I’m flying on a painted pony! Fred Mandel was over last Saturday to add his musical magic to our Music is Hope project for Meninos Do Morumbi.
Fred Mandel & John Jones near Sherman Junction, Los Angeles.
Fred is a brilliant professional who plays organ, piano, guitar, sings, writes songs, arranges & produces, and has worked with legendary classics of the 70’s and 80’s such as Alice Cooper, Queen, Elton John, Cheap Trick, Pink Floyd, Anthrax, and Supertramp.
We grew up in the same St Andrews neighborhood of Toronto, a part of York Mills. For my friends and I, Fred was our neighborhood blueprint for a career in music! I tried to see every concert he played in Toronto that didn’t need an ID to get in. And then we lost touch for a few years until we met in the elevator at AIR Studios on Oxford Street, when Fred was in the studio working with Elton John on Reg Strikes Back.
Here is a great interview with Fred Mandel!
One of my favourites, Domenic Troiano, had Fred Mandel and Steve Ferrone recording together at Automated Sound Studio, New York, on Dom’s awesome Burnin’ At The Stake album in 1977.