blowing. I was kind of nervous; it was scary getting up on stage and seeing that massive audience. But it turned out good!”
Mandel stuck with Canned Heat for two years before joining John Mayall. The challenge of filling the shoes of Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor wasn’t an issue: “I didn’t want to copy other guys. I didn’t study their playing. I appreciated what they did – but I pretty much stuck with my own style.”
His style has always been unique. From early adoption of the two-handed tapping technique that exploded with Van Halen, or his infinite walls of pedal-free sustain, Mandel was both confident and in demand. That demand led him to the Rolling Stones via a late-night call from Mick Jagger, and he went to Germany to record for 1976’s Black and Blue.
The vibe was that he might be Mick Taylor’s replacement – but according to Mandel, it was not to be “because of Keith Richards.” More on that later.
That near-miss was, unfortunately, the apex of his career. “The highlight was the Stones,” he reflects. “But I got to play with Canned Heat and John Mayall, and I was an innovator of certain sounds.
“I’m sure I influenced many guitar players with the sustain and feedback. I was doing it back in ’65, ’66 and ’67, way before I heard it with Jeff Beck and any of those people. I didn’t get credited like I should have over the years.”
He retains hope that things will pick up again. “I had a setback because of medical issues. There was a four-year period where I didn’t get to play live. But I’ve recuperated and I’m back in top form. I’ve got a new record coming; hopefully it’ll get pushed and get me up there, so that people will remember who I am.”
Early on you became known for a fuzzy, feedback-laden style with a ton of sustain. How did you develop that?
“Back in my club days in Chicago, I always had different amps. Sustain and feedback were the things I was always aiming for. So when I came to San Francisco, it just continued. I was experimenting with different amps – back then, there wasn’t a whole bunch of pedals, so it was really certain amps.
“It became my signature thing. The only other guys in the world who were doing it, of course, were Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and those guys, but I was doing it before I even heard them. I always had that.”
So it was instinct?
“The sound I was aiming for was kind of like a violin, and it just developed. I didn’t really have to think about it that much; it just happened automatically.”
You shared the San Fransisco scene with Jerry Garcia. Did you get to jam with him?
“We did on a couple of occasions. There was a club called The Matrix, where all the guys would jam. There were a couple of times when Jerry, Elvin Bishop and a couple of other people did a big jam there. I didn’t get to play with Jerry that much, but he was a really nice guy and a good guy. We had a lot of fun back then.”
You later joined Canned Heat, stepping in at the last minute for a Fillmore West show after Henry Vestine left.
“It was one of those nights when I went to the Fillmore and I didn’t even know who was playing. Some girl ran up to me and said, ‘The Bear [vocalist Bob Hite] knows you’re here – come and meet everyone.’
“So I was hanging out with them, smoking a couple of joints and having a good time. I heard the story that Henry Vestine had been fired that night, and Mike Bloomfield helped them with the first set. After the break, they invited me to come sit in for the second set.”
What gear did you have available?
“I really don’t remember – I didn’t have my guitar and stuff. I just had to play what was there. I think it was Henry Vestine’s guitar that he’d left. They had these custom amplifiers and stuff. It sounded great and they literally asked me to join the band that night. Three days later, we were at Woodstock. I came in at the right time!”
What are your memories of Woodstock?
“We flew in via helicopter, which was really far out because you could see all the people at this whole thing. When I got up on stage, I had a Strat I’d been using at the time, and they had their custom amps; I was using Henry Vestine’s.
“During the first song the amp blew up. They gave me another one, which sounded terrible. I had to play on this piece of shit for the rest of the set – which to this day, I always cringe when I think about it.
“It was kind of a nightmare; it was not sustaining. I couldn’t get a good sound out of it, and I didn’t have a bunch of pedals to compensate. I did the best I could. It was still a great thing to play for an audience of that size; had I been able to play through that first amp, I would have sounded a thousand times better.”
After Canned Heat you joined John Mayall’s band. Was it a challenge coming in after Clapton, Green and Taylor?
“John saw me play with Canned Heat when they’d decided to have Henry Vestine come back in. So John asked me to join his band. Truthfully, I didn’t really think about Clapton, Mick Taylor or any of those people – I just did my Harvey Mandel stuff.”
Did John communicate his expectations for you as a guitarist?
“He didn’t really offer too much – we pretty much did what we wanted. But he knew we knew how to play the right stuff. All the musicians were really good, so John didn’t have to say anything.”
You were an early adopter of the two-handed tapping technique. Where did you pick that up from?
“I got it from the Pure Food and Drug Act group that I was in. The second guitar player was Randy Resnick – he’s the first one I saw tap, in ’67 going in ’68. He did it in a very melodic but simple way. I didn’t want to do it in front of him, but once I saw him do it, I was able to practice it. [Resnick disputes the year of their meeting, stating it was 1971 – Ed].”
How did you make the technique your own?
“When I left the band I took it off into my world. It’s a much more melodic, fluid version, as opposed to where Eddie Van Halen took it with his wild stuff. People heard my stuff and thought I was a jazz player!”
There’s a lot of debate about where Eddie and the players of the ’80s picked up the tapping technique.
“I was playing at the Whisky and the Starwood, where George Lynch, Van Halen and a couple of other people saw me doing it. Next thing I know, Eddie took it off into his own world. I can’t say anything bad about him – he was a great player, but he was more of a gymnastic player.
“He’d use two-handed tapping to do all kinds of tricks, whereas I tried to make it more musical, as opposed to going crazy and showing off with it.”
I wasn’t with a known band – Van Halen had a hit record so the world got to hear him doing the tapping. The audience that got to hear me do it was much more limited
Two-handed tapping became a hallmark of ’80s guitar. Do you feel you were properly credited for your development of it?
“Not really. Although if you go on YouTube, you’ll see all different videos where I get credit. But back then, unfortunately, I wasn’t with a known band – Van Halen had a hit record so the world got to hear him doing it. The audience that got to hear me do it was much more limited.”
Did you ever get to meet Eddie or George, or any of the other players, and talk with them about it?
“Not really. I never got to speak with Van Halen, even though he came and saw me play. I saw him play on a few occasions, but we never got to hang out. The only guys I got to meet were Alvin Lee and Mick Taylor. I was playing in Chicago and they came to the hotel. They kind of kidnapped me inside of my own hotel!
“Alvin refused to leave until I showed him the tapping. That was the only time a famous person actually sat there with me like that. Mick Taylor was great – but Alvin was the one who was mostly interested.”
Speaking of Mick Taylor, after he left the Rolling Stones, you were tabbed to record in his place for 1976’s Black and Blue album.
“I was living in LA. In the middle of the night I got a call and it’s Mick Jagger. I thought it was somebody goofing around but I realized it was Mick Jagger. He said, ‘We want you to come to Germany.’
“He didn’t say it was an audition to join the Stones; he wanted me to come and play to be a part of the record. Next day I got a ticket, took the Acoustic amp and my guitar, and flew to Germany.”
You played on Hot Stuff and Memory Motel. What was that like?
“Yeah, we did a recording – and if it wasn’t for Keith Richards, I would have been a Rolling Stone.”
Keith stopped you from joining the band?
“Ronnie Wood came in the next day, and they were pals. They grew up together and hung out. Mick Jagger wanted me to play. Keith Richards wanted Ronnie Wood, who won out, because Keith had the power to insist it was Ronnie, or else. So I kind of got aced out.”
Was Keith and Ronnie’s friendship the only reason?
“My concept was to come in and replace Mick Taylor – not to jump about and go crazy, but to leave that to Mick Jagger. I wanted to stay in the background and play the cool guitar stuff, like Mick Taylor. He played great guitar but he was never out in front. My idea was to do the same thing. But Ronnie Wood got the gig.”
Did Keith have an issue with your playing?
“Keith Richards was kind of weird. I played some of the greatest guitar licks I ever played, but he didn’t even say hello or shake hands. He was kind of unfriendly – where Mick Jagger was the complete opposite.”
Was Keith resentful of you because he wanted Ronnie?
“It was before Ronnie Wood even came into the picture; he didn’t come in until a day or two later. Keith was just kind of aloof. I don’t think he was intimidated, but he wasn’t really friendly. Maybe it was because I was American, and he wanted everything to stay with British people. I really can’t say.
“Everyone else in the band – the drummer [Charlie Watts], the bass player [Bill Wyman] and Mick Jagger – were all super-nice. They had some of my early records and two or three of my solo albums; they were very complimentary and treated me really good.
“I never got friendly with Keith Richards. If it wasn’t for him, I would have been the Rolling Stones’ replacement for Mick Taylor. He’s the one that screwed me up.”
Ronnie Wood was a nice guy. I played at his club and hung out with him… but let’s face it: he ain’t no Mick Taylor, and he’s no Harvey Mandel
Things tapered off for you after that. Do you lament not getting the gig?
“It would have been great if it had happened. Keith Richards is a great rhythm player – the stuff he played is phenomenal. I would have been happy to just be in the background.
“My reputation jumped up dramatically; I got bookings all over the place and I was real popular for a while. But then, the allure of the Rolling Stones wore out, and it tapered down, and that was the end of that.”
In your heart of hearts, should you have gotten the Rolling Stones gig over Ronnie Wood?
“Oh, by light years. Ronnie was a nice guy. I actually played at his club and hung out with him a couple of times. He was actually a really nice guy – but let’s face it: he ain’t no Mick Taylor, and he’s no Harvey Mandel. He’s what I call a C-plus guitar player.
“He had the show; he could jump around and be part of the craziness, but he never impressed me as an actual player. I think they would have been much better off musically if I was the one playing – they didn’t need Ronnie Wood for the show. Mick Jagger was the show.”
- Mandel will reissues his 1972 album The Snake as a limited Record Store Day exclusive on April 12.
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